GETTING CHUMMY

Chinese Government-Linked Media Orders Pro-Russia Coverage of Ukraine

A Chinese government-linked social media account posted instructions to not share content critical of Russia, just as China seems to endorse Russia’s drumbeats of war.

A Chinese government-linked social media account, Horizon News, appeared to share instructions in recent hours about posts on Russia and Ukraine—with explicit orders to not post content that was critical of Russia or pro-Western. Horizon News, the account, is linked with Chinese Communist Party-owned paper Beijing News. The orders, which were quietly deleted from the account, came just as Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Russia would recognize two territories in Eastern Ukraine and sought approval to deploy Russian troops outside of Russia—in what experts say is tantamount to a declaration of war on Ukraine. China in recent days has said that Russia had legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine, in a tacit endorsement of Russia’s drumbeats of war.