[Aljazeera] Hong Kong, China — China may portray itself as a neutral party in the war in Ukraine, but the message it communicates to its audience at home tells a different story.State news agency Xinhua calls the war "a special military operation" and "the Russia-Ukraine crisis" but never refers to it as an invasion. CCTV, the state broadcaster, mentioned civilian casualties for the first time only three weeks after Russia invaded. More recently, state outlets doubled down on the Russian conspiracy theory claiming the US is funding the development of biological weapons in Ukraine, including migratory birds that could spread avian viruses in Russia.
How the war has been framed in Chinese state media is a reflection of where the government stands.
China has not condemned Russia over the invasion of a sovereign nation with which Beijing has strong economic ties, instead talking of "legitimate security concerns" that need to be discussed by "all parties". And while there has been outrage in the West over the discovery in recent days of civilians allegedly killed by Russian troops in Bucha, coverage in Chinese state media has been brief, despite a recent subtle shift of tone to acknowledge the human toll.
Since the start of hostilities more than a month ago, one theme has remained consistent: the United States is the villain.
China’s relations with Russia have come under even closer scrutiny since the two countries declared a "no limits" partnership in early February.
"We should understand information as part of that," said David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project, who noted that there is a long history of cooperation between Chinese state outlets and Russian agencies such as Sputnik and Russia Today.
Emphasis added at para 2.