China spreads Russian conspiracy theory

China has been accused of trumpeting Russian disinformation across its media channels as it continues to resist punishing Vladimir Putin.

China has been accused of trumpeting Russian disinformation across its media channels, as Russia’s accusations about the United States’ supposed involvement in chemical weapons development in Ukraine continue to swirl.

The topic of chemical weapons in Ukraine has sparked a foggy information war overseas, as western analysts continue to air serious concerns Russia may resort to horrific measures in its assault on Ukrainian cities.

It appears Russia’s recent accusation against the US has generated serious interest in China, which has so far refrained from criticising the invasion by its geopolitical ally.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova this week claimed evidence Ukraine was “concealing traces of a military biological program implemented with funding from the United States” had been uncovered.

Chinese officials jumped on the accusation, urging the US to come forward with any and all details of its alleged involvement, despite repeated assertions from the White House that the information was a “conspiracy theory” and disinformation.

“We once again urge the US to fully clarify its biological militarisation activities both inside and outside its borders and accept multilateral verification,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

Some 17 state media outlets posted Mr Zhao’s remarks on Weibo, attracting an estimated 210 million views, with a related hashtag later trending across the social media website.

China has remained reluctant to join the global push to place heavy sanctions on Russia over the invasion, with foreign ministry spokesmen this week claiming the country’s friendship with Vladimir Putin remained “rock solid”.

However, the nation’s highly-controlled media industry is under the microscope for airing what the West deems to be Russian propaganda by recirculating claims made by Russian officials.

By contrast, other countries across the globe have moved to sanction Russian media sources, with five countries within the EU placing blanket bans on all Moscow-backed outlets.

A recent CNN analysis into Chinese media ascertained a large portion of the most shared stories across Chinese social media platform Weibo often “contained information attributed to a Russian official or picked up directly from Russia‘s state media”.

The US news network reviewed over 5000 social media posts from 14 Chinese state media outlets during the first eight days of Russia‘s invasion. Almost half of the 300 most-shared posts contained topics the network classified as “distinctly pro-Russian”.

China has sought to flip the script, saying it was in fact a victim of a different flavour of disinformation coming from the West.

In a recent address, leader Xi Jinping said China was promoting a “peaceful outcome” in the region and pledged to provide humanitarian aid.

“Some anti-China forces and media have fabricated too many lies, rumours and disinformation about China on issues that include the situation in Ukraine,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“They have smeared the image of China, poisoned the media environment and misled public worldwide. Such actions are hypocritical and despicable.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki labelled Russian accusations of Washington-backed chemical weapons labs existing in Ukraine “preposterous”.

“This is preposterous. It‘s the kind of disinformation operation we’ve seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine and in other countries, which have been debunked, and an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent,” Ms Psaki said.

“Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. It’s a clear pattern.”

On Wednesday, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said there had been a notable “intensification of Russian accusations that Ukraine is developing nuclear or biological weapons” since late February.

“These narratives are long standing but are currently likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” she said.

Back on the ground in Ukraine, President Volodymr Zelensky said Russia’s recent accusations were extremely worrying, claiming Vladimir Putin has a long history of falsely accusing countries of similar crimes.

“They accuse us, again us!” he wrote on Friday.

“That we are allegedly developing biological weapons.

“Allegedly, we are preparing a chemical attack. This makes me really worried, because we‘ve been repeatedly convinced: if you want to know Russia’s plans, look at what Russia accuses others of.

“Spreading such accusations in the Russian media shows that it is they who are capable of this – the Russian military, the Russian special services.”

Mr Zelensky claimed Russia’s mention of chemical weapons was proof “that they want it”, and again used the opportunity to urge friendly nations to step in.

“It shows that they want it. They have already done such things in other countries,” he said. “They themselves announced, they themselves organised, they themselves complained. And they will do so again – again and again, if they are not stopped.”