As we watch Russian President Vladimir Putin use the military to invade Ukraine for no reason other than cold lust for power, we can’t help but be reminded of Chinese President Xi Jinping using his country’s military to crack down on Hong Kong and Taiwan. In both cases, authoritarian tyrants are terrorizing innocent civilians and threatening their lives.
But maybe drawing such a comparison between Russia and China isn’t quite fair. Maybe there are subtle nuances that distinguish the two governments. It’s important that we consider that possibility before passing judgment on China.
For example, according to state-run China Xinhua News, the Chinese government is putting their money where their notoriously humanitarian mouth is:
FM spokesperson said China has decided to provide more humanitarian aid supplies to Ukraine worth about 1.57 million USD. More: https://t.co/zOOXVBpTLc pic.twitter.com/hazEMkztBi
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 21, 2022
Humanitarian aid supplies, eh? Hopefully they’re not talking about stuff like Chinese COVID tests, because those are demonstrably useless.
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Sorry, we’re being mean. China wants to help the people of Ukraine who are being oppressed by a ruthless, megalomaniacal, tyrannical madman! Let’s all salute them for it!
a million and a half bucks from the second richest country in the world, and they brag about it. https://t.co/5aw1uvFVPO
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 21, 2022
Uh, Jerry, it’s more than a million and a half bucks, OK? It’s $1.57 million, which is more than $1.5 million. So there.
How generous…… https://t.co/x7W0EvHO5R
— Kevin Boyd 🇺🇸 (@TheKevinBoyd) March 21, 2022
So very, very generous.
China with an absolutely MASSIVE amount of humanitarian aid to Ukraine! Must have really been a tough decision to divert such a huge sum of money from other areas of need! https://t.co/PvMxpOR3Ed
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) March 21, 2022
Really breaking out the big bucks for peace, aren't you?
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) March 21, 2022
You know it, baby. The biggest bucks for peace.
— JGH (@Hubb57) March 21, 2022
Don't break your arm patting yourselves on the back, xiao ren.
— アーケットシスターズ (@ArquetteSisters) March 21, 2022
Is that sarcasm we detect?
Damn right it’s sarcasm. Because the Chinese government’s gesture is a monumentally empty one. $1.57 million from China — China! — is not even a molecule of one drop in the bucket. Moreover, does anyone actually believe for a second that Xi Jinping isn’t supportive of what Vladimir Putin is doing and that he doesn’t want to do the exact same thing to Hong Kong and Taiwan?
The Fortnite fundraiser sent more
— DestructiveChemistry (@DesperateChem) March 21, 2022
@FortniteGame raised 36 million in one day
— ZAVI🟢R (@ZaviorOfficial) March 21, 2022
San Marino has sent more aid.
No joke.— Un Sr de Barcelona (@UnSrdeBarcelona) March 21, 2022
In fairness, though, no amount of “humanitarian aid” from the Chinese government means anything. Because there’s nothing humanitarian about the Chinese government.
