The underside of the infox, the chronicle

War in Ukraine, China serves Russian disinformation on the biological threat

Audio 04:04

Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

AP - Andy Wong

By: Sophie Malibeaux |

Gregory Genevrier Follow

5 mins

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China has presented itself as a neutral actor on the diplomatic scene.

Yet this week, Beijing has clearly sided with Moscow, actively relaying Russian disinformation.

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The remarks made at a press conference on Tuesday March 8 by Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speak volumes about Beijing's positioning.

He echoed the accusations made by Moscow five days earlier about an alleged biological threat.

The US has 336 labs in 30 countries under its control, including 26 in Ukraine alone.

It should give a full account of its biological military activities at home and abroad and subject itself to multilateral verification.

pic.twitter.com/vEiytBRKuo

— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) March 8, 2022

“Recently, US biological labs in Ukraine have drawn attention.

According to several reports, dangerous viruses are stored in these facilities.

During its military operation, Russia concluded that the United States is using these labs for military purposes.

According to US data, there are 26 laboratories in Ukraine.

In total, the United States has 336 laboratories in 30 different countries under its control.

They also conducted several biological military programs at Fort Detrick.

What are the intentions of the United States?

What exactly are they doing in these laboratories?

The international community is wondering.

We once again call on the United States to shed light on its military biological activities at home and abroad,

and to accept multilateral audits.

Translation of Zhao Lijian's remarks.

As we have already discussed here, Russian diplomacy accuses the United States of developing biological weapons in laboratories in Ukraine, without providing the slightest proof so far.

These allegations have been largely refuted, but the Chinese diplomat drives the point home when he quotes “ 

 ”, even though the Russian minister, Sergei Lavrov, has since corrected his statement.

Traveling to Turkey on Thursday March 10, he spoke of " 

 ".

A nuance of capital importance.

Sergei Lavrov speaks of biological activities carried out in the greatest secrecy “ 

 ”.

The UN Security Council is meeting this Friday, March 11 afternoon on this subject, at the request of Moscow.

The two powers are clearly engaged in a joint information offensive. 

Amplification by the official media

The entire Chinese state press hastened to relay and amplify this false information.

The

,

or the

, accuse the United States of carrying out bio-military activities on Ukrainian soil and in the rest of the world.

It was enough to boost this conspiracy theory in conspiratorial spheres around the world, and on social networks.

Example in France with the rapper Booba who shared the words of Zhao Lijian on his Instagram account followed by more than 978,000 people.

Screenshot of rapper Booba's Instagram story.

© Screenshot/ Instagram/ RFI

For its part, the

even goes so far as to make the link between these so-called American laboratories and the coronavirus pandemic, by taking up an article from the Russian media

.

What Moscow uses to justify the invasion of Ukraine is here used by Beijing to clear itself of all responsibility for the emergence of Covid-19. 

The reference to Fort Detrick by Chinese spokesman Zhao Lijiang is not new.

From July 2020, Chinese propaganda has been working to blame the United States for the emergence of the coronavirus.

The Fort Detrick theory served up to the Chinese public was intended to divert attention from China and its high-security labs. 

What is the United States saying?

The United States denounces the lies spread by Moscow and Beijing.

Undersecretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told the Senate that Ukraine does have “ 

 .”

She also expressed concern about sensitive materials falling into Russian hands. 

But immediately on social networks, these words were distorted and wrongly presented as an admission of guilt.

In fact, any biological research laboratory is bound to house sensitive materials.

In view of what is happening around certain nuclear power plants in Ukraine, it is understandable that the laboratories are also subjects of concern, without necessarily concluding that they contain biological weapons.

However, the conspiratorial scenario excludes from the outset the fact that a laboratory can serve medical research. 

nothing secret

In reality, what the Russian and Chinese diplomats present as covert operations is completely public and accessible on the website of the American Department of State, it is a cooperation agreement concluded in 2005 between the American ministry of Defense and the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, aimed at countering the risks of proliferation of sensitive pathogenic material “ 

 ”. 

Other documents are highlighted by the Russian and Chinese state media, presented as exhibits that the American authorities would have tried to make disappear.

Easily accessible through open source searches, they do not support accusations of manufacturing weapons.

Russian and Chinese propaganda misinterpret it.

These are simple technical reports illustrating official cooperation between US and Ukrainian ministries.  

The contradictions of Chinese diplomacy

The fact that China is now relaying these Russian infox undermines the claim of Chinese impartiality.

Beijing is doing the splits today.

On the one hand, its Minister of Foreign Affairs claims " 

 ".

And on the other, its spokesperson happily spreads Russian disinformation. 

Wang Yi: On the Ukraine issue, we have always adopted an objective and impartial attitude and made independent judgments and positions according to the reality of the facts.

— Chinese Embassy in France (@AmbassadeChine) March 9, 2022

This maneuver is part of a narrative that presents NATO as solely responsible for the war.

If, according to its official speech, China advocates respect for the territorial integrity of countries, it accuses NATO of having " 

 ".

Finally, this story aims to make people forget that today it is the Russian army that is bombing Ukraine.

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