It’s unclear whether Gao intended for his remarks to be made public. Phoenix News Media, a partially state-owned television network, published an edited transcript of his remark “with revisions from the ambassador himself.”
fredag 20. mai 2022
A Former Chinese Ambassador’s Trenchant Comments on Ukraine War Attract Notice
In a highly unusual move, a former Chinese ambassador to Ukraine spoke against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His published remark was subsequently quietly scrubbed from the Chinese internet. Gao Yusheng, a 75-year-old career diplomat, delivered a scathing indictment of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war during an internal webinar hosted by the government-affiliated China International Finance 30 Forum and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
It’s unclear whether Gao intended for his remarks to be made public. Phoenix News Media, a partially state-owned television network, published an edited transcript of his remark “with revisions from the ambassador himself.”
Painting a grim picture of Russia’s deep economic and political catastrophe in the aftermath of the war, Gao argued the country has been in a “continuous, historical process of decline” since the demise of the Soviet Union. “The so-called revitalization of Russia under Putin’s reign is based on a false premise. Russia’s decline is evident in all areas… and has had a significant negative impact on the Russian military and its combat capabilities,” he said. According to Gao, the odds are stacked so heavily against Putin that “it’s only a matter of time before Russia is fully defeated.”
It’s unclear whether Gao intended for his remarks to be made public. Phoenix News Media, a partially state-owned television network, published an edited transcript of his remark “with revisions from the ambassador himself.”
