US lawmakers on Wednesday asked the State Department to brief them about Russia’s use of Chinese fighters in its war in Ukraine.
The lawmakers made this demand in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying that Moscow could only employ Chinese mercenaries with Beijing’s “tacit approval.”;
Earlier this month, Ukraine said that its forces had captured two Chinese men in eastern Ukraine and that no fewer than 155 Chinese nationals were fighting on the Russian side.
The letter, sent by the House of Representatives’ select committee on China, reflects a growing desire among China hawks in Congress to see the Trump’s administration pressure China over its alignment with Russia.
According to the Republican chair of the committee John Moolenaar and its top Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the presence of Chinese fighters in Ukraine showed those deepening ties.
“Given the Chinese Communist Party’s broad control in Chinese society, it is clear that Russia’s recruitment campaign of PRC (People’s Republic of China) nationals could not exist without at least the tacit approval of the Party,”; the lawmakers told Rubio in the April 30 letter.
They asked the State Department to outlook for Congress whether the US has confronted Beijing about the developments and what actions it was pursuing to address it.
Meanwhile, China, which has declared a “no-limits”; partnership with Russia, has condemned what it described as irresponsible remarks about its nationals fighting in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Beijing has reportedly tried to position itself as an actor in attempts to negotiate an end to the war, though it has refrained from criticizing Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The State Department has termed the reports of Chinese men fighting in Moscow’s war as disturbing.
