The Chinese people have emptied an official Russian e-commerce platform at a sensitive moment of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Recently, many Chinese netizens chose to shop at the “Russia State Pavilion”, the only e-commerce platform authorized by the Russian Embassy in China, and “looted” the store of all kinds of snacks and tea, with popular items even being shown as “pre-sale items” and the store’s fan base skyrocketing, according to Chinese media reports.
On March 2, a thank you video appeared on the store’s home page. The Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce’s ambassador to China said that he appreciated the support of Chinese friends to Russia and the Russian national pavilion at this difficult time, and would remember this deep friendship, while also calling on Chinese friends to spend rationally.
In response to questions about whether China will continue to trade with Russia while Western countries are imposing successive sanctions on Russia, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on March 2, “China is firmly opposed to any illegal unilateral sanctions, which are never a fundamental and effective way to solve problems and will only bring serious difficulties to the economies and livelihoods of the countries concerned, further aggravating division and confrontation. He said China demands that the parties concerned must not harm the legitimate rights and interests of China and other parties in dealing with the Ukraine issue and relations with Russia. China and Russia will continue to carry out normal trade cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, “The Chinese government’s position is that it believes that sanctions are never a fundamental and effective way to solve problems, and China has always opposed any illegal unilateral sanctions. She said we can see that according to the data released by the U.S. Treasury Department itself, the number of sanctions imposed by the U.S. has increased tenfold over the past 20 years, with more than 3,800 sanctions imposed during the last U.S. presidential term, which means that on average, the sanctions stick is waved three times a day. She said that since 2011, the U.S. has imposed more than 100 sanctions on Russia, but we can calmly think or discuss whether the U.S. sanctions have solved the problem. Has the world become a better place because of the U.S. sanctions? Will the Ukraine problem be solved naturally because of the U.S. sanctions against Russia? Will Europe’s security become more secure because of U.S. sanctions against Russia?”