[The Epoch Times, March 3, 2022](The Epoch Times reporters Fang Xiao and Gu Xiaohua interviewed and reported) The Russian-Ukrainian war has been going on for a week, and thousands of Chinese in Ukraine have been waiting for the CCP to charter a flight to evacuate their hopes in vain. At present, some Chinese travel from land to other countries. In addition to being ravaged by war, panic and despair accompanied them.
A week after the Russian-Ukrainian war began
The Russian-Ukrainian war continues. The Chinese embassy in Ukraine has repeatedly warned Chinese citizens in Ukraine that the situation is dangerous, but the official organization of the direct evacuation of citizens from several major cities in Ukraine did not appear until around March 1. On the 25th, the CCP issued a statement of “chartered flights to evacuate overseas Chinese”, but it has not been implemented so far.
On March 1, Russia’s military attack on Ukraine entered its sixth day. A Russian rocket attack that occurred in the center of the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, sparked a strong backlash in Ukrainian society.
Caixin reported on the 1st that a Chinese student in Kharkiv said that in Ukraine, which was in a wartime state, it was very difficult to rent a car, so students had to leave in batches. In recent days, the Chinese in Ukrainian have been communicating with the embassy about the evacuation plan, which has been changed to evacuate through neighboring countries on their own. At present, the embassy’s arrangement is uniformly followed. The evacuation is mainly by bus, and it will arrive at the western border of Ukraine and then enter other countries.
“We have several WeChat groups. After the chartered evacuation failed, everyone began to discuss the self-evacuation plan. Some Chinese families have private cars and trains,” said the above-mentioned international student.
Before the press release, it was reported that some overseas Chinese had already evacuated from Ukraine and arrived in neighboring countries, such as Poland and Moldova. But even the “chartered evacuation” operation from these countries has not happened.
On March 2, a reporter from The Epoch Times called a staff member in charge of the charter department of Air China. The staff who answered the call said: There is no charter flight now, so we can only contact the local embassy. The charter flight must be notified to us by the state, and we have not yet received the notification. We also listen to the above arrangement.
The Epoch Times reporter called China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, and both said they had not been notified of the charter flights.
The evacuation of overseas Chinese and students in China “cannot be said now”
On February 28, the Chinese embassy in Ukraine informed the local Chinese that they could go to five neighboring countries – Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland first.
On March 2, a male international student told the Epoch Times reporter that we are now evacuating from Kharkov to Lviv in the west, and then to Hungary. We have not said any plans to return from Hungary for the time being. We have to communicate with the embassy if we can go back to China.
“Right now, Moldova is not allowed to go. After we go, we have refugee status. So we choose to go to Romania or Hungary. These two countries have good relations with China. If we want to return home, we can leave from Serbia.”
A woman from a company who was evacuated from Kyiv said that the company requires a unified voice, and it cannot be said now to avoid causing trouble. All information about our evacuation will be reported to the embassy and will not be announced through social media. The situation changes at any time, and the company only allows Post Raiders. “We have already arrived in Romania, and the company is arranging charter flights. Moldova’s airspace is now banned. There should be no special planes. If you go out, it’s still possible to go out to Romania, but the embassy has not arranged charter flights.”
It is still unknown how the overseas Chinese in Ukraine will return home safely
The evacuation of Ukraine is only the first step for overseas Chinese to try to return to mainland China, and how to return home safely is still unknown. According to statistics from the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine, so far, more than 6,000 people have registered for voluntary evacuation. If all 6,000 people are evacuated, 20-30 planes will be needed.
According to the data of Feichangzhun, as of March 1, China has no commercial flights with Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary; with Poland, there is a LOT Polish Airlines LO93 flight from Warsaw to Tianjin on March 2. Due to 10 confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia on the flight that entered on February 17, the flight will be suspended for 4 flights from March 7.
Regarding the question of why the Chinese nationals were not evacuated via Russian flights, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin avoided foreign media’s questions on March 1, saying only that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy in Ukraine “strive for all available resources” and “in order to ensure safety” Under the premise, assist in the safe evacuation of Chinese citizens in Ukraine.”
India has arranged at least five flights to evacuate nationals from countries surrounding Ukraine
In contrast, on the first day of the Russian-Ukrainian war (February 24), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to evacuate thousands of Indian citizens from Ukraine.
Modi said about 4,000 Indians have been evacuated since the Indian government began the evacuation effort a month ago. After Ukraine closed its airspace and commercial flights were suspended, the Indian government called on Indian citizens to seek shelter or, if possible, try to leave Ukraine by land.
The BBC Chinese website reported on February 28 that in the past few days, the Indian embassy in Ukraine has arranged five flights to evacuate nationals from countries surrounding Ukraine. India has arranged flights to take citizens back home from neighboring countries, including Romania and Hungary.
In an interview with The Epoch Times on March 2, historian Li Yuanhua said that the CCP has never taken the lives of Chinese people seriously, which is the biggest difference from a free society. The CCP will not evacuate the overseas Chinese until the situation deteriorates, and it will not organize or try to evacuate the overseas Chinese as soon as possible after the war. Relevant officials have to report to each other and give instructions, so it is very slow. This is not a problem of an official, it is a problem of the system.
Li Yuanhua said that China and Ukraine are the largest trading countries. Ukraine has many personnel from Chinese-funded companies. They all need to be evacuated. They must be organized by the state and take strong measures to solve the problem of the safety of their own nationals as soon as possible. . But it thinks that these thousands of people are not a big thing at all, so it drags it off again and again, and it can’t see its action for a long time.
And India did take the nationals seriously, and only reacted the first time. The elected government will definitely take care of the public opinion – my people are in the war abroad, I want to rescue them, make various responses quickly, mobilize resources from all aspects, and can also ask for help from other countries, or through commercial means to do it. If there is no civil aviation, you can pay other airlines to do it, which is not difficult at all. Besides, the CCP has such a good relationship with Russia.
Many Chinese and international students are trapped in Kharkiv without the ability to evacuate themselves
An international student in Kharkiv told Caixin on the evening of March 1, “At present, there are still many Chinese and international students in Kharkiv who have not evacuated. Due to the fierce exchange of fire in the city, students trapped in Kharkiv They didn’t have the ability to evacuate themselves and couldn’t get a car, and the train station was also shelled half an hour ago, so they could only ask the embassy for assistance.”
Some Chinese stranded in the area told Caixin that when the Ukrainian government announced that guns would be issued to civilians, the exchange of fire and bombardment all over the city of Kharkiv went out of control. Today, most of the Chinese in Kharkov have difficulty hiring vehicles that can carry people out of the city. After the outbreak of the war, if you take refuge in western Ukraine from Kharkov, the risk of encountering fighting along the way is also very high.
According to the general statistics of the local Chinese community, there are at least about 400 Chinese who are still stranded in the local area and have not yet been evacuated, many of them are international students. There are also some Chinese stranded in the local area who are employed in the Kharkiv Industrial Park.
Many stranded people have expressed their helplessness and worries on social media. Others said that the compatriots around them have even begun to prepare suicide notes.
Chinese students cry without the help of the embassy
On March 2, the Beijing Daily client reported that the WeChat public account of the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine issued a notice on the evacuation of Kyiv: At 12:00 noon on March 2 (Wednesday), all overseas Chinese and temporary evacuees in and around Kyiv are invited to The people who came to Ukraine gathered at Teremky, the terminus of the Blue Line of the Kyiv Metro, and then took the bus to Moldova. Self-driving personnel can travel with the convoy.
However, the phone recordings leaked online show that a Chinese female student in Kyiv, Ukraine, cried and complained that she had not received the first group of evacuation arrangements. She said that she could not rent a car, she was in despair, and she contacted the Chinese embassy hundreds of times, and the latter responded coldly. The girl said that the embassy told her to evacuate by herself, or she would continue to wait in place.
The girl said, I’m really scared now, I really want to seek help from the state, I’ve called you over and over again, I’m really about to collapse. I really want to have any policy from you guys to help me. You just asked us to evacuate and evacuate ourselves, but I don’t even know where are those people who say “the country is with us” on Weibo every day? “How do you want me (she) to believe in the country?”
Responsible editor: Li Muen#