China's Ukraine Supporters: an "Infantile Disorder" by Zhang Wenmu

"If this political infantile disorder is not corrected—let alone if it becomes deeply entrenched—then China’s tomorrow could very well be the Northern Song’s Shame of Jingkang."

Zhang Wenmu (张文木) is a well-known old-school strategist, belonging to the generation of “educated youth” who were sent down to the countryside during the 1970s. Although he presents his views in notably more “red” language, his basic position on Ukraine is similar to that of Cheng Yawen (程亚文): national policy should be decided by geopolitical interests rather than moral values, and the risk of a US-Russia alliance meant that it was a matter of strategic necessity for China to side with Russia.

What makes Zhang’s piece fascinating is his deep unease, as a scholar belonging to the same generation as the current Chinese leadership, at what he perceives to be the imprudence of younger generations of analysts and online commentators on questions of national security. Calls for China to side with Ukraine during the early stages of Russia’s invasion draw his ire, with special contempt reserved for those “well-meaning commentators” who, he says, suffer from an “infantile disorder” and would sa…