{"id":1365459,"date":"2022-03-08T17:31:15","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T22:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1365459"},"modified":"2022-03-08T17:31:19","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T22:31:19","slug":"china-says-ukraines-neo-nazi-azov-battalion-helped-hong-kong-protesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-says-ukraines-neo-nazi-azov-battalion-helped-hong-kong-protesters\/","title":{"rendered":"China Says Ukraine&#039;s Neo-Nazi &#039;Azov Battalion&#039; Helped Hong Kong Protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchina-says-ukraines-neo-nazi-azov-battalion-helped-hong-kong-protesters%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1365459&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The Chinese state propaganda newspaper\u00a0<em>Global Times<\/em> elevated the Russian government\u2019s claims that its ongoing invasion of Ukraine is necessary to \u201cde-Nazify\u201d the country on Monday by accusing Ukraine\u2019s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion militants of \u201cinvolvement\u201d in the 2019 Hong Kong anti-communist protests.<\/p>\n<p>The article follows remarks by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stating that the Communist Party is seeking more \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/03\/07\/chinas-top-diplomat-beijing-seeks-active-role-ukraine-war\/\">active<\/a>\u201d involvement in the war between Russia and Ukraine and may signal China\u2019s argument for a bigger role in the conflict: that Russia\u2019s enemies in Ukraine are, allegedly, conspiring with China\u2019s enemies at home.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Azov Battalion, the\u00a0<em>Global Times <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202203\/1254217.shtml\">claimed<\/a>, \u201cis known in the West for its extreme neo-Nazi stance, and for its suspected involvement in a number of terrorist attacks and separatist incitement incidents in various countries and regions, including the riots in China\u2019s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese government considers the peaceful anti-communist protests in Hong Kong that year terrorist activity. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2019\/06\/17\/photos-hong-kong-nearly-doubles-anti-china-protest-size-to-2-million-largest-in-history\/\">Millions<\/a> took the streets of the once-autonomous region initially to oppose a proposed bill that would have allowed China to extradite anyone present in Hong Kong into China if accused of violating Chinese law. Chinese Communist \u201ccrimes\u201d including vague accusations like \u201cpicking quarrels and provoking trouble,\u201d a catch-all used to imprison anyone publicly criticizing the Communist Party\u2019s government performance.<\/p>\n<p>China violently repressed the 2019 protests, initially sending hordes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2019\/09\/17\/100-days-of-hong-kong-protests-thugs-chant-beat-the-cockroaches-in-mob-attacks\/\">armed thugs<\/a> to beat peaceful protesters and later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2020\/05\/28\/china-passes-national-security-law-suffocating-hong-kong\/\">passing<\/a> a law through Beijing allowing police to arrest people in Hong Kong for violating China\u2019s \u201cnational security.\u201d The law prescribed minimum sentences of ten years in prison for anyone found guilty of \u201cterrorism,\u201d \u201cinciting foreign interference,\u201d \u201csecession,\u201d or \u201csubversion of state power.\u201d While, under the \u201cOne Country, Two Systems\u201d policy, laws passed in Beijing do not legally apply in Hong Kong, Hong Kong police have ruthlessly enforced the national security law, resulting in the arrest or exile of a large percentage of Hong Kong protest leaders.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_17523362\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/08\/wi\/ap\/15\/hong-kong-rights-disband-june-16-2019-file-photo-protesters-march-streets-an-extradition-bi.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>In this June 16, 2019, file photo, protesters march on the streets against an extradition bill organized by Civil Human Right Front in Hong Kong. (AP Photo\/Vincent Yu)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The protesters initially asked for an end to the proposed extradition law, then expanded to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2019\/12\/02\/hundreds-of-thousands-return-to-hong-kong-streets-invigorated-by-u-s-support\/\">five demands<\/a>: an end to the extradition bill, the release of political prisoners, direct election of lawmakers, for Hong Kong officials to stop referring to peaceful protests as \u201criots,\u201d and a formal investigation into police brutality. No evidence suggests any neo-Nazi ideology behind the Hong Kong protests or any demands in line with that political movement.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20040962\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1207134577-e1645995892812.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-20040962 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1207134577-e1645995892812-1024x767-1.jpg\" alt=\"Chechen\" width=\"1024\" height=\"767\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Veterans of the Azov volunteer battalion, who took part in the war with Russia-backed separatists on the Esat of Ukraine, salute during the mass rally called \u201cNo surrender\u201d in Kiev on March 14, 2020. (SERGEI SUPINSKY\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Global Times<\/em> did not explain or provide evidence for its claim that the Ukrainian Azov Battalion was active in the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. The propaganda outlet appeared to be referencing, however, a visit by four men believed to have been former members of the Azov Battalion to Hong Kong in 2019. The men took photos among protest crowds and posted them to social media, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/politics\/article\/3040625\/far-right-ukrainian-activists-say-they-were-only-hong-kong\">baffling<\/a> the actual Hong Kong protesters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody here knows who they are. Nobody invited them,\u201d a dissident known as Hong Kong Hermit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/zmjjey\/what-the-hell-are-ukrainian-fascists-doing-in-the-hong-kong-protests\">told<\/a> Vice News at the time. Another protester who chose to remain anonymous noted that the protesters reacted with outrage when realizing that \u201cneo-Nazis\u201d had attended one of their events.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOnce people were informed they are neo-Nazis, my mentions have been full of Hong Kongers outright rejecting them,\u201d the protester said.<\/p>\n<p>The men themselves, led by former Azov fighter\u00a0Serhii Filimonov, claimed that they had traveled to Hong Kong for \u201cprotest tourism\u201d and had nothing to do with the actual anti-communist movement.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhile we may sympathise with the protesters, we understand that our involvement would only hurt their cause because of negative publicity. We would not want that,\u201d Filimonov told the\u00a0<em>South China Morning Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced in late February that his country would recognize two regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as sovereign countries independent of Kyiv in light of an eight-year-old war there between the Ukrainian military and Russian proxies. Putin claimed the invasion, which has consisted largely of airstrikes in dense urban centers such as Kyiv, was necessary to \u201cde-Nazify\u201d the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/clips\/2022\/03\/03\/russian-fm-sergey-lavrov-ukraines-zelensky-a-neo-nazi-president\/\">referred<\/a> to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a \u201cneo-Nazi\u201d last week, ignoring that he became president in 2019 in large part due to support from ethnic Russian voters and that Zelensky is both Jewish and lost family in the Holocaust. Zelensky has effusively repeated these points to counter the Russian claims against him.<\/p>\n<p>The existence of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2014\/07\/31\/neo-nazis-fight-for-pro-eu-us-backed-ukrainian-government\/\">Azov Battalion<\/a>, a wing of the Ukrainian military, is largely the base upon which Russia makes its claim to fighting Nazism. Azov fighters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/world\/2022\/03\/05\/russia-invasion-ukraine-attention-extremist-regiment-nazi\/9368016002\/?gnt-cfr=1\">use<\/a> Nazi iconography and express admiration for Adolf Hitler openly.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Azov Battalion fighters are active in the current conflict with Russia, though some evidence exists of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.illiberalism.org\/unexpected-friendships-cooperation-of-ukrainian-ultra-nationalists-with-russian-and-pro-kremlin-actors\/#Interactions\">ties<\/a> between them and ideologically aligned Russian groups.\u00a0During the first days of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine\u2019s National Guard published a video on social media showing Azov fighters covering bullets in pig fat to use, they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/02\/27\/ukraine-national-guard-shares-video-of-fighters-greasing-bullets-in-pig-fat-for-chechen-orcs\/\">claimed<\/a>, against Chechen fighters reportedly being transferred into Ukraine. Chechens are majority Muslim.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky\u2019s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, largely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/commentary\/ukraines-accelerating-slide-authoritarianism\">tolerated<\/a> the Azov Battalion. Poroshenko campaigned against Zelensky by branding him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-48007487\">vulnerable<\/a> to Russian influence; the campaign worked to <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2019\/04\/01\/ukraines-tv-president-is-dangerously-pro-russian\/\">convince<\/a> some outsiders that Zelensky was \u201cdangerously pro-Russian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-48007487\">defeated<\/a> Poroshenko in the 2019 presidential election with upwards of 70 percent of the vote, attracting significant support from ethnic Russians and native Russian speakers. Zelensky himself is a native Russian speaker; Poroshenko <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/20190416-russian-speakers-ukraine-candidate-talking-language\">mocked<\/a> his poor Ukrainian on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky performed well in the southern and eastern regions of the country with a greater Russian ethnic presence, while Poroshenko only managed to win portions of the far west.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky\u2019s stance towards the war in Donetsk and Luhansk resulted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-49903996\">protests<\/a>\u00a0from anti-Russian forces after he agreed to a deal that would have expanded the regions\u2019 autonomy through elections.<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky\u2019s Jewish identity has also made him a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/nationalist-marchers-in-kyiv-say-ukraine-is-under-occupation-by-jewish-clan\/\">target<\/a> of Azov-supported protests, which have denounced him as the head of a \u201cJewish clan\u201d allegedly \u201coccupying\u201d Ukraine. No overt cooperation appears to exist between Zelensky and the Azov Battalion in the current war.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1646741052292000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3Jkadm_idMfRvYD7Dxb3RK\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1646741052292000&#038;usg=AOvVaw0YtInSFC5lkse_UNb1Eg2K\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chinese state propaganda newspaper\u00a0Global Times elevated the Russian government\u2019s claims that its ongoing invasion of Ukraine is necessary to \u201cde-Nazify\u201d the country on Monday by accusing Ukraine\u2019s neo-Nazi Azov<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1365459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1365459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1365459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1365459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1365459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}