...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...Footage of a restrained soldier appearing to explain his experience in a battle in a mix of Chinese and English to his captor has been published by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Speaking alongside Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever during that nationalist politician's first trip to Kyiv, Zelensky said during a battle in Donetsk — a Ukrainian region since the end of the Cold War — his armed forces engaged a squad of half a dozen Chinese soldiers.
Two of them were captured, he said, stating they found on the men ''documents, their passports, even credit cards. They are Chinese citizens. I think this is a very important element''. Zelensky said ''we have information'' there are more Chinese fighters '' in the occupier's units'' than just this small group, and ''we are currently verifying all the facts''.
Both the Russian military and Armed Forces of Ukraine allow foreign volunteers or mercenaries to join, and it is in no way clear whether these claims imply whether the Chinese soldiers were their on their own initiative or on that of Beijing. Zelensky, however, tacitly implied their capture meant an official Chinese deployment on behalf of Moscow.
If true this would be a very serious matter. The arrival of North Korean troops last year caused concern worldwide, but they were not deployed to Ukraine itself, but were used to defend mainland Russia itself from Ukraine's counter-invasion. Per Zelensky's claim, today's Chinese fighters were engaged in combat inside Ukraine itself.
