China has started evacuating its citizens from Ukraine, state media reported Tuesday, amid fears for their safety due to the invasion by Beijing’s ally Russia but also reports of resulting hostility from angry Ukrainians. A further 1,000 Chinese nationals will leave Ukraine on Tuesday bound for Poland and Slovakia, both European Union member states, the report added. While countries including the US, UK and Japan evacuated diplomats and urged citizens to leave in the weeks before the invasion, China waited until Thursday before announcing it would organise charter flights to evacuate its nationals. China has said around 6,000 of its citizens are based in Ukraine for work and study. Two other EU nations — Hungary and Romania — will provide assistance to Chinese nationals coming from Ukraine, the embassy said in a Monday statement.

Source: Punch March 01, 2022 18:10 UTC