CCP tries to goad US into war with Russia in response to Zelensky addressing Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky begged Congress early Wednesday morning for a no-fly zone, appealing for greater action from the legislative body to authorize harsher sanctions and bolstered defenses of embattled Ukraine.

During the speech before congressional members, Zelensky invoked the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor that launched the US into World War II, as well as the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which ignited a war in the Middle East. Zelensky even invoked the words of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The joint session of Congress stood and cheered as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi congratulated Zelensky for demonstrating "courageous leadership" during Russia's military aggression. Zelensky urged President Joe Biden to not just be the commander-in-chief of the United States, but also "to be the leader of the world"

"Just applause? [I]t's hypocritical. If the US really wants to show justice, it should send troops to Ukraine, or at least set up a no-fly zone, and fight Putin's troops directly, even [if] that means sacrifice of US soldiers. Don't just incite Ukrainians to die for American interest," Global Times commentator Hu Xijin responded.

The post that the Global Times operative quote tweeted showed a social media clip of Zelensky receiving a standing ovation from the members of Congress.

Global Times, a tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship People's Daily newspaper, is labeled China state-affiliated media by Twitter. Known as the CCP's propagandist mouthpiece, the publication often comments on international issues from a nationalistic perspective.

Over the weekend, US officials said that Russia has asked China for military aid and economic assistance in the war on Ukraine. Hu, the former editor-in-chief of the state-backed Global Times who was the executive editor of the regime-aligned paper until December, pushed back on the claims based on US diplomatic cables.

"[A]s a major military industrial power, Russia does not need to ask China to provide substantial military assistance for the limited scale war in Ukraine," Hu said in a video circulated by the state-sponsored Global Times, according to U.S. News. "China is not obligated to promise nor to export arms to Russia."

Politico said that Hu "could be obfuscating what China truly intends," although analysts indicated to U.S. News it may be an instance where the mouthpiece and policy align. "To provide arms now with everyone watching is quite unthinkable," said DC-based China Program at the Stimson Center director Sun Yun.

Beijing appearing to distance itself from Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine despite recent warmer relations between the two world powers has Western leaders on edge as the CCP's true intentions remain muddled.

Putin's ongoing war in Ukraine has shifted Biden's focus to Eastern Europe, following the botched Afghanistan withdrawal that cost the lives of 13 US service members and stranded numerous Americans in the Taliban-controlled country.

Most wealthy Americans support US military involvement in a potential "wider" European war, while lower-income voters were less likely to agree with the pro-involvement sentiment, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey.

Meanwhile, a majority of Americans believe Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine in the first place if former President Donald Trump was still in office.