The Chinese Embassy in Russia has accused Russian border guards of “barbarous” treatment of Chinese citizens on the Russian-Kazakh border. Russia replied that it was “an isolated case.”
“We made it clear that this incident seriously violated the rights of Chinese citizens and is completely inconsistent with the current friendly relations between the countries,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement, quoted by the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The border incident happened at the end of July. According to a statement from the Chinese embassy, five Chinese were denied entry to Russia from Kazakhstan at the time and their tourist visas were revoked. Before that, they were interrogated for almost four hours, the embassy notes.
The embassy did not release the names of the tourists, but the SCMP found that the facts from his statement matched the story of a well-known Chinese video blogger under the nickname Jin Wenxin. On Monday, July 31, he published a video in which he said that he and four friends were not allowed into Russia in the Astrakhan region. Jin complained that Russian border guards searched their luggage three times and treated them like “criminals.” Jin’s post has received more than 30,000 likes since it was posted.
A Chinese embassy statement cited a response from Russian officials. According to him, the Chinese were denied entry to Russia because “the destination indicated on their visa application did not match their actual destination.” The Russian side stated that “this case is an isolated one”, the country does not pursue a discriminatory policy and welcomes Chinese citizens to visit the country.
The Chinese Embassy notes that it has asked Russia to conduct an additional investigation and provide a “satisfactory answer.”
