CNN
 — 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukrainian intelligence had identified 155 Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, a day after Ukraine said two Chinese nationals were captured in the country.

The Chinese nationals had been recruited through advertisements, including on social media, Zelensky said in a briefing Wednesday.

China has consistently denied any involvement in the war.

A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier Wednesday that any claims that Chinese citizens are fighting in Ukraine were “groundless.”

“It is important to emphasize that the Chinese government has always instructed its citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict and avoid getting involved in the conflict in any form, especially avoiding participation in any party’s military operations,” spokesperson Lin Jian said in a press conference.

A Ukrainian security agencies document seen by CNN purports to show a list of more than 150 Chinese citizens who have served with the Russian armed forces, most of whom are said to be in the lowest military positions.

Most of the contracts in the document are dated “2024” and straddle different military units.

The list has not been verified by CNN.

“We are collecting information and we believe that there are more, many more,” Zelensky said Wednesday, before claiming that Beijing was aware of Russians placing recruitment videos on Chinese social networks.

“These people arrive to the Russian Federation, to Moscow. Medical examinations last three to four days. Training centers are for one to two months. They fight on the territory of Ukraine,” he added.

Asked whether he thought the presence of Chinese nationals in Ukraine was a result of official Beijing policy, Zelensky said: “I don’t have an answer to this question yet. The Security Service of Ukraine will work on it … We are not saying that someone gave any command, we do not have such information.”

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, citizens from nations including Britain and the United States have been known to volunteer alongside Ukrainian forces, against the advice of their own governments.

Some have been killed in action on the front line. CNN has previously reported that Ukrainian embassies have helped recruit foreign fighters.

The allegations of Chinese nationals fighting alongside Russian forces follow claims by Ukraine that two Chinese nationals fighting in the Russian army have been taken prisoner in eastern Ukraine.

Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces fighting in the Donetsk region obtained the Chinese nationals’ documents, bank cards and personal data.

The Ukrainian president on Wednesday added that Ukraine was “ready to exchange” the two individuals for Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The Kremlin spokesperson on Wednesday declined to comment on the claim that Chinese nationals were allegedly captured in Ukraine. Beijing said on Wednesday that it was “currently verifying” the situation with Ukraine.

One of the Chinese nationals captured fighting in eastern Ukraine had paid to join the Russian military through an intermediary in China, with the goal of becoming a Russian citizen, according to the Ukrainian military.

The Chinese detainee, who Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday was taken as a prisoner of war alongside a second Chinese national, was likely speaking under duress.

“According to the prisoner, he joined the Russian military through an intermediary in China, paying RUB 300,000 ($3,500) for the opportunity to enlist in the Russian Armed Forces,” the communications department of the Luhansk Operational Tactical Group said in a statement to Ukrainian media.

“He stated that his primary motivation was the desire to become a serviceman and obtain Russian Federation citizenship. He also mentioned that some group members had legal issues in China,” the statement to news outlet Ukrainska Pravda said.

“He reported that he had received training in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk Oblast as part of a group of Chinese nationals. The training covered basic military skills and was conducted without an interpreter, relying on gestures and a mobile translator for communication.”

The Ukrainian military tactical group said the man was taken prisoner when a Russian assault group chose to surrender under fire from Ukrainian soldiers.

“The individual is currently cooperating with Ukrainian investigative agencies, and his identity and citizenship have been confirmed. He noted that his family was aware of his intentions to go to Russia, although he officially travelled as a tourist,” the statement to Ukrainska Pravda said.

Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

China unveiled retaliatory tariffs of 84% on imports of US goods on Wednesday, matching additional tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier in the day and further inflaming a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

Trump’s sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs took effect earlier on Wednesday. China was the hardest-hit nation, with a levy now totaling at least 104% on all its goods. The two countries have been involved in a game of tit-for-tat on trade, with Beijing standing firmly against each new tariff introduced by Washington.

The trade war widened further on Wednesday after the European Union announced it would begin collecting retaliatory duties on US imports starting Tuesday.

Announcing China’s response, the State Council Tariff Commission said in a statement: “The US escalation of tariffs on China is a mistake upon mistake, severely infringing upon China’s legitimate rights and interests, and seriously damaging the multilateral trading system based on rules.”

The amped-up retaliation comes after China repeatedly warned that it would “fight to the end” if the US moved forward with further tariffs.

On Wednesday, Trump’s additional levies on Chinese imports had originally been set to increase by 34 percentage points. But the president tacked on another 50 percentage points after Beijing refused to back down from the standoff. Prior to the most recent rounds of escalation, Trump had already imposed 20% levies on China.

The back-and-forth between the superpower economies has led to swings in stock markets globally, with Asian and European markets mostly lower and US stocks opening mixed.

“This is getting so ridiculous that it’s hard to believe it’s actually happening between the two largest economies that make up almost $50 trillion of global GDP, almost half of the world – let alone a tariff war against the whole world,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of Bleakley Financial Group, wrote in a research note.

In addition to the increased tariff levy, China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed export controls on 12 American companies, barring Chinese companies from supplying them with dual-use items that have both military and civilian applications.

It also added six more US firms to its “unreliable entity list,” banning them from trading or making new investments in China, and filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization over the latest US tariffs.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has shrugged off China’s retaliatory moves, telling Fox Business on Wednesday that it is unfortunate that China does not “want to come and negotiate” a tariff deal. He called China the “worst offenders in the international trading system.”

“They have the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world, and I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them … They’re the surplus country,” Bessent said. China’s “exports to the US are five times our exports to China. So, they can raise their tariffs. But so what?”

The EU announcement on Wednesday was in response to a sharp increase in US tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum, unveiled last month.

“These countermeasures can be suspended at any time, should the US agree to a fair and balanced negotiated outcome,” the European Commission said.

As Trump escalated his tariff war, the message from the Chinese government, state media and opinion leaders alike has been one of defiance, voicing their determination to strike back while leaving the door open for negotiation.

Shortly after the latest round kicked in on Wednesday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters that the US needed to “demonstrate an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit” if it truly wanted to resolve the trade war through dialogue.

China also released a white paper on its trade and economic ties with the US, saying that relations had been damaged by the “unilateral and protectionist measures” taken by Washington.

In a written Q&A about the white paper, an unnamed Commerce Ministry official emphasized that China does not want a trade war, but said Beijing would “never sit idly by” while the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese people are “harmed or stripped away.”

Despite the defiant tone and calibrated confidence, China is bracing for impact to its export sector, which has been a bright spot in its otherwise slowing economy. Last year, trade between the US and China totaled roughly half a trillion dollars.

“If the US insists on further escalating trade restrictions, China has the firm will and ample tools to take resolute countermeasures — and will see it through to the end,” said the official.

The successive rounds of tariffs come as China has reveled in a feeling of greater economic vitality following years of grappling with a crisis in the property sector, high local government debt and the fallout from Beijing’s pandemic controls.

Last month, the Chinese government announced a slew of measures to rev up domestic consumption as it anticipated the impact of Trump’s trade policy on its export-powered growth.

This story has been updated with additional reporting and context.

Washington
CNN
 — 

President Donald Trump’s top trade official said he wasn’t informed of the 90-day pause on most new tariffs until after it was announced.

At the same moment that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was defending Trump’s stiff tariffs during a House hearing, Trump said on his social media platform that the administration will delay the additional tariff hike on dozens of countries by 90 days — which went into effect for mere hours on Wednesday — with the exception of China.

Trump’s tariff hike, albeit short-lived, was the sharpest ever according to data going back 200 years, Fitch Ratings told CNN, which would have likely resulted in higher inflation and weaker economic growth if they were kept in place, according to most economists.

When Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada asked Greer when he learned of Trump’s latest tariff move, he said, “Well, I understood the decision was made a few minutes ago.”

“It looks like your boss just pulled out the rug from under you and paused the tariffs,” Horsford said.

Greer then said he was aware the policy change was a possibility Wednesday morning. But when asked directly if he knew the policy was going into effect, he replied that the administration discusses “all kinds of options.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a post on X that he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were with Trump “while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency.”

“We don’t really know who’s running things over there,” said Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, a Democrat, referring to Lutnick’s post.

During the hearing, Greer reiterated that the US trade deficit is an “emergency” that warrants Trump’s historic overhaul of US trade policy, but he said the president is still open to negotiating with countries. He said he recently spoke with his counterparts from the European Union, South Korea, Ecuador and Mexico.

Greer told Senate lawmakers on Tuesday that Trump’s blanket tariffs were necessary to combat the overall US trade deficit, even if the stock market languishes and long-time allies are caught in the crossfire. He said Trump’s trade goal is to address foreign countries’ so-called non-trade barriers, which includes regulations that don’t favor US companies.

Meanwhile, US and China are deep in a tit-for-tat trade war. Tariffs on China were hiked to 125% on Wednesday, effective immediately. Before Trump’s announcement, Beijing had retaliated with 84% tariffs on US imports.

“Almost all countries have announced that they’re not going to retaliate against the United States, obviously we have China that has made its own choice,” Greer said. “They’ve always given us a hard time, they’ve always limited our access over there and they’re doubling down on that path, that’s an issue of Chinese agency.”

The European Union also fought back against Trump’s tariffs on Wednesday, backing its first countermeasures against the 25% duties Trump imposed on steel and aluminum imports. The European Commission in a statement said it has a “clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the US, which would be balanced and mutually beneficial.”

Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, chair of the House Ways And Means Committee, claimed that there is “a serious trade problem when it comes to agriculture and the European Union.”

Greer said in response: “It’s fundamentally unfair, it’s structurally unfair, it has been for decades and I’ve been very clear with them that any kind of agreement or negotiation or anything, it has to have an (agriculture) component.”