Chinese news outlet accidentally leaks its own censorship rules on Ukraine coverage 

A Chinese news outlet appears to have accidentally leaked its own censorship instructions in its coverage of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

According to a now-deleted Weibo post, Horizon News, which operates under China’s state-owned outlet Beijing News, said that comments and reports deemed unfavorable to Russia or favorable to the West cannot be published.

“Simply put, China has to back Russia up with emotional and moral support while refraining from treading on the toes of the United States and European Union,” Ming Jinwei, a senior editor at the Xinhua News Agency, wrote in a WeChat blog cited by The Post. Xinhua is the official press agency of the Chinese government.

“In the future, China will also need Russia’s understanding and support when wrestling with America to solve the Taiwan issue once and for all,” the editor later added.

Over the years China and Russia have become increasingly active economic partners. Trade between China and Russia has grown from $10.7 billion in 2004 to $140 billion by 2021, according to the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank.

President Joe Biden announced a slew of new sanctions to punish Russia for what the White House is describing as the “beginning of an invasion.” He added, “[Russia] can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.”