Brother Dong is one of a growing band of Chinese volunteers who are lending their support to Ukraine
Are you looking for a way to stay sane in an environment that has been torn apart by war? Then perhaps what you need is a bubble tea.
That is the philosophy guiding Brother Dong, a Chinese-German volunteer in Ukraine. The 52-year-old former officer in China’s People’s Armed Police drives once a month from his home in Frankfurt to collect a haul of tapioca pearls from a warehouse in Berlin. From there he drives across Poland to reach Ukraine.
Brother Dong, who asked that the Guardian use his nickname for privacy reasons, is one of a small handful of Chinese volunteers in Ukraine. For him, the tapioca pearls are an opportunity to show his support for a country under siege by China’s biggest ally.
For many other Chinese people in Ukraine, support for Kyiv comes from a distrust of authoritarianism. With no way of expressing their political beliefs in China, Ukraine has become a forum in which some Chinese feel they can play a more active role in the global struggle between democracy and dictatorship. But their support comes at a price: harassment from Beijing, for themselves and their families.
