 "An image a day: A Chinese artist bats for Ukraine as Xi backs Putin's war")
The Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping has been supporting Putin’s war on Ukraine and while Beijing is known for stifling the voices of those who defy the government’s stance, Xu Weixin, an artist, has chosen a different path.
Weixin, who lives in New York, draws one image per day depicting scenes from Ukraine in solidarity with the war-battered country. The 67-year-old artist began his venture on day one of the war and now has made 1,000 pictures of the conflict.
The artist has similarly fallen victim to China’s crackdown twice but that has not deterred him from backing Ukraine. Talking to the Wall Street Journal, Weixin said, “What I do is a tough balance.”
How did it all start?
On February 24, 2022, the day of the invasion, Xu sat in his studio, fixated on news reports of the war. Capturing screenshots of the unfolding events in Ukraine, he began sketching.
That night, he illustrated a resolute Zelensky clad in a bulletproof vest and shared the artwork across X, Instagram, Facebook, and the Chinese platform Weibo, where it rapidly amassed hundreds of thousands of views.
Encouraged by the traction it was receiving, Xu envisioned a series of war pictures that he called “Ukraine Every Day.” This visual diary contains images that the artist draws daily. Every morning, he wakes up and scans the news to find developments on the war and draws them later.
‘Block all of them’
Xu’s dedication has caught many by surprise. Many of his students often text him asking why he is “on the opposite side of the government”. “How did I respond? I just blocked them, all of them," the artist said.
He avoids trouble, he explained, by focusing on “reality” rather than “commentary.” His portraits, often inspired by news images, are meant to speak for themselves, and he shares them without attaching any personal remarks.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsDespite his careful approach, Xu said his Weibo account in China has been blocked twice in the past three years. The first suspension came after he shared an illustration of Xi Jinping, inspired by the Chinese leader’s phone call with Zelensky in April 2023, during which Xi advocated for dialogue to resolve the conflict.
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