Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly reached a secret agreement where China pledged to support Russia ahead of its invasion of Ukraine, according to a prominent Chinese dissident citing insider information. As part of that covert arrangement, Beijing is said to have sent nearly 3,000 troops, embedded within North Korean units, to assist Russian forces on the ground.
The dissident, Yuan Hongbing, a former law professor at Peking University now living in exile in Australia, told The Epoch Times that he received the classified information from an insider whose father is a senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official ousted during Xi’s political purge.
According to the source, nearly 3,000 Chinese troops—primarily non-commissioned officers (NCOs)—were embedded within these North Korean units. NCOs are responsible for training soldiers and making key decisions in the field, making them the backbone of any military force.
“For the CCP, such deployment serves a critical purpose: to gain first-hand combat experience in modern warfare as preparation for a potential future conflict over Taiwan,” Yuan explained, citing information from his source.
Beijing swiftly denied any government involvement, insisting that those individuals were acting on their own as mercenaries.
If it is proven that these Chinese nationals were state-backed, China could face accusations of violating international laws prohibiting state involvement in mercenary activities.
According to the insider, the deployment of Chinese troops is part of a secret agreement between Xi and Putin, reached before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Negotiations over the agreement began as early as 2020 and concluded with a final decision to sign it in 2022.
Under this pact, Beijing has supported Russia not only through direct military involvement but also via indirect means. One such arrangement allegedly involves North Korea sending troops to fight for Russia, with China providing equipment for 100,000 North Korean special forces. “Moreover, for North Korea’s every loss on the battlefield, China has promised to replenish the troops,” the source said.
At the heart of the Putin–Xi agreement was the ambition to reshape the global order through what they call a “once-in-a-century global shift.” According to the source, the two leaders see the current moment as a rare window of opportunity for a major transformation—one aimed at challenging the “U.S.-dominated unipolar world.” Their strategic vision is for China and Russia to join forces in replacing the United States as the global leader and reshaping the international order.
In line with this agreement, the CCP has provided Russia with comprehensive support—economic, diplomatic, and military—which, according to the insider, has been essential to Russia’s ability to sustain its war in Ukraine and now poses the greatest obstacle to the U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate a ceasefire.
