People should bear in mind war is no laughing matter

On Friday, the management of Sina Weibo, the domestic equivalent to Twitter, announced the penalties given to the owners of 74 accounts that range from credit points deductions to suspension for a month. The decisions were made on the basis of the content of 542 micro blogs, which attempted to arouse mutual hate among people with different opinions on the Ukraine crisis.

On the same day, the domestic social media platform WeChat called for its users to stay rational while commenting on hot issues such as Ukraine. It specifically listed examples such as the rumors of young Ukrainian women fleeing to China as refugees or that college students could gain points by fighting in the war in Ukraine. Douyin, the domestic short video clip sharing app, has done the same.

Concerning international issues, it is natural for people to have different opinions and they have the right to voice their views, but they should adhere to the bottom line that war is not something to joke about, it costs lives.

On social networks, war might be nothing but a few video clips that show the night sky illuminated by gunfire and rockets, but in reality war means people bleeding, people being killed, and people becoming homeless. A war is bloody and messy. That's why politicians are always highly cautious before launching a war. Concerning the Ukraine crisis, even the sides involved in the war have expressed their willingness to minimize its possible negative effects upon civilians and avoiding any humanitarian disasters as much as possible.

If people cannot empathize with those who are suffering, they should at least not make jokes or even fabricate rumors at the expense of those caught up in the conflict. To make jokes about a war means disrespecting those people whose lives and livelihoods are at risk.

As a spokeswoman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the Ukraine question is rather complicated and has deep historical roots. China calls for all sides to exercise restraint and prevent the conflict from worsening. It calls for all parties to abandon the Cold War mentality so as to contribute to the building of a balanced, effective, sustainable European security mechanism via talks.

Those are rational words that everyone should heed.