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China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

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Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#361
post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is overly simplification. I think the sentiment in China is really not about supporting Russia; it is about anti-US. Because quite a lot of people in China think US is organizing an Eastern NATO, to "destabilize" the whole region. For example, the nuclear-powered marine deal with Australia, etc. Biden’s first year was much harsher on China than Russia. In 1999, NATO bombed the Chinese embassy, killing 3, that cert…

Eastern NATO? Sounds like something many smaller countries in the region would love to join, to secure each other against a large expansionistic neighboring country.

It might come as a surprise to you. But a lot of countries in Asia consider US and China are both bullies.

Just look how many Asia countries joined the US-lead economic sanction/coercion. Very few.

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is simply the first paragraph of [1]: > The U.S. Department of Defense’s Biological Threat Reduction Program collaborates with partner countries to counter the threat of outbreaks (deliberate, accidental, or natural) of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases. The program accomplishes its bio-threat reduction mission through development of a bio-risk management culture; international research partne…

Threat Reduction Program? Wow, that sounds familiar. "Of the $41.91 million, $37.61 million was awarded to EcoHealth Alliance by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), which describes its mission as “to protect the United States and its allies by enabling the DoD and international partners to detect, deter, and defeat WMD and threat networks.”" https://nypost.com/2021/07/01/pentagon-gave-millions-to-ecoh... I wo…

The National Security Council's Pandemic Response Team, which would have integrated and coordinated warnings from such offices in the early days of the Coronavirus spread, was eviscerated in 2018. They tried to raise the alarm anyway, but were ignored: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/trump-fired-pandemic...

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#363
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The existence of biolabs is completely genuine. You can read more (from a .gov site) here [1]. They seem to have removed the fact-sheets from the site, but you can still access them on archive.org, like here [2]. The fact sheets don't have anything especially seedy on them but do confirm that the labs were funded by the US Department of Defense, and do work with pathogens. Point being you don't need the quotes. There…

Crucial question: does the DoD fund equivalent labs in other countries too, or is Ukraine an outlier? If such activity is just business as usual for the DoD in every country, then it certainly weakens the case for anything nefarious happening specifically in relation to Ukraine.

It's not really a crucial question - the use or not in other countries doesn't change how stupid an idea it is. But, to answer you, it's mostly in former eastern block countries. It seems to be mostly funding (and technical assistance) for the Ukrainians to build their internal version of the CDC, although it seems to also act as monies to secure any leftover Soviet bioweapons.

Here's the international agreement establishing the relationship: https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/05-829-Ukra....

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#364
post #358

The propaganda is also very strong on Chinese social media (especially Wechat). I leave in France and I know a few Chinese person that keep telling me that this war was mainly caused by USA, that the Ukraine president is a dictator and so on...

Oh, the irony! As an Indian, reading nytimes and bbc articles about India was a real eye opener on how much propaganda is passed off as 'opinion' and 'news' in the western press. I mean, the confidence and elan with which a narrative is pushed by blatantly hiding contrarian views and even facts is fascinating to observe, especially when you're on the ground looking at stuff firsthand. You really need to experience it…

You always need to take anything in 'opinion', 'editorial' or 'analysis' sections with a grain of salt.

That being said, bias does not automatically imply propaganda. Naturally someone raised in the UK/US is going to have a Western interpretation of actions and bias, but in most cases these are beliefs genuinely held. I'm sure as a British person I could find many areas where I disagree with you, and our particular views are coloured by cultural biases - but that does not make them propaganda IMO. Tech articles often contain ridiculous statements around encryption and the dark web, but it's most likely lack of understanding than propaganda.

I would say propaganda requires intent - usually to achieve a political aim at the behest of the government. Genuine propaganda is hard to conclusively find within the BBC - though I personally suspect some of the covid reporting contained a type of voluntary propaganda.

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know about the ads, but here are their state media reports: They peddle Russia’s claim that US has bioweapons in Ukraine: https://www.newsweek.com/china-peddles-russias-claim-that-us... And here’s CGTN’s article on “biolabs” in Ukraine, citing Russia media outlets and officials: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202203/1254330.shtml Edit: As pointed out by a commenter, the above article is from GlobalTimes, not…

>And here’s CGTN’s article That's GlobalTimes. I know they are both state media, but we are talking CGTN here. > citing Russia media outlets and officials I bet I can find them quoting US or Ukrainian media outlets and officials too. Should media not report what countries fighting a war claim? It's not like Western media consistently gets it right (e.g. deaths on snake island) by reporting only the pro-Ukrainian side…

> It's not like Western media consistently gets it right (e.g. deaths on snake island) by reporting only the pro-Ukrainian side.

You're acting like an anti-Ukrainian position exists, to be discussed.

What position other than pro-victim would you like to see reported on, please?

It seems like you're very new here, and the only thing you've discussed is the Russia situation, or trying to make it look like it's reasonable to listen to state media to learn what's happening, by contrasting state propaganda to a disgraced magazine that was sold for a dollar to the daily beast ten years ago, then to religious extremists

Russia has invaded another country without provocation, and is shelling civilians, children's schools, hospitals, and grocery lines.

What pro-Russian spin would you like to see, specifically, please, new anonymous account? Thanks.

----

An aside: I am of the opinion that if websites like Facebook and Twitter don't get their fake account problem under control, laws will be coming to do it for them, and if those laws are written by politicians, it's going to go really badly for UGC websites

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#366
post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eastern NATO? Sounds like something many smaller countries in the region would love to join, to secure each other against a large expansionistic neighboring country.

It might come as a surprise to you. But a lot of countries in Asia consider US and China are both bullies. Just look how many Asia countries joined the US-lead economic sanction/coercion. Very few.

Well, I hope they are smart in hedging their bets.

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that the Soviet Union won WWII is itself propaganda and ignores the contributions of many, many nations, not to mention the entire Pacific war. Also, the liberation of France was exclusively the western allies.

For the most part I agree but the Soviets were integral. Without the Eastern front taking up so much of the enemy resources, the Western front would have been very different.

After they were forced to switch sides. Before, they did their own share of conquest and genocide in eastern Europe [1,2,..], and the Allies generously let them keep those countries after the war. But all is forgiven and forgotten if one ends up on the Right Side of History.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#368
post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Outside the west, there is a massive world that just sees things differently. Here the US is not a force for good but a warmongering empire. Think of it what you will but it would be wrong to discard it as mere propaganda. These are deeply held beliefs.

Belief From a country or countries where people are not free to inform themselves or to speech openly about opinions , that's where propaganda have are easily spread..

US banned Russian media for not spreading US narrative. Are you going to lecture the world about freeze peach?

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Threat Reduction Program? Wow, that sounds familiar. "Of the $41.91 million, $37.61 million was awarded to EcoHealth Alliance by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), which describes its mission as “to protect the United States and its allies by enabling the DoD and international partners to detect, deter, and defeat WMD and threat networks.”" https://nypost.com/2021/07/01/pentagon-gave-millions-to-ecoh... I wo…

The National Security Council's Pandemic Response Team, which would have integrated and coordinated warnings from such offices in the early days of the Coronavirus spread, was eviscerated in 2018. They tried to raise the alarm anyway, but were ignored: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/trump-fired-pandemic...

The article you're linking to is partisan propaganda [1] and doesn't address the question I've raised.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/16/no-white-...

Re: China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war

#370
post #358

The propaganda is also very strong on Chinese social media (especially Wechat). I leave in France and I know a few Chinese person that keep telling me that this war was mainly caused by USA, that the Ukraine president is a dictator and so on...

Oh, the irony! As an Indian, reading nytimes and bbc articles about India was a real eye opener on how much propaganda is passed off as 'opinion' and 'news' in the western press. I mean, the confidence and elan with which a narrative is pushed by blatantly hiding contrarian views and even facts is fascinating to observe, especially when you're on the ground looking at stuff firsthand. You really need to experience it…

I've seen the same in Indian news in reference to the USA. All country's news are slanted towards their populous. However in countries like China and Russia they print straight up lies.
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