China's state media buys Meta ads pushing Russia's line on war • Hacker News Board

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

#321

Post by ksec » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:47 PM UTC

karaterobot wrote: post #253

ksec wrote: post #161

>Good WSJ article on Russia vs. China. In a nutshell, China miscalculated the situation. They will likely look to limit their bet (on Russia) for fear of becoming Russia 2.0 to the West. [1] The tweet is from Neil Cybart and WSJ. You may know him as one of the more accurate Apple analysts. And most people still to this day think either China miscalculated it, or China's official stance is somewhat unclear. ( Paul Gra…

> The tweet is from Neil Cybart and WSJ. You may know him as one of the more accurate Apple analysts. I think it's a good idea not to look at Twitter OR Apple analysts to help understand the Ukraine situation. Twitter is a perfect place to get breaking news, hot takes, and memes. Apple analysts may be very intelligent people. But, I want to wait for longer, more meticulous writing by people on the ground, or people w…

I am pointing out two example which HN readers will likely be familiar. Along with the WSJ article. As these people are shaping the narrative.

Trying to read China from what they do on the outside, such as diplomatic speeches and UN action, compared to what they do on the inside with their State / social media, supply chain and business support shows a completely different picture.

China has not only banned all pro Ukraine speeches on their Social media, showing support of Russia and claiming it is war started by US. If any of these have soften since the war started or toned down one might argue China could be changing stance. But they didn't. They double down on Russia. The Chinese are so furious to the point it has now become a positive ( or negative ) feedback loop within their own circle.

I am baffled as to why most in the west dont see it. Even when presented as it is.

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

#322

Post by brabel » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:49 PM UTC

thereddaikon wrote: post #30

DrinkWater wrote: post #5

I don’t know why China is so keen on helping Russia. Is this some kind of godfather deal and they want some massive ROI from Russia once things settle down a bit? Or is this some long-term strategy “against the West”?

All of those things but also, supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine is internally consistent with their views on Taiwan. They cannot denounce Russian aggression on Ukraine but still openly claim Taiwan.

Wrong. China already said what they think: every country's sovereignity must be respected, and they hope the conflict in Ukraine will be resolved quickly... however, Taiwan is a domestic issue for China alone to worry about and other countries should stay out of it.

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

#323

Post by ZYinMD » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:50 PM UTC

diego_moita wrote: post #295

ZYinMD wrote: post #274

> ...and downplay Russia's actions in launching an unprovoked invasion I would argue it is not "unprovoked". By incorporating Ukraine, NATO will have a direct adjacent border with Russia head to head, and missiles will be placed along the border, right at Russia's doorstep, what a stupid strategy for world peace. Putin has told us over many years it's unacceptable for the Russians. Think when USSR tried to place miss…

NATO doesn't "incorporate" countries. Becoming part of NATO is a sovereign decision for a country. But I guess "sovereignty" is an hard concept for imperialists to understand. > Remember what happened when USSR tried to place missiles in Cuba? Yes, there was no war. What is your point?

> there was no war

You should look up "Russian submarine captain who saved the world"

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

#324

Post by Day1 » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

livinglist wrote: post #315

floucky wrote: post #273

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...

I’m ashamed of my country and people… only if they were well informed and had unlimited access to internet would they start realizing they have been brainwashed by their own goevernment….

No post body was provided.

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

#325

Post by bakuninsbart » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:52 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #161

>Good WSJ article on Russia vs. China. In a nutshell, China miscalculated the situation. They will likely look to limit their bet (on Russia) for fear of becoming Russia 2.0 to the West. [1] The tweet is from Neil Cybart and WSJ. You may know him as one of the more accurate Apple analysts. And most people still to this day think either China miscalculated it, or China's official stance is somewhat unclear. ( Paul Gra…

As the WSJ article correctly points out, China immediately tried to caution the Russians in their invasion, China also never recognized the peoples republics of Luhansk and Donetzk, and didn't even accept Russia's annexation of Crimea. In the UN, China and others abstained instead of voting with Russia, and China on multiple occasions stressed the independence and importance of territorial integrity of Ukraine. It is still curious how vocal they were on sino-russian friendship in the lead up to the invasion, and how, according to US intelligence, China asked Russia to delay their invasion until after the Olympics.

A maybe reasonable guess would be that they, too, expected this war to be over before any large response from the West could be mustered. Then the whole thing would be out of the news-cycle relatively quickly, and while Russia would still be hit with harsh sanctions, China would have a) a russian economy even more dependent on them and b) a blueprint for what to expect in the case of war with Taiwan.

China's stance since the invasion isn't really unique though; India, Brazil, Vietnam and quite a few others also chose to abstain from the UN motion to condemn the invasion and call for an immediate ceasefire. - In fact, countries "representing" more than half the global population abstained. These countries also try to balance their response, while being pressured to show solidarity with Ukraine by their population internally.

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

#326

Post by veganhouseDJ » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:53 PM UTC

Sol- wrote: post #14

DrinkWater wrote: post #5

I don’t know why China is so keen on helping Russia. Is this some kind of godfather deal and they want some massive ROI from Russia once things settle down a bit? Or is this some long-term strategy “against the West”?

It's win-win for them, no? A weak Russia isolated from the west means cheap resources for China. And the West focusing on the conflict and spending resources in Europe draws attention away from China in Asia. Seems like it's their interest to keep both parties in a drawn out conflict. Though perhaps they have to balance it with how it affects the world economy.

I think they will play the hand as dealt but I don't think the conflict is worth it to them overall. There has already been a record sell-off in Chinese government debt the past few weeks.

This is such a fragile time after 2 years of COVID for the global economy. Even the Belt and Road countries being dragged down with Russia can't be worth it to them.

Not to mention they have their own economic/banking issues that they were probably hoping for a strong global recovery to help out with.

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

#327

Post by livinglist » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:55 PM UTC

Day1 wrote: post #324

livinglist wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m ashamed of my country and people… only if they were well informed and had unlimited access to internet would they start realizing they have been brainwashed by their own goevernment….

Quoted post unavailable.

No I cannot. Only China and Russia ban websites that have voices against their government.

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

#328

Post by stale2002 » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:55 PM UTC

ashwagary wrote: post #317

stale2002 wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ignoring the James Bond qualifier makes this scenario completely plausable No its not. It is not plausible at all. Just think about this for a second. People in eastern europe are genetically similar to russians. Why would they make a super weapon, to kill off people with slavic DNA, when such a super weapon would target much of its own population as well? The conspiracy doesn't make any sense even if you assume su…

>Why would they make a super weapon, to kill off people with slavic DNA You seem to have followed one unecessary qualifier with another one immediately. I suspect this is somewhat intentional because it's absolutely not required where the vast majority of bioweapons are concerned.

> You seem to have followed one unecessary qualifier

Its not an unnecessary qualify because the "targeting russian DNA" is a common part of many of the conspiracies and what I was referring to.

A common conspiracy going around is that there were bio-weapons meant to target Russian DNA, which doesn't make any sense.

Edit: for Example, here is one english speaking, moderately sized influencer, repeating this conspiracy about the targeting of Russian DNA. https://clips.twitch.tv/SpicyClearFriesItsBoshyTime-9Ap6YN1H...

I don't keep track of every place that is spreading each specific conspiracy theory. But the point of this example, is to just give a one-off example describing this conspiracy in general.

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

#329

Post by thaumasiotes » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 5:57 PM UTC

jlduan wrote: post #314

floucky wrote: post #273

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...

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…

> Because quite a lot of people in China think US is organizing an Eastern NATO, to "destabilize" the whole region.

It probably doesn't help that this was a stated goal of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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

#330

Post by stefan_ » Wed, Mar 09, 2022, 6:02 PM UTC

Day1 wrote: post #324

livinglist wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m ashamed of my country and people… only if they were well informed and had unlimited access to internet would they start realizing they have been brainwashed by their own goevernment….

Quoted post unavailable.

No post body was provided.