China's Propaganda Machine Is Now Cranking for Putin -- and Blaming America

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Noah Shachtman
@NoahShachtman
NEW: Pro-Beijing trolls and China's online propagandists are suddenly interested in the Ukraine invasion — and blaming NATO for it.

BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 4, 2022: Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping pose during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Alexei Druzhinin/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS (Photo by Alexei DruzhininTASS via Getty Images)
rollingstone.com

China's Propaganda Machine Is Now Cranking for Putin -- and Blaming America for the Invasion
As Vladimir Putin's Russia invades Ukraine over the West's objection, China uses Twitter to paint itself as a beacon of stability
8:59 AM · Mar 2, 2022

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-china-ukraine-propaganda-invasion-ccp-1315024/

No paywall
https://archive.fo/pc2wK


For most of February, a Twitter user named @SpicyPandaAcc churned out one uplifting tweet after another about the 2022 Winter Olympics and their host city Beijing.

The Spicy Panda account celebrated Chinese aerial skier Xu Mengtao, a gold medalist and a “role model” who “tells us love and persistence will make a dream come true.” Spicy Panda praised Beijing and its many attractions, tweeting on February 14 that a “tour of the snow-kissed Forbidden City is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!” The account’s boosterism extended to the Chinese Communist Party, with Spicy Panda lauding the party’s carbon emissions goals and hailing the Winter Games as “a watershed for the accelerated implementation of hydrogen energy in China. #Beijing2022.”

On occasion, Spicy Panda took a more hard-edged tone, like when it criticized the Biden administration’s pull-out from Afghanistan or when it shared an American freestyle skier’s praise for China’s Covid protocols at the games: “#AaronBlunck revealed the real China that is totally different from what some American media have said!”

On Feb. 22, Spicy Panda shared one final video about the Olympics. (“Happy moments come and go, but memories stay!”) Then it abruptly switched its focus to the looming conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “‘#Ukraine is not just a neighbor. It is an inherent part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.’ ——Russian President Putin #RussiaUkraineCrisis #Russian.” As Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Spicy Panda shared videos from the Russian state-owned RT network and promoted other pro-Putin content until Twitter suspended the account in late February.

*snip*

[PdamnedQ]

1. It is hard to conclude the actual source of this crap

It very well could be the Russians trying to poison the stream in whatever way they can.

[NCDem47]

2. "Let's agree to support each other's invasions"

China to Putin: “You go first.”

[Xoan]

3. Weak sauce from Rolling Stone, IMO.

[Hugin]

6. RS is a faint shadow of what it formerly was...

Now, it is only another magazine I don't subscribe to.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Wrong old news (Feb 4, 22). Here's March 1: "extreme attention to the harm suffered by civilians"

https://www.barrons.com/news/china-fm-calls-ukraine-counterpart-says-deeply-regrets-russia-conflict-state-media-01646143507

China FM Calls Ukraine Counterpart, Says 'Deeply Regrets' Russia Conflict: State Media
By AFP - Agence France Presse
March 1, 2022

China's foreign minister spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday and called for a resolution to the crisis through negotiation, Chinese state media said, as Beijing treads a difficult diplomatic line on the invasion by its close ally Moscow.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Dmytro Kuleba that Beijing "deeply regrets that conflict has broken out between Ukraine and Russia, and is paying extreme attention to the harm suffered by civilians", state broadcaster CCTV reported, adding that Wang called for the two countries to "find a way to resolve the issue through negotiations".

[samsingh]

5. American firms should stop manufacturing in China.