TW RF Trolling

[Oleg Smirnov]

Some answers on the Taiwanese-style Russian Father trolling points.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz6bEBmBJGA>

With regard to non-recent claims I can just notice the basic thing,
that the basis of the Soviet policies was ideology, and it remained
so despite all the Soviet turns, shortcomings and excesses, - they
supported the CPC development primarily following this ideological
basis, not because they sought to make China a servant for the USSR.

About the Korean War read here <https://tinyurl.com/yfbkchqt>

The below are comments on the false claims due to the recent events.

5:06 the Russia's oil exports

Oil price had fallen autumn 2014 with no any regards to the Ukraine.
The claim that since the 2014 Russia's oil exports were blocked due
to the American sanctions is not true, - the Americans did not even
encroach to block them. Instead, America buys itself oil from Russia
in large quantities <https://bit.ly/3jiZMD1>.

One should also know that the pipeline supply contracts are usually
signed for a more or less long period, and their terms usually set
some Price Formula that differs from the spot market price.

Russian anti-Kremlin activists exploit these topics in reverse way.

Recently, the Power of Siberia's gas from Russia was the cheapest
for China in comparison to the prices China buys gas for from other
pipeline suppliers <https://www.interfax.ru/business/756994>.

Russia's "liberal opposition" explains <https://bit.ly/3iYt21D> that
the supplies of gas to China are unprofitable and even detrimental
to Russia, because Putin is a 'manchurian candidate' who at first
is silly and at second works in favor of China and doesn't care much
about the true Russian national interest.

* * *

"Russia stubbed China in the back" claims

7:15 WeChat blocked in Russia

Russian government regulator restricted WeChat 2017-05-04, and then
unblocked it 2017-05-11, - the reasons and details one can learn
here <https://bit.ly/3j20Cn9>.

China blocked Russian network VKontakte in 2016-01, then unblocked
it in 2018-02 <https://bit.ly/3zOe8Sa> (VK spent two years to adopt
itself for the sophisticated rules of the China's censorship).

Inter alia, this RF narrative is censored in the mainland China's
internet, and for a good reason, - such toxic trolling can affect
simple nationalistic sensitivity of a part of the mainland Chinese.

7:43 S-400 supplies vs India

Here one should trace things in the chronological order.

2020-02-28 Some Chinese blogger posts on Sohu.com a freaky article
<https://archive.is/jcHML> that Russia suspends the supply of S-400
because of the C19 pandemic (February 2020 was right the beginning).

2020-05-05 Two months later, the first India-China tensions.

2020-07-24 After five months, Ukrainian pro-Kiev outlet UAWare
creatively retells <https://archive.is/3etCy> the original Chinese
blogger's post as if it was very recent / current information.

2020-07-28 Russian jitney outlet <https://archive.is/5oKvn> refers
to the both UAWare and the Chinese blogger as "Chinese mass media",
and speculates the suspension is because of the India-China issues.

2020-07-29 Indian outlet <https://archive.is/sYin1> refers to UAWare
and adds that it's because the Russians have caught a Chinese spy.
It's true that a [yet one more] Chinese paid spy had been caught.
But it happened in June 2020 <https://bit.ly/3fb3e1a>, - about four
months after the Chinese blogger posted the original article.

2020-07-30 Reputable American outlet <https://archive.is/8Fdk5>
refers to the Russian jitney outlet as well as to the original post
of the Chinese blogger and also to the Indian outlet, and certainly
agrees that it's all must be because "the Kremlin .. does not want
to be dragged into the ongoing India-China conflict".

2021-02-12 Russian "liberal opposition" outlet says that "there are
discontent voices in China" <https://archive.is/8NG8I>, referring to
the American outlet after 7 months, as if it was a very recent news.

So one can see that the whole sequence has been built solely on the
basis of one post of a noname Chinese blogger which didn't give any
details about his or her sources. The fact some media persistently
'resurrect' the topic by referring to out of date stuff as if it was
very recent information, does not mean their unprofessionalism, it's
rather a deliberate manipulation. Whether the initiatory Sohu blogger
played as "useful idiot" or was in collusion, remains unclear.

8:00 InterRAO-related rumors

In December 2020, Russian media published (as 'a leak') a non-public
information that InterRAO warned the government regulator that it can
stop its exports of electricity to China in winter, if the regulator
does not revise special tax regime for this company. Some in China
read it and wrote their concerned responses in the Chinese internet
<https://bit.ly/3xcH04U>. Then there seemed to be no any continuation
of this story, at least in the media space.

The 'leak' that appeared in the Russian media, left a large field of
uncertainty for mass public. For an orginary person, it's unclear on
what terms the company supplies electricity to China and whether its
contribution is really critical for China. If it's really critical
then it would be natural to expect that possibilities of 'arbitrary'
interruption of supply are somehow protected by the terms of contract
between InterRAO and its Chinese counterpart(s). So what allowed the
InterRAO management to put the question in this way? It's all unclear.
On the part of some Chinese commentators it was immature to speculate
about this situation without clarifying all such details, and it was
also immature to derive generalizations about 'Russia' from it.

Whatever the case, InterRAO isn't 'Russia', it's a commercial company
that operates by commercial logics, as well as the Chinese companies.
When commercial interests come to a contradiction to some 'higher'
interests, an intervention of national authorities may be necessary.
Companies pursuing their particular interests can not be equated with
national governments or 'nations', at least in the case of Russia or
China (the US military-industrial complex is somewhat another matter).

By the way, China's government presently seems to tighten regulations
for big Chinese businesses. I suspect one of the reason for this is
to don't let the big companies be tempted to play political games on
their own (and big companies naturally have resources for such games).
And it all can give food for further thoughts.