Specious theories aimed at implicating Ukraine and the United States in a terrorist attack on Russia in late March are spreading across China’s state media and its heavily censored social media platform Weibo.
False claim Even as the Islamic State in Khorasan (also known as IS, IS-K, ISIS and Daesh) claimed responsibility for at least 143 people killed and nearly 200 injured in Crocus, suggestions that Kyiv and Washington were the masterminds of the attack persisted. sparking controversy in Russia. Town Hall Concert Hall in the suburbs of Moscow.
In China, an editorial in a state-run newspaper Global Times suggesting that “many observers have linked this incident to a ‘hybrid war’ form of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”
“Some Western thinkers have begun to speculate on whether Washington played a role in this terrorist attack,” it said, without elaborating.
Without citing names or clear attribution, Global Times Russia reiterated Russia’s false accusation that the United States failed to share “critical intelligence” that could have helped Russian security services prevent the attack.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told VOA that the United States had, in fact, warned Russian authorities two weeks before the attack and shared appropriate intelligence, just as it would “with any other country.” That way.
“We believe we have provided useful, valuable information about what we believe is an imminent terrorist attack,” Kirby said. “We also warned Americans to stay away from public places such as concert halls. So we conducted a Very direct, appropriate communication to ensure they get as much useful information as possible.”
The attack came three days after Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting of the Russian intelligence agency’s board of directors, dismissed the U.S. warning as “outright blackmail” aimed at “terrorizing and destabilizing our society.” .
this Global Times It also criticized Washington for its “delay in condemning this incident in a timely manner, which shocked the international community.”
Actually, The United States was among the first countries to condemn the Moscow attackOn March 30, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy laid flowers at the scene.
As the Chinese Communist Party heavily censors online content, contrarian views are quickly deleted, while a lack of independent media allows disinformation spread by state-controlled news outlets to go unchallenged.
However, some are skeptical.
“I personally believe that the United States is unlikely to be behind this terrorist attack,” Jin Canrong, an international relations scholar with an “anti-American” reputation, wrote on Weibo.
Mr. Jin, a professor at Renmin University of China, commented, trigger thermal reactionsome Weibo users accused him of being an American sympathizer.
Since the attacks, conspiracy theories echoing Russian propaganda have dominated the Weibo narrative, often driven by anonymous pro-Russian and pro-China influencers with millions of followers.
Weibo influencer Posted by Drunk Rabbit Addressing his nearly 500,000 followers: “No wonder the Russian people do not believe this was the work of ISIS. They are all convinced that Ukraine and its warring masters with Russia planned and carried out this atrocity.”
To prove this, the user posted two video clips showing former US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump side by side.
Drunk Rabbit’s headlines read: “Obama: ‘We trained ISIS’” and “Trump: ‘Obama is the founder of ISIS.’”
“Both former presidents identified the United States as the creator of ISIS,” Drunk Rabbit continued. “What other evidence is needed about the terrorist attack on the Moscow Concert Hall in Russia?”
However, quotes from Obama and Trump were taken out of context, and in the case of Obama’s remarks, their meaning was twisted to be the opposite of what he said.
Trump’s claims have been debunked by fact-checkers and terrorism experts who trace the roots of ISIS to 2002, six years before Obama was elected president, while Trump himself has refuted the claims, saying for “irony”.
It is not unreasonable for the Chinese government and social media to echo Russian propaganda and disinformation, especially when it is directed at the United States.
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
