Hi everyone! As a Chinese who is living in Europe now, I can't help but notice the great difference between Chinese and the west about the attitude towards this war. I found that Chinese people had formed a theory of why they should support Russia in this war (of course helped by the propaganda of state media) and I can affirm you that this is the most popular opinion among many Chinese Internet communities. (Note that this is absolutely not the majority opinion of Chinese people overall because there is still a significant silent majority apart from popular Internet communities). Although I do not agree with it, I do think it makes some sense in some ways and it is the perfect reflection of the Chinese mindset as a product of brainwashing. So I think it could be interesting to share it here and see how western people think of it.

• Double standard and hypocrisy of western media and governments

When discussing about recent events, many Chinese people will keep telling you a fact that the US has started more wars than any other countries in the world since the end of cold war. Of course some would call it "whataboutism", but what Chinese people see is double standard and hypocrisy of the west. The US has been a bully towards many small countries and caused civilian casualties yet its operations in middle west is never as condemned as Russia and even supported by NATO countries. Not a single country put sanctions on the US because it killed thousands of innocent people in the middle east. Of course there are NGOs and oppositions that are against US wars, but the majority of western governments have turn a blind eye about it.

Besides, many would point out that even though the US condemns China's dictatorship, but it itself is allied with one of the most authoritarian regime in the world, Saudi Arabia. It is also allied with Israel which has a bad reputation about killing civilians in wars. The west has also turned a blind eye about India persecution of Muslims while keep condemning China on its treatment of Muslims. Recently a lot of international organizations banned Russian sports teams, celebrities, etc., but never did the same with other above-mentioned countries. All of this is making Chinese people believe that the west's accusations against China are just because they see China as a threat to their global dominance but not for those lofty reasons (human rights etc.)

• The US is the biggest beneficiary of this war

Many Chinese people doubt: "What is the point of NATO after the fall of Soviet Union?" In fact, they point out that Russia itself wanted to join NATO in early 2000s. Putin himself said that he once sought to build a better relationship with the west, but turned down by western leaders. In response, NATO absorbed many countries neighboring Russia, which is considered as a major threat to its national security. Of course some would argue that it is each country's own rights to join an organization or not, but there is a counter example: why would the US make such a big deal with the Russians deploying missiles in Cuba? Isn't it each country's own rights to make options about defending itself?

The conclusion is that the US is portraying Russia as an imaginary enemy for European countries to maintain its military presence and influence in Europe. With this war broke out, Chinese people believe it will lead to the flowing back of European capitals to the US due to the fear of war, which would help resolve the US's financial crisis. A few of them even believe the US is also behind Brexit because apparently it is a significant blow to the European union ideal and leads to a closer tie between the UK and the US. A disunited Europe is beneficial to the US because they would rely more on American troops to help them defend themselves. On the other hand, Europeans leaders such as Merkel and Macron are often portrayed as insightful leaders seeking to build a united Europe which is able to defend itself and reduce its reliance on America. Chinese people also like to refer countries with American military bases as "colonies" of America, especially Japan and Korea, because they believe that with American troops at your door apparently it's hard to say no to their requests.

• The enemy of my enemy is my friend

Of course many Chinese people do not like Russia either before this war since it also did not treat China well in history. But Chinese people find Russia is the only friend and major world power who is willing to work with China against the evil US. As a result, they hope that this war could be a distraction to the west so that China can make this opportunity to take a breath from the west's harsh attitudes (If I may use the WOW reference, many of Chinese people see Russia as the tank in the team while China is the healer). They also believe the cooperation between China and Russia is only temporal because Russia is also just another evil capitalist regime and only the communist China can be the final winner.