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9/11-20 LEE SIU HIN: Journey to Russia with Solidarity-My Fact-Finding Trip to Moscow, St. Petersburg PART Three: Russian Views on West and China
9/11-20 LEE SIU HIN: Journey to Russia with Solidarity-My Fact-Finding Trip to Moscow, St. Petersburg PART Three: Russian Views on West and China
李小轩 Lee Siu Hin
* This is the Third-Part of my Four-Part “Journey to Russia with Solidarity” series.
YouTube Video Links: Russian-Ukrainian Conflict Exhibition at Moscow Museum of the Central Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: https://youtu.be/gedAMgNCIfo China-Russian Friendships: https://youtu.be/b7wFr0UZSjE Chinese Signs at the Moscow Airport: https://youtu.be/OpJR-dmIZ-0 Aleppo Before and After the U.S./West-Backed Syrian Civil War https://youtu.be/JMMnKigNyRA
When we arrived to Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport, I was very surprised that there’re many signs written in Chinese; many public signs across Russia are already list Chinese as second or third languages (Russian, Chinese and English).
U.S./West/NATO continue supporting weapons to Ukraine to escalating the military conflict with Russia, sanctions, Russiaphobia and Sinophobia pushed China and Russia work closely together.
Through our trip, we receive more warm receptions from average Russians than we except, it’s a clear sign that due to the new cold war and western support Ukraine against Russia, Russians are now overwhelmly switching to look east from west. According to the several recent Russian public opinion polls, 72% of Russians has favorite view of China, 67% support turn away from west to east, and 58% Russian trust Chinese products.
By comparison, 82% of Russians has negative views of U.S., 63% said that Russia relations with the west will be forever mistrustful.
On the other hand, according to the latest U.S. opinion poll, 82% Americans has negative views on China, another U.K. opinion poll shows 75% and 87% citizens from the western “democratic countries” (approx. 16% global population) has negative views against China and Russia separately.
Although the summer travel seasons have over, Chinese tourists and businesspeople are flooding to Russia. I even saw many Chinese tourists driving their cars from southern China, over 5000 miles to western Russia’s St Petersburg; include a young Chinese couple drove their Chinese-made EV car, or an e-blogger drove her Chinese-made popular jeep brand call “Tank,” now become one of the most popular import jeep in Russia.
Due to the U.S./West proxy war against Russia, and the closer China-Russia economic partnership, European/Korean/Japanese cars are now out of their market (Japan and South Korea also sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine), Chinese EV cars had dominated the market. For example, Yandex, the biggest Russian internet company also operates large taxi and share automobile fleets, they use South Korean cars in the past; but due to their country against Russia, Yandex decided to ditch the South Korean cars and replace with China’s Chery automobile brand.
China’s EV industry already becomes the world biggest, and most successful country in the World; however, unlike Russia and most developing countries, who’re warm welcoming China and their products, western countries on the other hand, fear of losing competition, and the racist anti-communist new cold war necessarily, on October 4th European Union (E.U.) announced they’ll be begin investigate China, falsely accused them dumping their EVs into Europe using government subsidy. There’re no doubt E.U. wants a desperate trade war with China, in order to impose high import duties against Chinese EVs, with potentially other Chinese-made products to E.U. countries.
There is no doubt one of the main reasons of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is western racism; it’s the common knowledge that western Europeans doesn’t consider Russian Europeans, they see them as white skin European. Russia on the other hand, always wants to look west, integrate them into Europe, without success; according the Russian opinion survey last July, 49% think Europe will never consider Russia as equal partner. For that reason, the current conflict receives wide-margin support in Russia, because they consider this is their self-defense for survival against western aggression.
Similarly, European public opinion overwhelmingly against Russia on the currently conflict, because European civilization cannot conquer by Russia from the east—although historically Russia never invade and occupy any western European soil—but on the other way (it’s the similar arguments by pro-U.S. Chinese right-wingers, they argue China shouldn’t alliance with Russia, because historically, they had occupied our lands—while U.S. never did).
There’re many monuments and museums across Russia to commemorate The Great Patriotic War, began on June 22, 1941, when Nazi German troops launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union, and ended on May 8, 1945, when Soviet troop occupy Berlin, and Germany signed the act of surrender. And Patriotic War of 1812, when Russian resistance to the French invasion of Russia under Napoleon I, and defeated the French army.
One of them is the special Russian-Ukrainian conflict exhibition at Moscow’s Museum of the Central Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; it’s a small exhibition possibly not many people know about it, the items include Japan/Canada and other western countries aid military materials.
According to different public survey, they all indicate wide-margin of Russian supports the Russian government’s military actions in Ukraine, it also reasonably verified with my discussion with ordinary people across Russia; that’s one of the main reasons U.S./west desperately escalate military aids to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. Most political observers believes U.S. will push to continue the current war until 2025 until the 2024 Presidential election; however, same observers worried west cannot economically survived for two more winters.
What we can learn all of these from my trip? Progressive and peace activists need to always question their own box, and challenge their own comfort zone; because most people can ignore they cannot prove their claim, but fear of being proven to be wrong.
What U.S./West using Ukraine against Russia, is the exact same textbook procedure where U.S./West/Japan to use China’s Taiwan/Xinjiang/South China Sea to against China, to create another Russia- Ukraine conflict in east Asia. I don’t want my county will become another Syria.
VIDEO: Aleppo Before and After the U.S./West-Backed Syrian Civil War https://youtu.be/JMMnKigNyRA
My trip to Russia is not only for fact-finding mission, but also our peace activists effort to fight against U.S./NATO continue escalate their proxy war in Ukraine; and to prevent U.S./NATO/Japan to escalate military threat against China.
I like Caitlin Johnstone’s recent statement: “If you buy into the anti-China propaganda you're just a stupid asshole”; she argues: “You can’t just call for an end to aggressions while denying the existence of one of the aggressors. That’s not how peace negotiations work. The very first step is acknowledging reality. Only then can both aggressors, Russia and the western empire, begin working toward mutual de-escalation.”
Reference: 1) April 6 23--Sohu-俄罗斯的普通人，2023年，一个月工资，到底有多少钱 https://www.sohu.com/a/663553444_120048357 2) April 13 23--刘览勋鉴-美国民调恶意满满 8成美国人对华没好感，四分之一美国人视中国为敌人 https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1763046965122214522 3) July 3 23--大明看国际-普通的俄罗斯民众如何看待俄乌战争 https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1770371277975707745 4) July 29 23--俄罗斯卫星通讯社-民调：百分之49的俄罗斯人认为西方不会将俄罗斯视为平等的伙伴´ https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1772681589719234670 5) May 19 23--观察者网-俄民调：百分之72的民众认为中国是最友好国家 https://www.guancha.cn/internation/2023_05_19_693110.shtml 6) Oct 4 23--Global Times-China expresses strong dissatisfaction with EU probe into Chinese EVs, vows to protect interests of Chinese companies https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202310/1299228.shtml 7) Sep 7 23--环球时报-俄民调：约百分之67俄罗斯人支持“转向东方”外交政策– https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1776361378954486144 8) Sep 12 23--Global Times-Development of the Far East an absolute priority for Russia Putin at EEF https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202309/1298090.shtml 9) Sep 30 23--参考消息-俄媒：民调显示超半数俄罗斯人喜爱中国制造Sep 30 23--参考消息-俄媒：民调显示超半数俄罗斯人喜爱中国制造 https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1778428627574406763 10) Oct 6 23--CAITLIN JOHNSTONE-If You Buy Into The Anti-China Propaganda You're Just A Stupid Asshole https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-you-buy-into-the-anti-china-propaganda 李小轩 Lee Siu Hin National Coordinator National Immigrant Solidarity Network http://www.ImmigrantSolidarity.org ActionLA Network http://www.ActionLA.org China-US Solidarity Network http://www.ChinaSolidarity.org
Part One: PART ONE: MOSCOW
YouTube Video Link Moscow Red Square: https://youtu.be/cioobRLiLo8
PART TWO: Life in Russia
YouTube Video Links: Moscow Daily Life: https://youtu.be/Y9SIrc7QjgQ Moscow Metro: https://youtu.be/IjpQ34HSeDE St Petersburg Daily Life: https://youtu.be/XV_l3LE1qqs St Petersburg Community: https://youtu.be/IrJApTsu-uA St Petersburg Metro: https://youtu.be/KG0orIR3Sq0 St Petersburg Food: https://youtu.be/FI1mShv-BFk
About Lee Siu Hin Lee Siu Hin, a Chinese-American immigrant activist from Los Angeles, CA, is the founder and national coordinator of the China-U.S. Solidarity Network (CUSN) and the National Immigrant Solidarity Network (NISN). He is a long-time community, labor, antiwar and immigrant rights activist for grassroots struggle. He's also a long-time Pacifica Radio KPFK Los Angeles unpaid reporter and producer and war correspondent who has worked in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. NISN is a grassroots-based national immigrant activist network, and CUSN is a network of academic and community activists in both countries committed to building a China-U.S. grassroots activist dialogue. Lee holds a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) and a Masters of Engineering (Aerospace) from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, located in Pomona, CA. He is currently working on medical IT technology for the inner-city community, and for the global south. He travels frequently between China and U.S. for the activism work. His latest book “Capitalism on a Ventilator” was co-published with Sara Flounders in September 2020; the Chinese edition was released in January 2022. He contributed to “Sanctions: a wrecking ball in a global economy” published in December 2022 and produced the documentary “Vaccine and Sanctions” in December 2022.
Lee directed a documentary “Vaccine and Sanctions” released on February, 2023. Please subscribe our CHINA email list
National Immigrant Solidarity Network http://www.
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