FYI, global times is a well known CCP mouthpiece.
Who do you think would have better data about Chinese trade than China?
Who do you think would have a good reason to misrepresent the truth? China and Russia getting away with trade without US involvement is good for China and Russia, so it benefits them to state that even if that’s not exactly what’s going on.
In this case it makes a ton of sense given the sanctions against Russia, but I do try to look for independent verification of any large story when the only source has interests in misrepresenting the truth.
Pretty obvious that western media has a lot of great reasons to misrepresent the truth to keep people such as yourself thinking that disastrous policies western governments are pursuing are actually working.
Sure, which is why I try to get multiple sources.
The problem with countries like China (and probably Russia) is that their governments can directly interfere with news reporting. That’s possible to an extent in western countries, but it’s a lot less likely to happen without journalists making a big fuss because of our cultural and legal freedoms of the press.
I’m hesitant to believe anything when I have a single source, and I’m more hesitant if multiple sources are from the friendly countries where the governments have direct control over the media.
Anybody who wasn’t born yesterday realizes that western governments constantly interfere in news reporting as well. What’s worse is that all the news is owned by a handful of oligarchs, and entire books have been written on how western media manipulates public opinion. Here are a couple you should read:
What is CCP?
