(no subject)
Newsweek: Leading Russia Watcher in China Makes Surprise Ukraine War Prediction
...Feng's assessment is a departure from the messaging of the Chinese government. Despite claiming to be neutral, Beijing has tacitly supported Moscow's war from the beginning, from opposing the West's retaliatory sanctions to banning criticism of Russia in Chinese social media.
Feng presented four major factors that he believes will "make Russia's eventual defeat inevitable."
First on the list is the "level of resistance and national unity shown by Ukrainians, which has until now been extraordinary."
The second factor is the international support for Kyiv, which the academic said "remains broad," though he acknowledged the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky finds it wanting.
The third factor at play is the "nature of modern warfare," according to Feng, who described this as a combination of "industrial might and command, control, communications and intelligence systems."
Russia's war machine is at a disadvantage here, Feng said, because the country never fully recovered from the "dramatic deindustrialization" that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russia's fourth critical deficit is a lack of information among Kremlin decision-makers at the highest levels, Feng said. Trapped inside an "information cocoon," Putin and his national security advisers don't have ready access to accurate intelligence, limiting their capacity to fix mistakes.
Feng contrasted this with Ukraine's "more flexible and effective" government...
...Feng's assessment is a departure from the messaging of the Chinese government. Despite claiming to be neutral, Beijing has tacitly supported Moscow's war from the beginning, from opposing the West's retaliatory sanctions to banning criticism of Russia in Chinese social media.
Feng presented four major factors that he believes will "make Russia's eventual defeat inevitable."
First on the list is the "level of resistance and national unity shown by Ukrainians, which has until now been extraordinary."
The second factor is the international support for Kyiv, which the academic said "remains broad," though he acknowledged the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky finds it wanting.
The third factor at play is the "nature of modern warfare," according to Feng, who described this as a combination of "industrial might and command, control, communications and intelligence systems."
Russia's war machine is at a disadvantage here, Feng said, because the country never fully recovered from the "dramatic deindustrialization" that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russia's fourth critical deficit is a lack of information among Kremlin decision-makers at the highest levels, Feng said. Trapped inside an "information cocoon," Putin and his national security advisers don't have ready access to accurate intelligence, limiting their capacity to fix mistakes.
Feng contrasted this with Ukraine's "more flexible and effective" government...