They probably aren't familiar with US journalistic practices about background, on/off record etc. Prudence would dictate more circumspection, but I prefer frankness to the obfuscatory nonsense that US PR spokespersons foist on the public, with the help of journalists who uncritically repeat it.
Somehow the golden standard for journalism became 'never ask a question you don't know the answer to', which is kind of the opposite of what questions are supposed to achieve.
They are not volunteering the information, from their perspective. They are just venting their frustration that their government is not allowing them to do business. They can't really see the geopolitics of it; and morally they think anything that sells is Okay. Not that the West is any different, though usually people in the West are more reasonable than the average Chinese.
I haven’t been to China, but have traveled quite a bit in Asia. In my experience, you can do most anything for money anywhere. It just takes less money in places with a lower GDP per capita (not accounting for cultural or religious practices).
It's worth visiting (ie
A business trip Vs tourist) if you haven't yet and form your own independent impressions vs rely on media and press reporting. Remember that every single media & press publisher anywhere in the world is controlled by some political interest and spins narratives that further their interest.
No chance in hell it's going to Ukraine. If Russia loses, there is a nuclear powered chaotic nation right next to China which will be it's worst nightmare. There is less than zero possibility of China sending anything to Ukraine.
These statements are just to mislead the public into thinking they are supporting ukraine.
I think the idea is that Putin is a stabilizing factor (well, "better the devil you know" might be more accurate), and Russian losing in Ukraine means Putin losing, terminally.
I'm not sure that an ultra-nationalist electing to launch territory-grabbing wars aggression is viewed by anyone as a stabilizing factor. My guess is that China's realpolitik calculation is to give Russia enough rope to hang itself, then they can quietly scoop up, er, "offer humanitarian assistance to," its eastern half.
While they certainly had some really bad practices in the past, and I am no fan of the Chinese government, I find it hard to believe (and condescending) that today they are so cartoonishly self-destructive.
I said government, not society. And extensive, by the way. I have worked with Chinese partners over months. There is a cultural difference for sure, and substantial parts of it that I find onerous, but nothing I would consider to be "foolishly self destructive". And this is all coming from a privileged position.
If russia can buy American chips and Dutch lithography machines through 3rd countries, sure Ukraine can get some drone on ali.
Suddenly some farmers in * get obscure country from the list * will decide it’s a good idea to deliver pesticides from the air because reasons. For sure supplier will see right through it and will care about plausible deniability first.
The whole titanium cia story happens more often than it doesn’t
Curious what separates a military drone vs a drone used in war. Surely most of the improved flight capabilities would also be useful to consumers who just want to tool around on the weekends.
How long before these military specs filter into the consumer market?
You don't want military drones for consumer applications. Consumer drones are designed to last the length of warranty + 1 day. Military drones are designed to last long enough to deliver their cargo or provide essential intel. Because of their limited lifespan, some of them are made of cardboard https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/09/13/cardboard-drone-v...
Those cardboard-made drones were just a PR move, they never saw real battle, or at least I have never seen any videos involving them (and God knows I refresh r/UkraineRussiaReport/ quite a lot).
SOME parts of Reddit serve as useful aggregators for news that would otherwise be scattered across a dozen Telegram chat groups and 50 Twitter accounts. It's just important to recognize when you are in a DEEEP (and therefore not particularly useful) echo chamber. Admittedly, that can be difficult on Reddit where most the sub-Reddits that give an air of neutral impartiality are some of the most heavily censored and astroturfed.
One difference between suicide drones and hobbyist drones is the design lifetime.
IIRC some of the gasoline engines used on suicide drones are built with a peculiar design that is powerful but wears out in just a matter of minutes. But that's acceptable because it'll still outlast the lifetime of the vehicle.
> Curious what separates a military drone vs a drone used in war.
Right now, not that much, as lots and lots of civilian drones are used both by the Russians and Ukrainians for surveillance or for grenade drops.
Usually military drones are bigger (like this Shaheed knock-off from this article) and can do more (usually more destructive) stuff compared to civilian drones, like the Russian Lancet drones.
For frontline use, sure. But they definitely also want cheap long range cruise missiles.
Its already hard for them with Russia using the Iranian Shahed scooter engine drones, but I don't think Russia will be really able to defend its territory against similar drones once Ukraine gets its cheap long range drone production going at speed.
The issue for Ukraine that even it gets the same capacity, it will not exactly be able to bomb the Lancet factory in Elabuga. Russia can keep essential stuff out of range. That's also what it did in WWII.
It's not a firm thing, but generally "missiles" are understood to be entirely autonomous, where "drones" are operated under some level of human control. But indeed, the distinction is increasingly squishy in the modern world.
missiles have guidance systems but they don't need to be entirely autonomous. For example, the Spike NLOS is a TV guided missile - the operator sees the view from the nose and aims it for greater precision against unmarked targets at range.
You don't necessarily have to just click buy with Paypal and have it turn up. You could also fly out to China and have a look first. Actually one thing I've noticed is Alibaba makes it easy to contact the seller directly whereas ebay and Amazon try to prevent that.
> “Too many people want to buy it, it’s not a good thing for us,”
> “We are afraid that Alibaba platform will be frozen if Alibaba knows that it’s a weapon.”
> “This item is customized for one big client in UKR [Ukraine],”
> “Our government don’t allow us to sell to countries involved in war,”
What do they possibly think they're gaining by volunteering this information?