Off topic, but SixthTone is an interesting publication. It is actually controlled by the CPC in an attempt to create news that westerners would actually read [1], as opposed to Chinadaily and Globaltimes that are too obviously propaganda. In this case, they go with China-critical articles and then try to direct the message to a pro-government position from that perspective.
This is actually how wumaos are supposed to work in China as well. If they go with a blatantly pro-government message, they will be ignored by anyone critical of the Chinese government. So instead, they come in agreeing with critical positions and redirect sentiment from there. So if you ever hear someone who sounds like a wumao, they are probably just overzealous nationalists and not shills.
This is actually how wumaos are supposed to work in China as well. If they go with a blatantly pro-government message, they will be ignored by anyone critical of the Chinese government. So instead, they come in agreeing with critical positions and redirect sentiment from there. So if you ever hear someone who sounds like a wumao, they are probably just overzealous nationalists and not shills.
[1] https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/03/china-explained-sixth-t...