

Demonstrators gather at the intersection of Argyle Street and Nathan Road in the area of Mongkok in Hong Kong. (Lam Yik Fei/Bloomberg)

MOSCOW — Here in Russia, the umbrella-wielding demonstrators of Hong Kong are being presented as pawns in a Western plot to foment instability in yet another one of Moscow's allies – and Russia wonders if it could be the ultimate target.

“Was the student protest organized by Great Britain and the USA?” state television station Russia 24 asked Tuesday, citing reports in the Chinese media that “the leaders of the movement received special training from the American intelligence services.”

This is something more than Russia's usual denunciation of nefarious interference by the West in a friendly country. The Russian media portrayal doesn't see this as a mere differences in opinion over human rights — the United States has been accused on television of stirring turmoil in Hong Kong to punish China, because China supports Russia.

Russia has a tendency to see itself as being a much bigger factor in American strategic thinking than it actually is. But this latest claim would seem to be stretching a point.

Russia sees China as an important ally, on the diplomatic front and as an economic partner. Russian media reports have discerned in Hong Kong an American “recipe” for upsetting governments in the style of the “color revolutions” that took place in former Soviet states over the past decade.

“The tactics of the protesters are exactly the same as at the beginning of all ‘orange’ revolutions, which in fact were state coups,” a Russia 24 news presenter said Tuesday, referring to the signature color of Ukraine’s 2004 protests. “Besides, the White House officially confirmed through its spokesman that Washington supports the intentions of the citizens of Hong Kong to protect their basic rights and freedoms.”

Russian state media have also suggested that Britain supports the protests as a way of safeguarding its business interests in Hong Kong, especially as Beijing is "gradually abolishing benefits" for British companies located there.

Yet there is one thing missing in the Russian analysis: Any specific advice as to how China's government should proceed. Russia’s leaders have neither cautioned China’s leaders to show restraint nor urged them toward a crackdown.

But by way of analogy, Russia 24 has brought up the Ukrainian protests that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych earlier this year.

“Beijing is closely watching the events of the world,” a Russia 24 reporter said during a package on the Hong Kong protests airing Wednesday morning. “Remember very well that the problems of the politician named Yanukovych began with a question: How to clear out a small group of troubled students?"

Yanukovych tried to remove protesters from Kiev's Independence Square, or the Maidan, with several police assaults that Moscow saw as too half-hearted. They emboldened his opponents and led to his downfall.

"Beijing," Russia 24 said, "will very soon answer this question in its own way.”