I tried to explain this in the other comments I linked to. If you look at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19485935 in particular, this should be clear.
That is orthogonal to Confucius Institute agents being trained to use the same tactic that happened to be the most upvoted comment.
I didn't insinuate parent is astroturfing or an 'agent'. I just pointed out that parent is repeating the same mindset that China wants to be repeated, it is literally in Xi's strategy outline. I am sure parent wholeheartedly holds that view and is not a shill or anything of the sort.
But at least I see where the misunderstanding came from.
Consider a construct like, "I'm not saying you're a spy, but...". Saying I'm not saying something is a way of saying it.
I hope this is in fact a misunderstanding on your part and not reflective of a broader bias.
On the astroturfing point, anyone who wants more explanation can find reams of it here: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme.... In particular, here's a recent detailed explanation:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19485935
And here's a recent thread which clearly demonstrates why we have this rule:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19401961
Finally, please don't use the tired trope of "whataboutism" on HN. Clichés like that contain no information, and this one is merely a rhetorical device to exclude something the speaker dislikes. If somebody brings up a point which you don't think is relevant, explain why in specific terms, not by calling generic names.