Lintao Zhang/Pool/Getty Images The key difference between China and Russia's influence campaigns is that China is better at it, according to a former Australian government adviser. China is patient and plays the long game, while Russia tends to commit to "focused, sharp strikes." Australia has been grappling with how to handle apparent attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to influence its politics and society at large. The key difference between the global influence campaigns of China and Russia is that Beijing is just better at it, according to John Garnaut, a former adviser on China to Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Speaking to the US House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Garnaut was giving national-security advice on influence operations when Hawaii Rep.