China has seized upon the ongoing unrest and protests across the United States by alluding to the hypocrisy and double standards of the US government. Chinese state media and government officials are openly mocking US politicians for calling for the protection of democratic and human rights across the globe, like in Hong Kong, while simultaneously standing behind their own government, which brutally suppresses the concerns and calls for justice from its own population.
Protests have erupted across the US following the death of George Floyd, an African American man who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis. The protestors are calling for an end to police brutality and systemic oppression and racism against Black Americans.
Black Americans are discriminated against within legislative, judicial, executive, criminal justice, and societal frameworks. They form a disproportionate percentage of prison populations, and are more likely to be incarcerated–or given longer sentences–for the same crimes as their white counterparts.
Their anger and desperation are a result of centuries of oppression and targeted racism that has left them physically, medically, and financially vulnerable. These feelings of mistrust and disillusionment in the system have engendered lawlessness during the ongoing protests, which have seen multiple incidents of rioting and looting.
Their recklessness has been further accelerated the brutality of the police’s response, who have used teargas, pepper balls, and projectiles to disperse protestors. There are also videos of police officers using vehicles to charge at protestors.
Consequently, China now is now questioning the selective outrage of US politicians at police brutality during the Hong Kong protests, suggesting that it is guided by ulterior political motives of undermining China rather than an interest in protecting human and democratic rights.
After China’s announcement of its proposed new security law in Hong Kong two weeks ago, State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus tweeted, “This is a pivotal moment for the world. It will go down in history. Freedom loving people around the world must stand with the rule of law and hold to account the Chinese Communist Party, which has flagrantly broken its promises to the people of Hong Kong.”
In addition, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that it subverts the “will of the people” and represents a “death knell” for Hong Kong’s “high degree of autonomy, democratic institutions, and civil liberties”. He later went on to say that the US no longer considers Hong Kong to be autonomous from China.
Also Read: US No Longer Considers Hong Kong Autonomous From China
Over the weekend, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman replied to Ortagus’ tweet, saying “I can’t breathe,” a phrase both George Floyd and Eric Garner said before they died due to excessive force by the police. The expression has now become a widely used colloquialism within the Black Lives Matter movement to describe police brutality. Hua also posted a video by RT, a Russian government-backed news outlet, which describes the hypocrisy of the US government calling Hong Kong protestors heroes while its President calls its own country’s protestors “thugs”.
Another foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, retweeted a post by Russia’s deputy representative, Dmitry Polyanskiy, who said, “Why US denies China’s right to restore peace and order in HK while brutally dispersing crowds at home?”
Chinese state media has also seized upon this narrative. Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of Global Times, wrote, “US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi once called the violent protests in Hong Kong ‘a beautiful sight to behold.’… US politicians now can enjoy this sight from their own windows.” Hu later tweeted a statement directed at President Donald Trump, saying, “Go to talk to the demonstrators seriously. Negotiate with them, just like you urged Beijing to talk to Hong Kong rioters.”
China has long used protests in the United States to downplay international concern at protests in Hong Kong and China, telling countries like the United States to address the concerns of their own population first. Following the international criticism of its proposed new security law in Hong Kong, Foreign Minister Wang Yi decried “foreign meddling” and “external interference”.
Also Read: China Rebukes International Criticism of Proposed New Security Law in Hong Kong
Following China’s accusation of US hypocrisy and double standards, Pompeo and Ortagus both responded by describing the “risk presented by the Chinese Communist Party” to “freedom, to democracy, and to the rule of law”.
Thus, amid rising virtue signaling, finger-pointing, and escalating tensions between the two countries, it appears that China’s assertion of this being the new “Cold War” is coming to fruition.