Temasek CEO Ho Ching has set tongues wagging again by sharing on Facebook a political cartoon on Monday, June 1.

Cartoon depicting perceived U.S. hypocrisy

The comic, first published on local Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao earlier that day, depicts United States President Donald Trump with two completely different reactions to the protests happening in his own country, versus the protests happening in Hong Kong.

In the comic, he was drawn denouncing protesters in Minneapolis as "rioters" for setting fires to and destroying property, yet praising Hong Kong protesters for doing the same in the next frame, calling it "democracy".

Trump himself has been criticised by Democrats and other Americans for the way he is dealing with the protests that erupted over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African American man whose neck was knelt on by a white police officer.

Across our country, Americans are protesting for an end to the pattern of racial injustice and brutality we saw most recently in the murder of #GeorgeFloyd. Yet, at a time when our country cries out for unification, this President is ripping it apart.

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 2, 2020

China calling out the U.S. for its "double standards"

The cartoon, which was subsequently carried by Chinese state media, such as Global Times, echoed the Chinese foreign ministry in its accusation towards the U.S. for its "double standards" in the way it handled protests at home and in Hong Kong.

The U.S. has announced the revocation of Hong Kong's special trading status following Beijing's move to go about implementing a national security law in Hong Kong.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying tweeted a news report on the "thugs and heroes hypocrisy" that the U.S. appeared to be displaying.

THUGS & HEROES HYPOCRISYhttps://t.co/rD7vvrvKfa

— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) May 30, 2020

Outspoken ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian also condemned the U.S. for its perceived "double standards", saying on Monday, June 1, that the U.S. beautifies "Hong Kong independence and violent elements as heroes and fighters while it calls its own people protesting against racial discrimination rioters".

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressed the same sentiments the day after, saying the U.S. is "upholding double standards".

Praised by many Singaporeans and Chinese

Widely shared in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Ho's post sparked fierce debate, perhaps due to her prominent position as the wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Ho was praised by many Singaporean and mainland Chinese social media users, who see the cartoon as aptly describing the U.S.'s two-faced attitude when it comes to domestic and foreign matters.

"This PM's wife is truly admirable. On the matters of Hong Kong and Taiwan, she has always stood on the side of mainland China. Respect! I wish her a long life!"

However, unsurprisingly, she was panned by Hong Kong pro-democracy supporters.

#HoChing, wife of #PM of #Singapore, posted this on her #Facebook. We think not only she don't understand the nature of those #protests clearly, it's also #disgraceful to compare #HK with #USA. Moreover, she also forgot their most powerful weapon F-35 was bough from the US.... pic.twitter.com/qnozuOGz9j

— winandmac.co.uk (@ukwinandmac) June 2, 2020

Taiwanese media Taiwan News, reporting on the matter, claimed that she has "drawn the ire" of the Taiwanese

Local public intellectual and retired diplomat Bilahari Kausikan, weighing in on the matter of the U.S. having "double standards", said while it is true, such an attitude is not out of place for major powers, China included.

Earlier controversy

Ho has previously stirred debate with her "errrr...." comment on an article that highlighted Taiwan's donation of face masks to Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore.

Underlying her comment was perhaps the difficulty ST Engineering experienced in bringing home the face masks it manufactured in Taiwan, as well as the machinery used to produce the masks.

However, the sharing of the comic was seen by many Taiwanese and some Singaporeans as an inconsiderate remark in response to a kind gesture that might be better seen as friendly cooperation between Taiwan and Singapore.

Ho sparked controversy again a few days later with another Facebook post that recounted a story she heard from a Singaporean about a pleasant experience with Taiwan.

However, accompanying the text was a political commentary video that discussed about the earlier controversy with Taiwan.

The video happened to have an image of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen with some unflattering words on it, which Ho subsequently apologised for.

Top image adapted via Ho Ching's Facebook & Getty Images