January 08, 2021, 12:31 PM
China has called for "peace, stability, security" in the wake of the U.S. Capitol break-in on Thursday, Jan. 7.
At a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Hua Chunying said China hopes the American people can enjoy peace at the earliest, especially "amid the grim situation brought about by the pandemic," official state-run media Xinhua reported.
China calls for peace, stability, security after U.S. Capitol riots https://t.co/z6MUkaldg5 pic.twitter.com/KJp5SwNYbD
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 7, 2021
Chinese people have the right to comment on U.S. protests: China
When asked about Chinese netizens' gleeful comments at the political chaos that saw four people die during the protests, Hua said the Chinese people have "the right and freedom to express their opinions and make comments online".
Hua had also slammed certain American media outlets for choosing to refer to U.S. Capitol protesters as "mobs", while describing Hong Kong protesters as "democratic heroes".
Nationalistic state-controlled media Global Times echoed the criticism in a tweet.
What word did they use about #HK? What words are they using now? #US media condemn the incident in US, calling it 'violence,' 'thugs,' 'extremists,' and 'disgrace.' What words did they use to describe riots in #HK? 'Beautiful sight,' 'fighters for democracy': FM https://t.co/icrsfoqTZJ pic.twitter.com/ib5tvxIwFr
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 7, 2021
It drew parallels between the Capitol siege by pro-Trump supporters and the storming of the Legislative Council (LegCo) by Hong Kong protesters back in 2019 as well.
.@SpeakerPelosi once referred to the Hong Kong riots as "a beautiful sight to behold" — it remains yet to be seen whether she will say the same about the recent developments in Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/91iXDzYpcO
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 7, 2021
It repeated U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments on the Hong Kong protests, that they were "a beautiful sight to behold".
Such a narrative is used by Beijing multiple times to draw attention to perceived double standards Washington has adopted towards protests at home and abroad, which many Chinese thought was highly hypocritical.
A similar tone was also taken by Beijing towards the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. in an attempt to rebuke American criticism of its Hong Kong policy.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists call out Beijing narrative
However, it is worth noting that Pelosi's remarks were made at the start of the mass protests in June 2019 when marches that saw tens of thousands of Hongkongers turn up were still largely peaceful.
The comparison made by Beijing was called out by pro-democracy activists, who pointed out the difference between the nature of the two movements, although they refrained from justifying the LegCo break-in.
They asserted that while Hong Kong protesters had stormed the LegCo building to oppose a heavy-handed autocracy imposed by Beijing against the will of the Hong Kong people, and to call for greater democracy, pro-Trump supporters had laid siege to the Capitol to overturn election results that were derived from a verified, democratic process.
One seeks to defend democracy, the other to dismantle it.
— Sophie Mak (@SophieMak1) January 7, 2021
One opposes dictatorship, the other is attempting to install one.
Protesting against authoritarianism is very much different from protesting against the results of a fair democratic election. pic.twitter.com/OFh2NMk08U
https://twitter.com/austinramzy/status/1346972977531768836
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Top image via Xinhua
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