Enemies of the United States often delight in our national embarrassments, eagerly hyping and citing them in an effort to drag us down to their level. So like clockwork, the Chinese Communist Party propaganda machine has kicked into high gear over the last 24 hours or so, comparing the Hong Kong protests with what happened on Capitol Hill yesterday. "Arguments" like this from official state media outlets are straight-up garbage:
House speaker Pelosi once referred to the Hong Kong riots as "a beautiful sight to behold" — it remains yet to be seen how she will comment on the recent developments in Capitol Hill. Condemn violence and condemn all the people who glorify violence. https://t.co/29jR0z7esS
— Hu Xijin ??? (@HuXijin_GT) January 7, 2021
Hong Kongers have been bravely resisting a tyrannical government that is systematically and intentionally stamping out democracy, in violation of its agreed-upon legal obligations, including mass arrests of people whose only crime is opposing the regime and supporting democracy. The regime is the thuggish outlaw party, in this case. The Trump mob, which represent a tiny fraction of actual Trump supporters (and even if there happened to be a stray Antifa agitator or two mixed in, it's ludicrous to try to pretend that this crowd was something other than a Trump mob) were the thuggish outlaws in the Washington, DC melee. They injured more than a dozen police officers while storming and smashing their way into the national legislature in order to disrupt the peaceful transition of power prescribed by our constitution. Of course, peaceable power transfers following free elections is a concept with which Beijing is notably unacquainted. Pointing at images of upheaval in Hong Kong and DC and saying, "See?" is morally-bankrupt, demagogic, dishonest buffoonery – in other words, directly on-brand for the CCP. But it sure would be nice if CNN reporters didn't choose to parrot and amplify their propaganda:
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Morally repulsive. This is CCP propaganda being delivered by a CNN reporter. https://t.co/17OjY8Tn3Y
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) January 7, 2021
After getting dragged on social media for this obtuseness, the journalist tried to clean it up with a follow-on tweet, but it was very weak. As we wrote earlier in the week, there's a strange impulse among some in the Western press to whitewash China's sins or cheer on China's supposed successes – especially if the framing can be cheaply exploited to make "Trump's America" look bad on any level, no matter how specious the juxtaposition may be. I'll leave you with an example of true courage:
This is very brave, considering what is happening in Hong Kong. Just put yourself in their shoes for a second. I do not doubt they feel scared. True courage is not the absence of fear, but doing what you believe is right despite the presence of it. https://t.co/sPLNe3et8z
— Melissa Chan (@melissakchan) January 6, 2021
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