China’s internet erupted in mirth at America’s troubled
democracy after supporters of President Donald Trump broke into the US Capitol,
comparing the chaos to the Hong Kong anti-government protests of 2019.
On Thursday morning, state media tabloid Global Times
tweeted side-by-side photo comparisons of Hong Kong protesters occupying the
city’s Legislative Council Complex in July 2019 with Wednesday’s Washington
riots.
The latter saw hardcore Trump fans invade the US Capitol to
protest the election defeat, taking selfies, scuffling with security and
ransacking parts of the building.
“@SpeakerPelosi once referred to the Hong Kong riots as ‘a
beautiful sight to behold’,” the Global Times said in the tweet, referring to
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s June 2019 comment about Hong Kong’s mass
pro-democracy demonstrations, which were mostly peaceful at that time.
“It remains yet to be seen whether she will say the same
about the recent developments in Capitol Hill.”
China’s Communist Youth League also described the unrest as
a “beautiful sight” on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
The hashtag “Trump supporters storm US Capitol” pinballed
across Weibo on Thursday, racking up 230 million views, as users compared the
global support for Hong Kong’s protesters with the outpouring of condemnation
for the pro-Trump mob.
“At present, all European countries’ leaders have shown
double standards and condemned it (Washington rioting),” read one Weibo comment
which gained over 5,000 likes.
“I don’t know what kind of double-standard reports will be
carried by Hong Kong or Taiwan media this time.”
“What happened in the Hong Kong Legislative Council last
year is being repeated in the US Capitol,” wrote another user in a comment with
over 4,500 likes.
While the tactics were similar, there are stark differences
in the causes and motivations of the two legislature stormings.
Hong Kong protesters broke into their legislature to demand
full democracy and halt an unpopular bill that was being pushed through by the
city’s unelected leadership.
The semi-autonomous Chinese city is not a democracy, the
cause of years of popular protests.
China has since responded with a crackdown, imposing a harsh
security law on the restless city, arresting scores of critics and smothering
dissent.
In contrast, those storming the US Capitol were trying to
overturn the results of what has been declared a free and fair presidential
election.
US President-elect Joe Biden said the US rioters were
undermining democracy by trying to overturn Trump’s defeat in November’s
election.
AFP
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com