China: Racism, a Chronic Disease of U.S. Society
BEIJING (Dispatches) -- China said Monday unrest in the United States highlighted its severe problems of racism and police violence, and exposed Washington’s double standards in supporting Hong Kong’s protesters.
"Black people’s lives are also lives. Their human rights must also be guaranteed,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing, referring to the death in custody of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis.
"Racism against ethnic minorities in the U.S. is a chronic disease of American society,” Zhao added.
"The current situation reflects once more the severity of the problems of racism and police violence in the U.S.”
Chinese diplomats and state media have pointed at the unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd to accuse the U.S. of hypocrisy and compare American protesters with violent demonstrators in Hong Kong.
Zhao said the U.S. government’s response to protests at home was a "textbook example of its world-famous double standards.”
"Why does the U.S. lionize the so-called Hong Kong independence and black violence elements as heroes and activists, while calling people who protest against racism ‘rioters’?” Zhao asked.
China has said "foreign forces” are to blame for the turmoil in Hong Kong, where violent riots since June last year have crippled the island.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying took aim at Washington Monday.
"I can’t breathe,” she said on Twitter, with a screenshot of a tweet by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus that had criticized China’s policy in Hong Kong.
Hua was quoting the words Floyd was heard saying repeatedly before his death -- after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Beijing warned Washington Monday of retaliation after President Donald Trump announced restrictions on Chinese students in the U.S. in protest over a new national security law in Hong Kong.
Trump said Friday that the United States would ban some Chinese graduate students and start reversing Hong Kong’s special status in customs and other areas, as Beijing moves ahead with a plan to impose a controversial security law.
"Any words and actions that harm the interests of China will be met with counter-attacks on the Chinese side,” said Zhao at a regular briefing.
He said Washington’s measures "seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine US-China relations”.
China’s parliament on Thursday approved plans for the law, which would punish secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and acts that endanger national security, as well as allow Chinese security agencies to operate openly in Hong Kong.
"Black people’s lives are also lives. Their human rights must also be guaranteed,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing, referring to the death in custody of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis.
"Racism against ethnic minorities in the U.S. is a chronic disease of American society,” Zhao added.
"The current situation reflects once more the severity of the problems of racism and police violence in the U.S.”
Chinese diplomats and state media have pointed at the unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd to accuse the U.S. of hypocrisy and compare American protesters with violent demonstrators in Hong Kong.
Zhao said the U.S. government’s response to protests at home was a "textbook example of its world-famous double standards.”
"Why does the U.S. lionize the so-called Hong Kong independence and black violence elements as heroes and activists, while calling people who protest against racism ‘rioters’?” Zhao asked.
China has said "foreign forces” are to blame for the turmoil in Hong Kong, where violent riots since June last year have crippled the island.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying took aim at Washington Monday.
"I can’t breathe,” she said on Twitter, with a screenshot of a tweet by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus that had criticized China’s policy in Hong Kong.
Hua was quoting the words Floyd was heard saying repeatedly before his death -- after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Beijing warned Washington Monday of retaliation after President Donald Trump announced restrictions on Chinese students in the U.S. in protest over a new national security law in Hong Kong.
Trump said Friday that the United States would ban some Chinese graduate students and start reversing Hong Kong’s special status in customs and other areas, as Beijing moves ahead with a plan to impose a controversial security law.
"Any words and actions that harm the interests of China will be met with counter-attacks on the Chinese side,” said Zhao at a regular briefing.
He said Washington’s measures "seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine US-China relations”.
China’s parliament on Thursday approved plans for the law, which would punish secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and acts that endanger national security, as well as allow Chinese security agencies to operate openly in Hong Kong.