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Shades Off | Hong Kong and US protests are different – in how police brutality claims are treated
- Unlike in Hong Kong, public outrage over the allegations of police violence is taken seriously in the US
- While being deaf to protesters’ demands, Hong Kong and Beijing officials are busy calling out the US for double standards
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One nation’s misfortunes are not for another to crow about. But the animosity between China and the United States is such that both are eager to paint the other as broken and a failure.
Protests that erupted in all 50 American states after the death of a black man who had been pinned to the ground by a white police officer were promptly seized on by Beijing, with comparisons being drawn with the demonstrations in Hong Kong. But ignored in the Chinese commentary was the aftermath: the fact that policing failures in the US have been acknowledged and efforts are being made to prevent their repeat.
The crux of China’s political efforts is the portrayal of democracy as flawed, and of one-party communist rule as the solution to challenges facing society. There is no better nation to target in this endeavour than the US, which proudly proclaims itself to be the ultimate upholder of democratic values.
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So when a white officer in Minneapolis was videoed kneeling for almost nine minutes on the neck of George Floyd, who repeatedly protested that he couldn’t breathe, Beijing gleefully highlighted claims about rampant racism, police brutality and inept administration.
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Carrie Lam accuses protest-plagued US of ‘double standards’ over national security
Carrie Lam accuses protest-plagued US of ‘double standards’ over national security
The glee escalated into joy when the peaceful protests in the US turned violent and descended into rioting and looting, with police responding with force and even army reservists being deployed in some places.
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