China mocks US ‘double standards’ over Capitol chaos vs Hong Kong
- From officials to online commenters, Chinese critics accuse Washington of hypocrisy in its response to the storming of the Hill by Trump supporters
- US siege partly a result of deep divisions in the country, between people who benefited from globalisation and people who suffered from it, analyst says.
The protesters were eventually ejected and, in the aftermath, police said they found two pipe bombs. One woman who tried to break through a barricade was shot and later died of her wounds. Three others – a woman and two men – died in separate “medical emergencies”, police said without giving further details.
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World shocked by assault on the US Capitol by radical pro-Trump supporters in Washington
In China, state media, officials and online users tracked developments and compared the events with the 2019 anti-government protests in Hong Kong in opposition to a controversial extradition bill.
Photos of the troubled scenes in Washington – including people taking selfies in areas off limits to the public, scuffling with security guards and ransacking of the Capitol building – were shown with shots taken in Hong Kong.
The 2019 movement in Hong Kong was peaceful in the beginning, but turned violent, with protesters storming the city’s legislature on July 1 that year.
On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the United States should reflect on why it adopted different positions on the two events.