In 2016, the researchers Lu Yuyu and Li Tingyu were arrested for collecting and publishing data about the frequency, size, and nature of Chinese protests. That information used to be released regularly, until the CCP decided the number was too risky to publicize. The most recent state-released data on so-called “mass incidents”-party-speak for unauthorized gatherings and other social unrest- indicates there were about 180,000 such events in 2010. This is not to say Chinese citizens don’t protest. Indeed, widespread demonstrations are conspicuously absent in China. What’s more important is that the CCP’s rush to paint the George Floyd protests as a sign of failure is indicative of its anxiety toward social movements. We’ll also bookmark that Hua bafflingly tweeted “All lives matter” two days after “I can’t breathe” and the history of racism toward ethnic minorities and Africans in China itself. We’ll set aside for now that, as Ho-fung Hung pointed out recently in Foreign Policy, the CCP is not a credible ally for human rights. The House and Senate have both proposed laws to counter impunity for police violence. The George Floyd protests, composed of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in more than 2,000 locations in the United States, can already claim some notable achievements, such as repurposing police funding for social services. When the politically marginalized can no longer wait for officials or lawmakers to effect justice, they take to the streets to shift narratives and demand resolution. While it wants to frame the unrest as an indictment of American democracy, the reality is that nationwide collective action for government accountability is democracy in action. President Donald Trump and some of his political allies threatened to deploy the military against citizens.īut on deeper examination, these mass demonstrations are fraught territory for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Press Freedom Tracker, as of June 15, had documented at least 325 attacks and more than 59 arrests of journalists. Police have widely employed tear gas, rubber bullets, and other violent dispersal tactics. Thousands of protesters have been arrested, most for violating curfews. Widespread curfews denied many Americans their fundamental right to assembly and free expression. There’s certainly some truth to the accusation of violent or illiberal responses to the protests. They can readily accuse the United States of “hypocritical double standards” for failing to live up to its venerated principles. As the United States explodes in nationwide demonstrations over police violence against Black Americans, Chinese officials are using the unrest to deflect condemnation for abuses against their own citizens. government for police brutality and racism.Īt first glance, the Chinese party-state has been handed a rhetorical gift. This clapback neatly captures the recent eagerness of Chinese state media and officials to amplify the George Floyd marches and criticize the U.S. State Department’s criticism of a proposed national security law for Hong Kong. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on May 30 tweeted “I can’t breathe” in response to the U.S.
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