The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is taking a page out of the anti-gun lobby’s playbook—almost literally.
In a video posted to an official Chinese government Twitter account, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticized U.S. officials for failing to address “gun violence,” calling the problem a “human rights issue.” The tweet links to a page from the Gun Violence Archive that displays “gun deaths” in the United States.
“Behind these numbers concerning gun violence in the U.S. are heartbroken families who have lost their loved ones. This is both shocking and poignant. One gunshot after another left countless bullet holes in the American dream. The smell of gunpowder drifting in the air set people thinking and questioning, does the democracy the U.S. champions have no regard for life? Does the freedom the U.S. advocates mean freedom to shoot other people?” he asked.
The CCP has for years tried to equivocate their own human rights violations with the supposed social ills of the United States. The American Left’s ongoing campaign to paint the U.S. as racist and violent has given them plenty of fodder.
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During the nationwide Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, the CCP’s mouthpiece newspaper, the “People’s Daily,” published a cartoon showing a White House tainted in blood with a police officer emerging from the statue of liberty. In March of last year, the Chinese criticized the U.S. for “deep-seated” problems with racism in response to accusations of genocide in the Xinjiang region.
This latest attack seems to be more of the same.
“Gun violence has become a malignant social tumor in the U.S., interwoven and overlapping with other issues, including a pandemic raging unchecked, drug abuse, and racial discrimination. It has become a severe systemic human right issue,” Zhao said.
“Oddly, as the American people suffer, U.S. politicians keep looking the other way with indifference. They are blowing their own trumpet and lecturing other countries,” he continued. “Do they have any right, any moral authority, or any confidence to do so? I hope these shocking numbers will have a sobering effect on these people, so they can reflect upon themselves and take some concrete actions to improve these human rights conditions.”
Is democracy flaunted by the US blind to people’s lives? Is freedom touted by the US about the freedom of shooting?https://t.co/uWMNKLGG3B pic.twitter.com/zSTNoClXU5
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) January 25, 2022
In what most international observers describe as a “genocide” akin to the Holocaust, the CCP has placed about 3 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in concentration camps in the Xinjiang region of China. The country is also responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic and adds more CO2 to the atmosphere than any other nation.
Private gun ownership is generally banned in China. However, much like California and New York, the CCP grants certain permissions to those who express a “genuine reason” to possess a firearm.