Responding to criticism from China over the police unlawful killing George Floyd, US Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo has lashed out describing the Chinese Communist Party’s criticism as “obscene” and “laughable propaganda”.
Pompeo’s statement stressed that the contrast between the US and China “could not be more stark” and goes on to list a litany of human rights abuses conducted in China.
This includes attacks on churches, imprisons journalist and forcing Uighurs into “re-education camps”.
Pompeo claimed that China has crushed the aspiration and freedom of the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan. In contrast, the US upholds “the rule of law, transparency, and unalienable human rights”.
However, China is not the only country to criticise the US, the UN has also condemned the killing of George Floyd as well as many other high-profile cases. They have described these killings as lynchings due to long history in the US of killing African Americans with impunity in public spaces to assert racial control. From 2013-2019, 99% of killings by police did not result in an officer being charged with a crime.
The UN has also condemned the attacks on journalists and peaceful protesters by America’s police and military. The US President has called for the deployment of the National Guard to put down protesters. They are presently deployed in 15 states.
The UN further contrasts the Black Lives Matters movements to predominately white protests in the US against the COVID-19 lockdown measures. The latter being treated with far more leniency.
Read the US State Department’s statement here and the UN statement here.
