The Biden White House’s statement on protests in China over “Zero Covid” lockdowns and denial of freedoms was a big bowl of weak sauce, and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby didn’t do much better after being asked about the president’s view on the situation:
John Kirby refuses to say specifically that the WH supports China protesters — will only say they "support the right of peaceful protest."
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) November 28, 2022
Stunning and brave, except not really.
John Kirby: "The president's not going to speak for protesters around the world, they're speaking for themselves"
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) November 28, 2022
Somebody should tell Biden they’re BLM protesters and maybe he’d have a few words of support.
Reporter: "What is the president's reaction when he hears protesters in China chant 'freedom' or 'Xi Jinping step down'?"
Kirby: "The president's not going to speak for protesters."
Reporter: "So there's no reaction?"
Kirby: "These protesters are speaking for themselves." pic.twitter.com/Q8Rg0QOx9J
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) November 28, 2022
How might Chinese leadership translate that?
WH to China: Send in the tanks https://t.co/fjK6oWSovK
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 28, 2022
The Biden White House has a chance to make a real statement on the issue of freedom and all we get is basically “hey, it is what it is.”
As president, Biden's whole schtick has been "democracy vs. autocracy"; now we have popular uprisings in two of the world's most repressive autocracies — Iran & China — and the WH can't even bother itself to publicly support these activists risking their lives for freedom
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 28, 2022
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Unfortunately this isn’t very surprising. Heck, Biden’s chief medical adviser praised China’s “Zero Covid” approach in 2020 and tried (successfully to some degree) to bring similar lockdowns to the U.S. so perhaps the WH doesn’t really think the Chinese government is overdoing things very much.
Each of these answers should be preceded with: “President Biden hasn’t received authority from Xi to go beyond what we’re already saying.”
— Don’t Be Ignorant (@dontbei) November 28, 2022
No kidding.
This is a mistake. The President of the United States still has a lot of cachet around the world. Chinese and Iranians need to know they have our support as they try to end their totalitarian governments. https://t.co/Bv58i7vOx4
— Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) November 28, 2022
People in China and Iran who live under oppressive governments NEED free people and leaders of free nations to speak for them. They don't have the voice for themselves the way we all do. https://t.co/Mv9AmpU9eZ
— Brittany (@bccover) November 28, 2022
This is exactly what the President of the United States should be speaking up about. Especially when it comes to countries that have a long history of killing protesters or jailing them.
— Sad without baseball (@LastWordWilliam) November 28, 2022
Then again, this is the same U.S. president who, after a lengthy meeting with Chairman Xi a couple of weeks ago, had more harsh criticism about Republicans than the ChiCom government.
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Related:
Fatal fire sparks protest over China’s ZERO COVID measures leading many to recall BAD Leftist policy
Guess who Dr. Fauci blames for China covering up where/how Covid originated
After meeting with China’s Xi, Biden had some HARSH criticism (of Republicans in the US)
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