As we watch Russian President Vladimir Putin use the military to invade Ukraine for no reason other than cold lust for power, we can’t help but be reminded of Chinese President Xi Jinping using his country’s military to crack down on Hong Kong and Taiwan. In both cases, authoritarian tyrants are terrorizing innocent civilians and threatening their lives.
But maybe drawing such a comparison between Russia and China isn’t quite fair. Maybe there are subtle nuances that distinguish the two governments. It’s important that we consider that possibility before passing judgment on China.
For example, according to state-run China Xinhua News, the Chinese government is putting their money where their notoriously humanitarian mouth is:
Humanitarian aid supplies, eh? Hopefully they’re not talking about stuff like Chinese COVID tests, because those are demonstrably useless.
Sorry, we’re being mean. China wants to help the people of Ukraine who are being oppressed by a ruthless, megalomaniacal, tyrannical madman! Let’s all salute them for it!
Uh, Jerry, it’s more than a million and a half bucks, OK? It’s $1.57 million, which is more than $1.5 million. So there.
So very, very generous.
You know it, baby. The biggest bucks for peace.
Is that sarcasm we detect?
Damn right it’s sarcasm. Because the Chinese government’s gesture is a monumentally empty one. $1.57 million from China — China! — is not even a molecule of one drop in the bucket. Moreover, does anyone actually believe for a second that Xi Jinping isn’t supportive of what Vladimir Putin is doing and that he doesn’t want to do the exact same thing to Hong Kong and Taiwan?
In fairness, though, no amount of “humanitarian aid” from the Chinese government means anything. Because there’s nothing humanitarian about the Chinese government.
Chinese government has reportedly generously donated $1.57 million in ‘humanitarian aid supplies to Ukraine’
