Published 08:02 IST, July 12th 2020
China stooge justifies harassment threat against US nationals; gives tit-for-tat logic
A Chinese mouthpiece editor shared a report in which US department has alerted Americans in China that they may be detained. He cited 'US persecution' as reason
A day after US President Donald Trump said that ties with China are 'severely damaged', editor of Chinese mouthpiece Global Times has shared a report in which the US department has alerted Americans in China that they may be detained and interrogated by the Chinese government. Providing an explanation for the aforesaid decision by the Chinese government, the Chinese frontline response stooge claimed that it was necessary as the 'US has persecuted and harassed' many Chinese people studying or working in Trump's America. Moreover, he has slammed Chinese Americans, saying that they too have a guilty conscience.
In what seemed a mockery of McCarthyism - a practice of making accusations of treason without proper evidence - prevalent in America during the period of Red Scare, and associated with US senator Joseph McCarthy, the Xijin said that he may have come out from his grave, but 'China will never give him a visa.'
Earlier on Saturday, he had attempted to warn the US President. Claiming that 'decoupling from China' won't help in getting him a second term, he said that the US should not take more action against China.
Friction between the US and China has increased in the aftermath of COVID outbreak. Donald Trump has recently said that his administration is mulling over the US-China trade deal amid tensed relations with Beijing. He had been blaming China since the outbreak of Coronavirus and has pulled out from the World Health Organisation (WHO), citing its bias towards China.
The US has also announced visa bans on senior Chinese officials involved in restricting access to foreigners to the sensitive region of Tibet and reaffirmed its support for "meaningful autonomy" for Tibetans. It has also called for an investigation over human rights violations about Uighurs in the Xinjiang region of the country. Moreover, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that they are considering a ban on TikTok and warned American citizens from using Chinese-origin applications. The US has also backed India after it banned 59 Chinese applications, after the violent Galwan valley clash between Indian army and PLA soldiers.
China to detain Americans?
The report referred by the editor of Global Times was shared by Fox News - a prominent US-based channel, in which it said that the State Department has warned Americans in China to practice “increased caution” as there is a risk of “prolonged interrogations and extended detention”. Quoting an international news agency, it said that an alert was sent to US citizens in China stating that security personnel may detain and/ or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government.
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Updated 08:02 IST, July 12th 2020