London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Government reactions to George Floyd protests, Tiananmen Square not ‘morally equivalent’, says US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus

In recent days, Chinese officials, social media users and state media have accused the US administration of applying a double standard. Ortagus responds to a provocative tweet by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying: ‘It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad’

Chinese comparisons of actions by US authorities during the recent American protests with Beijing’s crackdown on Chinese students three decades ago are seriously misguided, the State Department’s top spokesperson said Thursday.

“What we saw in Tiananmen Square 31 years ago was a massacre, a massacre of innocent people that came from Hong Kong but also Chinese people to protest,” said Morgan Ortagus in an interview on the anniversary of the June 4 crackdown in the heart of Beijing.

“We have the right to peacefully assemble in the United States,” she added. “It’s important that we not, especially in the West, not try to have moral equivalency for things that are just not morally equivalent.”

During the interview, Ortagus also commented on Britain’s offer of possible citizenship, her tit-for-tat tweets with a Chinese “wolf warrior” diplomat and the erosion of autonomy signaled by Hong Kong’s decision not to allow a Tiananmen demonstration this year.



In recent days, Chinese officials, social media users and state media have accused the US administration of applying a double standard. They say the US has no right to condemn China’s 1989 Tiananmen student crackdown and those more recently involving Hong Kong demonstrators even as President Donald Trump has called on US governors to “dominate” their cities and pledged to “quickly solve the problem” of unrest with military forces.

For over a week, dozens of US cities have seen at times violent protests and looting following the death of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota as frustration has welled up after generations of discrimination and inequity.

China watchers in the US have called the timing of the US unrest and Trump’s strong man response “a treasure trove” for Chinese nationalists and a “propaganda field day” for Chinese censors.

A huge difference between the US and China, however, Ortagus said, is that Americans have the right to criticise their government, something rarely allowed in China.

“We will always stand up for rule of law, the right to protest, the right of assembly,” she added. “They also, still to this day, keep at least a million Uygurs if not more, and other ethnic minorities, locked up in what they call re-education camps, simply for the crime of being Muslim, not being Han enough in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Ortagus declined to say whether the US would follow London’s lead in allowing Hong Kong residents to relocate. The United Kingdom offered a path to citizenship potentially involving millions of Hongkongers. This follows a US determination last week that the city was no longer autonomous from China after Beijing approved plans for a Hong Kong security law.

“We never preview any policy decisions that we’re making behind the scenes,” the spokeswoman said, although the administration supports London’s move given London’s long historical relationship with Hong Kong, she added.

Analysts said, given Trump’s anti-immigrant bias, they don’t expect the US to follow suit any time soon.

Ortagus added that recent trolling by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, one of a new generation of “wolf warrior” diplomats, was ironic.

“It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad,” Ortagus said. “Hua Chunying enjoys the freedom of using Twitter because she is a CCP [Chinese Communist Party] official.

“Sadly her fellow citizens don’t have that same freedom and will never see her tweets, unless they leave the country,” she added.
Twitter and most outside media are banned in China’s tightly controlled information ecosystem even as Beijing uses it to reach foreign audiences.

The kerfuffle between the two spokeswomen follows a Hua tweet last weekend reacting to one of Ortagus’ Twitter messages – about how China has reneged on its one nation, two systems pledge to respect Hong Kong independence – with a provocative: “I can’t breathe.”

This phrase was among Floyd’s final words before he died, which have become a rallying cry for US demonstrators.


Analysts said the growing nationalistic tone by some Chinese diplomats is not terribly diplomatic.

“The world has met the wolf warrior diplomat,” said Evan Medeiros, a senior fellow at Georgetown University and a former National Security Council official. “And she’s howling louder than ever.”

Ortagus said the US was “greatly concerned” with the Hong Kong government’s decision not to let demonstrators mark the Tiananmen anniversary for the first time since tanks rolled into the square three decades ago. “We have to recognise reality,” she added. “It is now one country, one system.”

Analysts said Chinese and American diplomats have a tough job these days as relations plummet. “They’re obligated to defend what is very difficult to defend,” said Yun Sun, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, a Beijing native. “On that, they’re probably in the same difficult spot.”

But Ortagus is on solid ground when she disavows comparisons between the US reaction to its unrest with the Tiananmen crackdown and Beijing’s tightening grip over Hong Kong, Sun added.

“As [former] president [Barack] Obama said yesterday, protest is healthy. The US as a country started with protest and a revolution,” she added. “The difference is tremendous.”




Others said the world would not know much about the tragic Tiananmen crackdown without the Western media, which rather ironically Beijing is relying on for its propaganda.

“Coverage by the US media of the present day protests across the US provide China with the images to craft their narrative moving forward,” said Andrew Mertha, director of the China studies programme at Johns Hopkins University.

The gist of that narrative, Mertha added, is: “look at the instability following poor leadership in the US compared with the stability fashioned by Xi Jinping’s approach to governance,” referring to the Chinese president.

False equivalents aside, however, analysts said global diplomacy is often as much about perception as facts. And by that measure, Washington does look hypocritical.

“The US looks anti-democratic, not living up to its values, including its annual condemnation of Tiananmen,” said Medeiros. “That is a perception problem that the US has to fix, and sooner rather than later.”




Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×