Police spray protesters with pepper spray during a demonstration over the killing of George Floyd by a policeman outside the Third Police Precinct on Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Demonstrators gathered on Wednesday for a second night of protests over the killing in the US city of Minneapolis of a handcuffed black man by a policeman who held him to the ground with a knee on his neck. As dusk fell, police formed a human barricade around the Third Precinct, where the officers were accused of killing Floyd. Photo: AFP

As the protest in the US state of Minnesota resembled Hong Kong riots last year in protesting means and police response, Chinese netizens who referred it as "a beautiful sight to behold," as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the Hong Kong demonstrations, mocked US double standards and wished more "beautiful sights" of this kind in the US. 

Angry crowds in Minneapolis smashed their way into stores and set businesses and other buildings on fire, after the death of a black man on Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer put his knee on his neck for about eight minutes. On Thursday, they set fire to a police precinct and police fired tear gas at the protestors, US media reported. 

The Minneapolis mayor declared a state of emergency in the city, and Minnesota sent more than 500 National Guard soldiers to Minneapolis.

US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened the use of "shooting" and announced the army supports the governor in a tweet calling the Minnesota protestors as "thugs."

Photos and videos of fires and the police deployment of tear gas have circulated on Chinese social media since Thursday, and related topics of the protests have trended on Weibo for two days. Many Chinese netizens cracked sarcastic jokes about US double standards in treating Hong Kong mobs and protests in its own soil, saying China should do what the US has done to criticize China over Hong Kong affairs. 

"China has not deployed any military force a year after the Hong Kong turmoil, but Trump has threatened to resort to military force just four days into the protests. Hong Kong mobs, take a better look at the country you are begging for help," one netizen said. 

In a live report of the protests on Friday, a CNN team was arrested. CNN later issued a statement demanding the release of its employees. 

Chinese netizens compared it with foreign reporters' performance and Hong Kong police's tolerance to them during the Hong Kong unrest, and called on Hong Kong police to tighten law enforcement to foreign reporters. 

Referring to the protests as "a beautiful sight to behold," many netizens showed their support to the protestors. 

Some Chinese netizens said, "We should express our serious concern, immediately summon the US ambassador in China to warn the US over its human rights issue, come up with a US human rights bill to sanction the US police chief and certain entities, bring the issue to the UN for international condemnation of the US!"

 "Five demands from Minnesota: release US citizens arrested during the protests; establish a supervision team to investigate US police; disband US 'black cops;' abolish US law on national security and the US presidential election system," read one comment which aped the five demands listed by Hong Kong protesters.

Some netizens urged the US to mind their own business as it has reported over 100,000 deaths from coronavirus, unprecedented unemployment rates and worsening racism, but attempted to meddle Hong Kong affairs. 

"You are a country built on lies, and you are still weaving lies of US democracy and freedom when everyone is having a good laugh at your failure," said one netizen. 

Diao Daming, an associate professor at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that Chinese netizens' comments reflect US politicians' hypocrisy and double standards, and they will be abandoned by their countrymen if they go further to play political games instead of caring about Americans' lives. 

The US is resorting to double standards to secure its global hegemony, but it undermines other countries' security, and ultimately the US will lose its security. Domestically, the racist prejudice, unprotected basic rights of life and soaring unemployment will further split American society, worsen social conflicts, and the US will move backwards, experts said.