A protester raises a fist near a fire during a demonstration outside the White House over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police in Washington DC on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Protests and chaos have spread from the US state of Minnesota to the rest of the country, and Chinese netizens are cheering. Nearly no Chinese netizen sympathizes with US police officers. The Minnesota governor who claimed that the chaos is manipulated by ideological extremists and foreign forces is being mocked. The reason for this is that the US government and Congress have been supporting the riots in Hong Kong. Some praised those rioters were "brave." The false flattery from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Hong Kong's chaos is "a beautiful sight to behold" is particularly annoying and spiteful.

For most Chinese netizens, the riots spreading in the US is retribution of the US politicians who supported Hong Kong's protests. The US incited Hong Kong's rioters, but now it is facing the same troubles. Chinese netizens' feelings are direct reaction to the US' mistaken polices toward China.

The Chinese government and the National People's Congress have exercised restraint and did not release statements condemning US police who fired tear gas and arrested demonstrators. 

I hope the current chaos on US soil can teach US politicians and some European politicians a good lesson. To be honest, social contradictions in the US and Europe are more pronounced and problematic than in China. But in the US, the government is incapable of carrying out profound reforms and making efforts to eliminate disparities. Therefore, extreme protests are much more likely to happen in the US than in China. Washington supports rioters in Hong Kong, while now it is slapped in the face by violent protests across the US.

My tweets in the past few days have received enthusiastic responses on Twitter. Some of my posts were reposted thousands of times. It's easy to tell that the Americans are very emotional toward the ongoing riots. One should not impose on others what he himself does not desire. When Hong Kong was engulfed in turmoil and Washington was pointing a finger at Beijing, Washington should have envisioned how unpleasant the Chinese people would be. 

Some people, including public intellectuals have argued that protests in the US are "evil acts of beating, smashing, and looting", while what happened in Hong Kong was a "just rebellion." This is sophistry. Such shameless double standards can no longer dominate reality. The fact is, favorable changes have gradually taken place in Hong Kong. Order is expected to be rebuilt. Meanwhile, there are no solutions to conundrums in the US. The US will become more chaotic as its economy continues to worsen, and as its political system declines. 

Riots that undermine the rule of law will cause more pain to society. Violence is never a good solution to any problem in any place. I want to emphasize that the US has less and less capital to play a "double standard" game right now. It is unable to mess up China. It would be a wise choice for it to reconsider how to protect itself first.  

The author is editor-in-chief of the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn