Chinese netizens calling US nationwide protests "a beautiful sight to behold" is not encouraging riots and violence, but just mocking US double standards, as the country described the Hong Kong riots as "a beautiful sight" but aggressively cracked down on domestic anti-racism protests, analysts said. 

The words "a beautiful sight to behold" were used by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to describe the Hong Kong riots last year. 

Chinese people are justified in throwing the phrase back when the same scenes happen outside US politicians' own windows. Whether they are beautiful or not, they should have the answer now, Chinese analysts noted. 

These voices emerged after a domestic news outlet questioned online netizens who referred to the protests sparked by police violence against George Floyd as "a beautiful sight." 

Analysts dismissed the comments, and noted that Chinese people are kind and mild-mannered, but it is naive to treat evil with good when dealing with unfriendly forces in the belief that the other side will be moved by such kindness. 

"We do not attack others first, but we must be able to deal with others with two hands: returning good for good and having the courage and ability to counter them when being treated unfairly," a net user posted on Sina Weibo, Chinese Twitter-like platform. 

"Why should Chinese people tolerate US double standards? I don't like violence or arson at all, but it is understandable that the public needs to vent its discontent to retaliate against the US for glorifying the Hong Kong riots but showing an iron fist in domestic protests," wrote another. 

The US protests came after the death of African American George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. The protests have extended to almost all US states and curfews have been announced in multiple cities including the epicenter, as well as Washington DC and Los Angeles. 

Global Times