China US Photo: GT

 

 As the world closely watches how the US deals with the raging COVID-19 epidemic, the superpower passed a bill related to China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the name of protecting its "freedom" and "choice," which was slammed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry as a hypocritical move that only aims to contain China. 

The US House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill to allow residents of Hong Kong to live and work in the US through a form of humanitarian relief reserved for people from regions struck by war, natural disaster, or other dire circumstances. The bill allows Hong Kong residents who have been "targeted for exercising their democratic freedoms" to seek refuge in the US.

In response to the bill, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at Tuesday's press conference, "I have noticed that some politicians in the US are really busy these days. They are very concerned about the freedom of people in China, especially in Hong Kong. It gives people a very unreal feeling."

People all over the world are looking at the US with great sympathy, Hua said. 

There are now more than 15 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US and more than 280,000 deaths. In the first five days of December alone, there were more than a million new confirmed cases, and more than 2,000 deaths a day, sometimes close to 3,000.

"I have also seen reports that the US Commerce Department said that 12 percent of American families sometimes or often did not have enough food last month, and that there were long lines at some places where people queue to get free food," Hua said.

It is hard to believe that these things are happening in the world's most powerful country, which prides itself on being a beacon of democracy and freedom. Shouldn't the rights to life and health be the greatest human rights? Shouldn't the freedom to respect science and control the epidemic be the greatest real freedom? Hua asked. 

People can see very clearly that some people in the US say that they care about the freedom of the people in Hong Kong. That is false, Hua stressed, noting that they use Hong Kong or so-called "democracy and freedom" as an excuse to contain and suppress China.

"We hope that these people in the US will not turn a blind eye to the fact that so many people are dying of diseases every day around them, but pretend to care for the residents of other countries. That is hypocritical and they need to be woken up," Hua said. 

Global Times