Chinese Ambassador Enjoys Freedom in the US While China Censors Freedom of Speech

Recently, a U.S. official delivered a speech about freedom of speech and democracy in Mandarin, but the video was deleted less than 5 minutes after it was published on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Meanwhile, Chinese Communist officials freely publish articles criticizing the U.S. government on American media. The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the Department of State tweeted the following on May 6: “Last night @washingtonpost carried Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai’s Op-Ed because that’s what freedom of the press looks like. Also last night, Matt Pottinger’s speech on Weibo disappeared within 5 minutes because that’s what censorship looks like.” Later, the Embassy of the United States in Beijing retweeted this tweet and also translated it to Chinese. The Chinese Ambassador in the U.S., Cui Tiankai, published an article with the title “Ignoring the facts to blame China will only make things worse” in the Washington Post and the content of the article aligns with the Foreign Ministry of China, which seeks to avoid taking responsibility for the consequences caused by the coverup of the virus at the early stage. Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States, Matt Pottinger, was invited to a seminar discussing the relationship between the U.S. and China hosted by the University of Virginia on May 4. Pottinger delivered a speech about freedom of speech and democracy using his perfect Mandarin. An observer on Beijing current affairs, Hua Po, expressed, “The great thing about democracy in the U.S. is that even though I 100% disagree with your point of view, I 100% support your freedom of speech. This is western society. In the Chinese Communist regime, everyone is only allowed to speak in unity. No dissent, no discord.” Matt Pottinger was a journalist for Reuters and the Washington Post. He was deployed to China for 7 years where he spoke fluent Mandarin. While in China, he was arrested by the police for reporting on the corruption inside the CCP and was also beaten by National Security Officers. As a result, he understands perfectly the threats posed by the CCP’s censorship on freedom of the press. In his speech, he said that in today’s China, you need courage in order to talk to reporters and to be a reporter. It is extremely difficult to find local and foreign investigative journalists in China. Many citizen journalists like Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin, and Li Zehua, who were trying to disclose the truth about the epidemic in Wuhan, disappeared. In recent months, the number of foreign journalists who were expelled by the Chinese Communist Party was more than the Soviet Union did in 10 years. A Chinese netizen tweeted that his Twitter account was blocked by the webmaster for 3 days with the excuse of “spreading bad rumors,” but all he did was simply forward the information given by the Embassy of the United States in Beijing to his group chat. He said, “What Matt Pottinger and Mike Pompeo said was ‘freedom of speech,’ but in the eyes of an authoritarian regime, it is ‘rumors.’” Commentator on current affairs, Xing Tian Xing, expressed, “The CCP utilizes the rhetoric of freedom of speech from overseas to brainwash the Chinese people. It wants to give the people a sense of ‘overseas people have heard us and are supporting us’ and achieves control over the public opinion inside China.” Hua Po indicated that it is impossible for the CCP to avoid responsibility. He continued by saying, “The article written by Cui Tainkai aimed to divert attention and escape from the scrutiny of other nations. Nevertheless, the CCP indeed suppressed freedom of speech and covered up the epidemic. This is supported by evidence.” Xing Tian Xing believes that the pandemic and all other natural disasters occurring in China are a warning from God, signaling that the CCP is on the verge of extermination.