NPC deputy decries US hypocrisy over riots

Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, says US politicians’ different attitudes toward violent protests in Hong Kong and the riots in the US showed their double standards.

Tam opined that US President Donald Trump and his administration glorified Hong Kong rioters as people fighting for democracy and freedom. But they brand protesters in the US as rioters and deploy National Guard troops to suppress them.

The US protests began after a black man, George Floyd, 46, died after being arrested by police officers outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Graphic film footage released showed a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for several minutes as he lies on the ground. He had told the officer he could not breathe before losing consciousness. Floyd was later declared dead in hospital.

The incident sparked protests in cities across the US, including Washington DC, even outside the White House.

Tam said: “Police brutality is serious in the US. This time, the problem was fuelled by racial discrimination.

“It is a deja vu because what happened there was a repeat of what we have seen in Hong Kong, with the exception that there were no foreign forces helping and paying the US protesters.

“The US politicians are obviously applying double standards. They have over 20 national security laws,’’ Tam explained.

“Hong Kong has none but they make a lot of noise when Hong Kong wants to enact one,’’ he added.

“As there is a fire in their own backyard, the US government should not have time to show they care about (things happening abroad). But they still find time to back protesters in Hong Kong,” Tam questioned.