Chinese netizens mock US ‘ cultural revolution’ after violent rally

The violent clashes that took place at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia has sparked lively discussions on Chinese social media, with some mocking the US’ so- called “tolerance and democracy.”

The chaotic weekend started Friday night with a torch- bearing march attended by local white nationalists who were outraged by the city’s decision to remove symbols of its Confederate past. They chanted “White lives matter” and some Nazi slogans as they marched through the University of Virginia, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Three people were killed with 19 others injured in the rally. “The violence proves that racism is a serious problem in a still divided US society,” Xinhua quoted a witness named Jordan as saying.

The violence has also sparked sarcastic remarks from Chinese netizens against intellectuals, who have been polishing the US image and promoting the country’s tolerance and civilization while labeling China as barbarous and hateful.

Some Chinese intellectuals claim China would kill the defeated enemies during its civil war in the 1940s, while the US would build a statue for the de- feated general and show him the same respect.

“It is time to slam intellectuals in the face. See, what a good political system and a free country! Such freedom allows people to rally at will! Do not suppress them, let us protect human rights!” said a Sina Weibo user.

Some users even described the violence as the US’ “cultural revolution.”

Xuan Qing, a user on Zhihu, a Chinese question- and- answer website similar to Quora, said that the “fake” US democracy is doomed as it only tries to bridge social cleavage by using political equality and building common values while stepping over races and religions.

Zhuo Yang, a graduate student from University of Virginia, said that the violence showed the huge divide in US society, and some officials were accustomed to using the public as a tool to attack others under the democratic system.

“It is neither a conflict of the left- and right- wings nor a collision between the black or white people. In such a divided society, everyone could be incited by the masses and become a political victim,” Zhuo told the Global Times.