China's state media support protests on US campuses but not at home

Beijing's reaction to recent American student protests have been drastically different from how it treated domestic street demonstrations like the "White Paper" movement.

(This story was first published on VOANews.com)

State media in China, where social protest is strongly discouraged or punished, have been vocally supporting the pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. campuses while decrying what they describe as a heavy-handed crackdown on free speech by authorities.

"Can blindly using violence to suppress students be able to quell domestic dissatisfaction with the government?" wrote Jun Zhengping Studio, a social media account operated by the News Broadcasting Center of the People's Liberation Army, in an April 26 commentary.

"If American politicians really have a sense of democracy and human rights, they should stop supporting Israel, stop endorsing Israel's actions, and do more things that are conducive to world peace. Otherwise, the only one who will suffer backlash is the United States itself."

The People's Daily, China's state-owned newspaper, said in a video that American students are protesting because they "can no longer stand the double standards of the United States."

On social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying echoed that comment and implied the U.S. government was cracking down on protests at home while supporting protests abroad.

She posted a clip of U.S. police arresting protesters with the question, "Remember how U.S. officials reacted when these protests happened elsewhere?"

The protests this month at scores of universities, including New York's Columbia University and George Washington University in the U.S. capital, have opposed Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza over the large number of civilian casualties. The student protesters are demanding that their schools divest from companies with ties to Israel and are calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the protests are a symbol of American democracy, but he criticized the protesters for remaining silent on the attack by Hamas militants in October that killed more 1,200 Israelis and sparked the conflict.

Critics say antisemitic rhetoric emerged at some of the protests, and there have been clashes with police.

As of Monday, more than 900 students had been arrested, mainly for trespassing because of protest camps they erected on university property.

In an email to all faculty members and students, American University stated that the school's policy of supporting free speech has not changed, but it explicitly prohibits "disruptive" behavior such as setting up camps.

"Any demonstration that continues to interfere with university operations or violate policies after engagement and de-escalation will not be permitted, and those responsible will face conduct actions, disciplinary sanctions, or arrest as appropriate," the email said.

Reactions differ

The handling of the protests has been in stark contrast with the Chinese authorities' crackdown on domestic dissent and any form of street protest.

China's strict zero-COVID measures and censorship of critical voices during the pandemic spurred street protests in many Chinese cities in November 2022 that became known as the White Paper movement. Protesters would hold up blank sheets of white paper to symbolize support for the protests while not actually saying or doing anything, in hopes of not getting into trouble.

Nonetheless, Chinese police arrested and surveilled those caught holding up white paper. Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye accused "external anti-China forces" of being behind the protests and called them a "color revolution."

Critics were quick to point out Beijing's double standard when Chinese state media backed U.S. college protesters.

Sean Haines, a British man who worked for Chinese state media from 2016 to 2019, told VOA that Chinese state media's extensive coverage of Western demonstrations is a consistent policy.

"At Xinhua, when we chose the running order for news, foreign protests were always promoted," he said, "especially if it was around election times. 'Look how scary foreign democracies are, aren't you glad China doesn't have this?'"

He said footage of protests is easy to find in places with a free press, such as the United States and the West, while there are almost no images of protests in China, a one-party authoritarian state where public demonstrations are quickly stopped.

"It's ironic." he said. "China is using [the] West's free speech, openness, right to protest — against itself."

Although Chinese authorities have not declared support for any side in the Israel-Hamas war, they were reluctant to condemn the militants' October attack and repeatedly blamed Israel and the U.S. for the conflict in Gaza.

At the same time, antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments, including conspiracy theories, have been allowed on China's highly censored social media.

A popular claim is that U.S. support for Israel is not because of history and democratic values but because a Jewish cabal secretly controls U.S. politics and business.

Hu Xijin, a special commentator and former editor-in-chief of China's state-run Global Times, posted on social media site Weibo on April 19 that all walks of life in the U.S. "cannot suppress the protests of college students everywhere, which shows that the Jewish political and business alliance's control over American public opinion has declined."

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.