US Capitol Siege Seems Like Karma: Global Times

State-run tabloid Global Times was on Thursday quick to mock the siege of the US Capitol, quoting mainland internet users as describing Trump supporters' invasion of the building as “karma”, “retribution” and “deserving”.

An article, published in the newspaper’s politics segment, also attempted to compare the incident to the storming of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council complex in July 2019 by pro-democracy protesters – publishing side-by-side photo comparisons of the two events.

It claimed that following the Legco siege, US politicians had hailed the “courage” of the Hong Kong “mobs”, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling it a "beautiful sight”.

"Pelosi can enjoy the beautiful sight - even at her office desk! For such a long time, US politicians called rioters 'freedom fighters' in other countries. Now, they finally have retribution!"

Pelosi had in fact described a protest march by some two million Hongkongers as a "beautiful sight". That took place on June 16, more than two weeks before the Legco siege.

Thursday's Global Times article also said some “talented netizens” had come up with slogans for the US protesters.

These apparently included "Five demands, not one less, and "Liberate the US, the revolution of our times" – borrowed from the popular Hong Kong protest slogan.

The Global Times said the five demands were recognising the Democratic Party cheated in the presidential election and that Joe Biden is not the next president; revoking the definition of "violence"; dropping charges against the protesters; establishing a commission to investigate police violence and holding a second presidential election to ensure justice and fairness.

The article said many mainlanders see the chaos in the US as “revenge”, adding that after Washington had incited so much chaos around the world under the pretext of “freedom and democracy”, the US has finally tasted “karma” for its double standards.