China’s largest state-owned newspaper took a swipe at the U.S. Tuesday after independence day weekend was marred by gun violence.
Xinhua News Agency tweeted a cartoon Tuesday morning depicting two Americans celebrating their freedom on the fourth of July, next to a third man wildly pointing two guns next to a grave marked “death from firearm.” The cartoon was captioned “How a gun-happy nation spends its #FourthOfJuly weekend.”
How a gun-happy nation spends its #FourthofJuly weekend pic.twitter.com/VZBeGIQ9XO
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) July 6, 2021
Violent crime did plague the holiday weekend. 184 Americans were killed by gun violence and another 464 were injured in shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Most of the country’s largest cities are experiencing a historic rise in violent crime, particularly murders.
President Joe Biden has blamed America’s gun laws for the crime spike, while conservatives have pointed to lenient prosecutors and anti-police sentiment. (RELATED: REPORT: Beijing Is Harassing, Intimidating Pro-Democracy Chinese Students Abroad)
In China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to crack down on the freedoms of its people, particularly in Hong Kong. The last pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong recently shut down after its headquarters were raided by police and multiple executives were arrested. (RELATED: Democrats And Republicans Agree: China Has ‘No Respect’ For Its People’s Rights)
The CCP celebrated its 100-year anniversary just days before the fourth of July. The party is still carrying out what the U.S. has deemed a genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Most Chinese people won’t be able to see the Xinhua tweet, as Twitter is officially blocked in China.