As Townhall has been covering, the people suffering under the draconian "zero COVID" measures thrust upon them by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have taken to bravely protesting. This is through no help of the Biden administration, as Spencer covered at length in his VIP column, nor from Dr. Anthony Fauci, as Matt highlighted when it comes to his CNN appearance with Jake Tapper. Guy also drew a contrast between Biden and potential 2024 presidential opponent, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). On Thursday, as was also pointed out, Barbara Ferrer of the Los Angeles Department of Public Health expressed during a press briefing what can be at best described as extreme ignorance when asked about the CCP and their "zero COVID" policies. Either that or one could quite possibly argue that she supports their policies, or at least sympathizes with them. The reaction from Apple's CEO Tim Cook, or lack thereof, has also been telling when it comes to the silence, as Spencer pointed out earlier on Friday.
Taylor Lorenz, of The Washington Post, can always be counted on for deranged takes, including and especially when it comes to COVID. Lorenz certainly delivered with tweets from earlier this week that read as if she's justifying such draconian policies.
Lorenz responded to her own outlet's article on the protests through a quoted retweet. As usual, she restricted replies, but readers still slapped a context message to her tweet.
There is no lasting “natural immunity” to COVID. You can get covid over and over and over again bc there are so many endlessly evolving strains and antibodies wane. Also, choosing not to kill off millions of vulnerable people (as the US is doing) isn’t a “critical flaw” https://t.co/SFx4qocp8o
— SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK (@TaylorLorenz) November 26, 2022
It's worth wondering what Lorenz thinks the CCP is doing to its people with how many of its own citizens it's killed off during its bloody history.
She continued from there in the days to come.
Oh you hate lockdowns? How do you think disabled and medically vulnerable people in the U.S. have felt for the past nearly three years
— SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK (@TaylorLorenz) November 29, 2022
Exactly correct 👇🏻 https://t.co/jkrGYasfdj
— SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK (@TaylorLorenz) November 29, 2022
Dr. Lucky Tran, has said not anything about the protests in China in recent days, though his language is telling enough about describing those in the "West."
Most of the West have chosen to do virtually nothing about high levels of death & chronic illness, & are locking high risk & vulnerable people out of society.
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) November 28, 2022
There’s another way: Layers. Masks PLUS indoor air cleaning PLUS vaccines TOGETHER produce the most equitable outcomes.
In addition to layered protections, nasal vaccines that reduce transmission & more treatments for #LongCOVID would transform the pandemic. We need to invest in them! Instead, leaders are impeding the development of better solutions by prematurely acting like the pandemic is over.
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) November 29, 2022
Further, Tran points out in a tweet that COVID is likely to be with us "in the long run," which most people agree with, polls show. This signifies though, that Tran and Lorenz appear to want those lockdowns to have to remain with us for forever then.
An advanced Twitter search showed that Tran has not said anything about the protests in China since they first started. The only tweet from Lorenz regarding "China," the "protests," or "Xi Jinping," whom protesters have called for to resign, is in response to a tweet about conservative outlets highlighting Lorenz's tweets about COVID.
This is the most made up thing ever I have never said a word about “lockdowns” especially in China, where I don’t even live. They’re just making stuff up at this point
— SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK (@TaylorLorenz) November 28, 2022
Lorenz, who put "lockdowns" in quotes for some reason, claimed she never said such a thing about them, also adding "I don't even live" there, referring to China and claiming her critics are "just making stuff up at this point."
Lorenz was responding directly to a colleague's article about China though, and the lockdowns which these Chinese people are protesting. It's not "just making stuff up" to infer what many others have about the positions her tweets signify. Further, Lorenz didn't take the chance to repudiate the CCP.
The issue isn't merely with tweets from Lorenz, though. Again, far larger and more influential figures, like Biden and Fauci, have failed to properly denounce the CCP or done through in only the most muted of terms.
Fauci, as highlighted in Sunday's write-up about the protests, didn't get too much into criticizing the CCP during his Sunday show appearances, though it's not like he was really asked in depth.
His truly problematic media appearance came during Monday's episode of CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper." To begin the program, Tapper teased the segment by describing "mass defiance against the Chinese government. Protests not seen on this scale since 1989's Tiananmen Square. Demonstrations against new COVID restrictions in China. We'll have a report live from Beijing and we'll talk to Dr. Anthony Fauci about China's overly restrictive rules."
Before going to a commercial break, Tapper again teased the segment by describing it as one where "Dr. Anthony Fauci responds to what the Chinese government has said and its strict COVID restrictions that has sparked outrage and protests."
Fauci certainly did not deliver. Here's his most telling response when asked if China's policies were "scientific and effective," as its officials claim, as of course they would, given they are quite the propagandists:
Well, when you want to shut down in order to interrupt immediately a process that's going on like the spread of infection, there should be a purpose to it. Like you want to make sure you get enough ventilators, or enough PPE, or you want to get your population vaccinated.
The comment that I made about their severe actions that they've taken is that you have to have an endgame. What's the purpose? At the purpose is, lets get all the people vaccinated, particularly elderly, then okay for a temporary period of time to do that.
But they have very, very strict types of lockdown. They're locking people in their homes, which is really, they can't even go out and, from what I hear, shop or walk a dog or something like that. That's going to create a lot of pushback on the part of the population if there's no underlying purpose of what you want to do.
Making the segment even more shameful is that Tapper has pushed back before during interviews but didn't do so in this case. Instead, he sought to put himself in the CCP's shoes to get more of an answer from Fauci about the effectiveness of such a strategy. While he did point out "obviously, I'm not here to defend the Chinese government," he could and should have done more.
Spencer highlighted the Biden administration's response in his Thursday VIP column, which highlighted the pathetically muted responses from National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby from Monday's press briefing.
Such responses are so astounding it's worth highlighting them again, especially as they're full of gaslighting, non-answers, and even laughter from Kirby.
Q: Thanks, Karine and John. On a different topic, I was hoping — what is the White House’s message, the President’s message to people in China who are peaceably protesting COVID lockdowns there? And then, did the topic of China’s zero-COVID policy come up in the President’s bilateral meeting with President Xi when they met in Indonesia a couple weeks ago?
MR. KIRBY: They did talk about COVID and the effect that the pandemic had had around the world. Clearly, that came up inside the conversation. I don’t know if, specifically, the zero-COVID policy was an issue of discussion, but certainly COVID was on the agenda, as you might expect that it would be.
And our message to peaceful protesters around the world is the same and consistent: People should be allowed the right to assemble and to peacefully protest policies or laws or dictates that they take issue with.
Q: Does the White House support their efforts to sort of regain personal freedoms in light of these lockdowns?
MR. KIRBY: The White House supports the right of peaceful protest....
Q: In that realm, the statement you issued — or that was issued earlier today didn’t include any explicit calls for China to stop detaining and harming protesters and journalists. Why not?
MR. KIRBY: We’re watching this closely, as you might expect we would. And again, we continue to stand up and support the right of peaceful protest. And I think we’re going to watch this closely, and we’ll see where things go....
Q: Thank you very much. Thank you, John. Again, on China. You had just noted that you’re watching this closely, as we might expect. Could you give us a sense of how much the President is engaging with this issue? Is he watching it personally, you know, getting updated more than on, maybe, some other things?
MR. KIRBY: The President is staying briefed on what’s going on inside China. Yes.
Q: Is it fair to say he’s “closely” briefed on this?
MR. KIRBY: Any time — (laughter) —
Q: Just — just trying to get an impression of, like, where he’s at with this issue.
MR. KIRBY: I’ve never been in the room where he wasn’t, like, closely briefed. I mean, yeah, he’s — he’s — he’s staying atop on what’s — what’s going on. He’s monitoring this. We all are.
So, yes, the President is certainly staying mindful of the protest activity.
...
Q: Thanks, Karine. Thank you, John. You know, I sort of assume that the United States supports peaceful protest around the world. That, with all due respect, doesn’t strike, I would think, most people as a novel position. The question is —
MR. KIRBY: Well, I’m glad that it’s not a novel position. It’s exactly where we should be.
Q: But the President has explicitly drawn a contrast between autocracy and democracy here and also abroad. Isn’t this a moment — obviously, without getting into some sort of grand conflict — to sort of assert the rights of people, advocating for freedom and democracy more forcefully than perhaps we have?
MR. KIRBY: This is, I think, a moment to reassert what we believe in when it comes to free assembly and — and peaceful protest. And we’ve done that and will continue to do that, whether it’s people protesting in Iran or China or anywhere else around the world.
Nothing has changed about the President’s firm belief in the power of democracy and democratic institutions and how important that is. But this is really a moment — to put it back into your words — this is a moment for — you know, for the — for the Chinese people and the Chinese government to speak to.
We have been nothing but clear and consistent, and I think you’ll see that going forward.
...
Q: Thank you. Two quick questions. One on China and then on Ukraine. I’m wondering, what is the President’s reaction when he hears protesters in China chant “freedom” or “Xi Jinping step down”?
MR. KIRBY: The President is not going to speak for protesters around the world; they’re speaking for themselves.
Q: And so there’s no reaction?
MR. KIRBY: These protesters are speaking for themselves. What we are doing is making it clear that we support the right of peaceful protest.
Kirby was given countless opportunities and failed to rise to the occasion.
The lack of a proper response was made all the more shameful given that, as reporters reminded, Biden just recently met with Jinping. As Katie highlighted last month about the meeting, there was no mention of COVID-19. Biden also touted such a relationship since early on in his term.
For how much the Biden administration supposedly cares about the protests in China, little has been said. An advanced Twitter search shows that from November 25-December 2, the Twitter accounts for the White House, the official and personal accounts for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as Jean-Pierre's official account, there has been nothing discussing "China" or the "protests" there.
Making matters worse, though it's sadly not entirely surprising, is that the mainstream media has covered up for and explained away how Biden hasn't had much more of a response.
One particular headline worth highlighting included that from Laura Kelly at The Hill, who wrote that "Biden treads lightly in response to COVID protests in China." That's certainly one way to put it! In it, she mentioned that "Statements of support for the protesters also risk playing into a narrative that foreign influences are stoking the protests," as a way to explain why Biden wasn't saying more.
Other responses included highlighting Republican reactions, like the good ol' 'Republicans pounce' kind of narrative.
A Reuters headline for Tuesday, for instance, read "Analysis: Republicans cry weakness, others see sense in Biden's China protest response." It was shared by other outlets, including The Japan Times. On Thursday, Voice of America also highlighted how "Biden's Reaction to Unrest in China, Iran, Questioned by Critics."
Surprisingly, one of the more worthwhile pieces came as an op-ed for MSNBC on Tuesday night by
The tragic reality of modern foreign policy is that atrocities come first, then the official documentation that may trigger international sanctions. Until then, economic concerns about inflation and supply chain issues in the United States will take precedent over the activism in China. And the Biden administration will continue to play it cool in the face of China’s ongoing human rights abuses.
It's a sad but apt point.