'DRUNKARDS': Outspoken Chinese editor's bizarre message to Australia
The outspoken editor of China’s state-run media outlet Global Times has lashed out at Australia and other nations in a bizarre video as tensions continue to rise over the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Australia, the UK, Canada and the US announced last week they would not send their government officials to the Beijing Winter Games in February due to China's human rights "atrocities".
In a video posted to the Global Times website on Monday, the publication’s nationalistic editor-in-chief Hu Xijin slammed the decision with a bizarre analogy and vowed that the boycott would have no effect on the event.
“Some Chinese people like to eat chicken feet,” Hu begins in the video, which is part of his popular series Hu Says.
“When China was very poor, drunkards with nothing to eat would snack on a chicken foot. They would relish them and it would make the wine go down easier.
“The Beijing Winter Olympics is just around the corner. The US and its major allies are pushing for a diplomatic boycott. In my opinion, the boycott is like the chicken feet that they eat when drinking,” he said, explaining the chicken feet have little meat on them.
As the Beijing Winter Olympics approach, the push for a diplomatic boycott by the US and its major allies is akin to the chicken feet a drunkard eats while drinking. Only a drunkard would see it as a meal and eat it up with such relish: Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin #HuSays pic.twitter.com/PyKPV52EKy
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 13, 2021
Hu then addresses the growing number of countries agreeing to the boycott in unison with the US as a cartoon of Prime Minister Scott Morrison flashes on the screen.
Mr Morrison can be seen holding the patchy cape of what appears to be a US representative holding a flag calling for a rejection of the Beijing 2022 games.
“Today, one ally announces that it will join in a diplomatic boycott,” Hu said.
“The next day, another announces that it is studying whether to boycott. While other countries decide not to send ministerial officials to the event. Isn't that considered a boycott? Let’s guess."
“In reality, whether or not those Western officials come will have no effect on the Winter Olympics.
“This fiasco is the equivalent of a little chicken foot. Only a drunkard would see it as a meal and eat it up with such relish,” he said.
Australia's move 'not friendly', ambassador says
Hu's diatribe comes just days after China released a scathing rebuke following the boycott.
"We urge the US, the UK, Australia and Canada to do some soul-searching and redress their wrongdoings on human rights issues, instead of pointing fingers at others," the statement read.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin has also lashed out, also saying no one will care if Australian government officials don’t attend the Games.
Last week, China’s acting ambassador to Australia Wang Xining told Yahoo News Australia the decision was disappointing, and did not send a "friendly message" to China.
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