China on Martha’s Vineyard: Democrats ‘Hostile and Fearful Toward Migrants’

China’s state-run propaganda newspaper, Global Times, asserted in a column published Sunday that this weekend’s situation on Martha’s Vineyard, an elite Massachusetts vacation destination, revealed that America is a “savage” place and Democrats are “hostile and fearful toward migrants.”

China is one of the world’s least hospitable nations for migrants, with a notorious track record of deporting North Korean refugees who try to escape – and thus, likely face imprisonment in a labor camp or death at home – and severe racist treatment against Africans who choose to make China their home. China is believed to be home to about 1.4 million foreign-born residents, an order of magnitude less than its total population.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis triggered a political firestorm last week by sending 50 Venezuelan refugees fleeing socialism to Martha’s Vineyard, famous for being home to the Obama family vacation estate. Martha’s Vineyard, also home to predominantly Democrat voters, declared itself, during the administration of former President Donald Trump, a “sanctuary” destination. This means it would theoretically welcome migrants illegally present in the United States, a designation that DeSantis’s administration used to explain why it chose the wealthy area as a destination.

The flight took place nearly two weeks after Labor Day, when the summer vacation season ends and much of the seasonal population empties the island. A Breitbart News analysis of residential capacity on Martha’s Vineyard concluded that it could theoretically host as many as six million migrants in the off-season.

Despite the apparent capacity, locals rapidly rallied to deport the migrants. Less than two days after the migrants’ arrival, the local government teamed up with Massachusetts to send them to nearby Joint Base Cape Cod, a military facility.

The spectacle, the Global Times concluded, showed that American politicians in both parties “view migrants only as a tool to attack opponents and achieve political ends,” dramatically asserting that the migrants were “being trampled under the feet of US politicians who view them as stepping stones to achieve their own partisan interests.”

“[D]espite earning a reputation of being ‘open and tolerant’ to migrants, the Democrats, through this political stunt, only prove themselves no less hostile and fearful toward migrants than their Republican counterparts,” the Chinese government mouthpiece proclaimed, particularly condemning Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for claiming that sending migrants to a luxury vacation destination constituted “crimes against humanity.” The Global Times also condemned an incident in which NBC News quoted a member of a foundation that assists refugees comparing migrants to “trash.“

“A story from NBC News on Saturday quoted Max Lefeld, founder of Casa Venezuela Dallas foundation – a charity group dedicated to helping refugees – who described the relocation as taking out the ‘trash,'” the Times recalled. “Many believe the interviewee who advocates accepting refugees and the left-leaning media outlet truly view refugees and migrants as ‘trash.'”

The Times concluded by suggesting that Vice President Kamala Harris open the doors of her official residence in Washington, DC, to migrants.

“President Biden accused the Republican officials of playing politics with human beings and using them as props, which he said is ‘un-American,'” the outlet noted. “But the question is: what is ‘American’? Perhaps Harris should open the gate of her residence and let migrants in. That is supposed to be ‘American.'”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a bus of migrants to her home last week, shortly after the arrival of the Florida migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. The vice president, whom President Joe Biden tasked with resolving the border crisis last year, did not meet with the migrants; authorities quickly transported them away from the site.

The former editor of the Global Times, Hu Xijin – who was demoted to the position of opinion commentator for the newspaper following his failed role in covering up the disappearance of Wimbledon champion Peng Shuai last year – independently derided the United States over the situation in Massachusetts, referring to the country as “savage”:

Such a savage America is an eye-opener for the world. Surprisingly, the governors of those two states don't need to resign, and such a US wants to spread democracy and human rights in the world. It's so chaotic and sad. pic.twitter.com/kH7auGeEAN

— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) September 17, 2022

The Global Times‘s articles concluding that American representative democracy is a failure because the two-party system allows public political disagreement – as the one claiming that both Democrats and Republicans are not acting in good faith towards migrants – typically conclude that the best alternative to this political system is Chinese communist totalitarianism. Totalitarianism, the newspaper has repeatedly asserted over the past decade, offers a “harmony” entirely absent in “chaotic” free societies. This argument did not make an appearance in relation to the southern border migrant crisis, nor has the Global Times and its writers made the claim that China is a superior destination for those fleeing oppression and violence.

Human rights advocates have condemned China for years for its poor treatment of both economic immigrants and political refugees – a reputation its state propaganda arms do not appear eager to undo. China’s treatment of impoverished North Koreans seeking a better life is likely its best-known and most egregious crime. A 2019 report published by the Korea Future Initiative found that tens of thousands of North Korean women faced sexual abuse, rape, and sex trafficking in China, being fed into an illicit business allegedly worth more than $100 million annually that Beijing does little to deter.

Men and those women who escape sex trafficking often face deportation, which extensive evidence unearthed by human rights advocates suggests is typically accompanied by torture, imprisonment in a labor camp, or death. As China is North Korea’s closest political ally and does not recognize its totalitarian dictatorship as abusive, the regime simply does not acknowledge the threat facing defectors sent home.

Economic migrants who travel to China legally also face abuses. At the height of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic in 2020, a wave of outrageous racist behavior against Africans in Guangzhou, southern China, made international headlines and prompted the government of Nigeria to demand an end to the abuse. While the Chinese coronavirus pandemic began in central Wuhan, China, locals in the city began blaming Africans for spreading the virus. Restaurants banned dark-skinned people from entering, hotels and apartment buildings evicted Africans, and police began harassing Africans in public to “go home.” Authorities imposed a much more onerous coronavirus testing regime on Africans than Guangzhou locals. The outburst of racist behavior resulted in Africans who could otherwise afford shelter sleeping on the streets of the city, as no landlord or hotel would take them.

The Global Times at the time called the accusations of racism against Han Chinese in the city “absurd” and demanded the Africans “readjust their way of thinking.”

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