The communist party often prefers to publish Westerner’s opinions when they are supportive of its position. The Paper reported that Gregory Cusack, {a Democrat and former member of the Iowa State House of Representatives from January 8, 1973, to October 1, 1981,} wrote a letter to Shanghai Daily on August 14, in which he expressed his concerns about the Hong Kong protesters and called on them to “renounce violence.”
The article quoted the following from the Cusack’s letter:
“From the first protests in Hong Kong this summer, I have been troubled by the ever-expanding demands of the protesters. This is one of the consequences, by the way, of the lack of clear leadership. Unfortunately, during the recent outbreak of violence employed by a small number of the protesters, a truly ominous escalation has occurred. The New York Times quoted a young female protester as saying, ‘We saw that violence has proved successful elsewhere in attaining objectives so we decided to use it, too.'”
“I have no idea who the ‘we’ are, but whatever number of people (who hold that belief) are in grave error. Violence may seem ‘purifying’ or ‘necessary,’ but as it dramatically escalates both emotions and stakes the only thing violence achieves is greater violence.”
According to the Paper, this is not the first time that Cusack has written to Shanghai Daily. Earlier, Cusack wrote a letter after reading Xinhua’s report on the U.S.-China trade dispute that brought disaster to the farmers in the Midwestern United States. In his letter, he specifically stated that, “One heck of a lot of farmers in America are not happy, and an even greater number are very worried about how this will all play out, especially the longer the stand-off continues.” That letter was published on Shanghai Daily on June 21 this year.
Source:
The Paper, August 16, 2019
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_4179295
Shine.cn, August 16, 2019
https://www.shine.cn/opinion/1908160287/
China Global Television Network (CGTN), June 22, 2019
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2019-06-22/Media-s-role-in-informing-U-S-farmers-HJPIe5Xo9W/index.html