Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts declared July Victims of Communism Remembrance Month, taking aim at China while warning of the growing danger of communism.
From Fox News:
In an interview with Fox News, Ricketts warned that Americans need to remember what communism has wrought, as the Chinese Communist Party is celebrating its success after 100 years in power.
“The Chinese Communist Party is recognizing their 100th anniversary, and they are going to talk about all the things the Chinese Communist Party has done in a very positive light. But it’s also important to remember that whenever communism has been implemented across this world, what he have seen is a lot of human suffering,” Ricketts said, noting that communist governments have been responsible for the deaths of nearly 100 million people.
“And China really is no different,” he continued, “the Chinese Communist Party we can see till this day continues to oppress people like the Uighurs.” Ricketts also recalled Chinese treatment of Tibetans, people in Hong Kong and religious groups like Falun Gong.
The Republican governor also called out China’s history of human rights abuses and intellectual property theft:
“All these things need to be taken together,” he said. “We need to keep putting pressure on the Chinese Communist Party to really play by international norms and to treat their people with respect the way we would expect countries who are part of the world community to behave.”
The declaration comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech celebrating the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 100 years ago.
The speech turned the heads of many western observers, who noted that Xi warned that China would not be “bullied, oppressed, or subjugated,” and that anyone who dares to try “will find their heads bashed bloody against a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.”
But some observers stressed caution, arguing that Chinese translations are often imprecise. While some parts of the speech were considered “defiant” and “fiery,” those sections only comprised 770 of the approximately 7,200 character.
Much of Xi’s speech focused on the accomplishments of communism and China, but Ricketts pointed to those who have escaped communism in China and the Soviet Union as having the experiences Americans should listen to.
“Those are the people we should be listening to because they know it firsthand,” he said.
Rickets also argued that communism is “fundamentally against” American values.
“People need to understand it is really fundamentally against what we stand for here in America,” Ricketts said. “In America our aspirations are to uphold the individual and to allow for human flourishing. And that’s not what communism’s about.”
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