For now, politicians in the U.S. Congress are probably the only people who don’t know, or pretend to know, that TikTok CEO Chew Shou Gyi is from Singapore. Everyone else knows. know. Is Bill Gates American?
However, since this poor man looks Asian, he must be a Chinese citizen and therefore a member of the Chinese Communist Party. In the parallel world of Washington, the Chinese Communist Party is the real puppet master behind the hugely popular social media platform.
What else is Republican Senator Tom Cotton’s disgraceful performance in this week’s Senate hearing when he continued to question Mr Chew about his ties to the Chinese Communist Party despite Mr Chew’s repeated claims that he was Singaporean? Are you going to explain it?
When Chew said, “Senator, I’m a Singaporean. No,” Ms Cotton demanded to know about her passport to prove her citizenship.
‘Racist’: Singaporeans condemn US senator’s criticism of TikTok CEO’s nationality
‘Racist’: Singaporeans condemn US senator’s criticism of TikTok CEO’s nationality
Singapore does not recognize dual citizenship.
A recording of the embarrassing exchange quickly spread online, with netizens, especially in Singapore, criticizing Cotton for his racism and lack of understanding of his country, and even creating memes mocking the Arkansas senator.
To further anger Singaporeans, Mr. Cotton rubbed salt into the wound by claiming that Singapore, one of America’s longtime allies in the region, was being overrun by Chinese spies. “Singapore, unfortunately, is one of the places in the world where the Chinese Communist Party has the highest penetration and influence,” Cotton later told Fox News. “So Mr. Chu has a lot of answers to answer about what his app is doing in the U.S. and why.”
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TikTok CEO denies ties to Chinese Communist Party in heated exchange with US senator
TikTok CEO denies ties to Chinese Communist Party in heated exchange with US senator
Chew app? This is completely different from the harm caused by her Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and countless social media platforms across America. Fellow Chew CEOs Jason Citron of Discord, Evan Spiegel of Snap, Linda Yaccarino of X (formerly Twitter), and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta all testified on the same occasion, but none faced the same embarrassment. It was never exposed.
What’s worse is that this wasn’t the first time he had to explain his nationality in Congressional testimony.
Last year, after more than four-and-a-half hours of vicious questioning by MPs from both parties, Mr Chew had to explain that he was Singaporean and not a Chinese citizen or member of the Communist Party. Joseph McCarthy would be proud to have spawned so many imitators.
That pro-McCarthy TikTok hearing was also widely reported, so people like Cotton on Parliament House should already know that social media’s favorite ethnic punching bag is Singaporean.
Licensing battle between TikTok and Universal Music could mean parting ways with Taylor Swift
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Either he didn’t know, in which case he was shockingly ignorant, or he actually knew but was just flaunting the anti-China tactics common to Washington politicians these days. I don’t know which is worse.
But for a politician like Cotton, that makes sense. Without a shred of evidence that Iran was involved in the drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan, warmongers such as Cotton and fellow Republican senators Lindsey Graham and John Cornyn has already called for an immediate attack on Iran, despite the risks. A new full-scale Middle East war may begin.
But Cotton’s borderline fascism could also be directed at domestic populations. In 2020, widespread protests erupted in U.S. cities over the death of George Floyd, which was later ruled a homicide by police. In his controversial New York Times op-ed, “Send in the Troops,” Mr. Cotton called for the military to quell the riots.
This was the same man who, just a few months earlier, had cheered on Hong Kong rioters and denounced “police violence” during the 2019-2020 anti-government uprising. The Times subsequently issued a lengthy public statement acknowledging that the opinion piece did not meet editorial standards. The editor of the opinion page was asked to resign.
There are many noble and capable politicians in the United States. Unfortunately, there are many dangerous things like cotton.