It certainly isn’t every day that Post-deconstruction commends an opinion piece published by the long-since-lost-its-way Washington Post. But editorial page editor Fred Hiatt today properly chides corporate America for its hypocrisy in criticizing various political aspects of life in the U.S. — state voting laws, gender equity, policing and even, with much irony, capitalism itself — while conveniently turning a blind eye to Communist China’s murderously totalitarian ways.
In “The Genocide Olympics, brought to you by…,” [A21, Apr. 5], Mr. Hiatt questions many household name companies and CEOs for their willingness to sponsor next winter’s Olympics in Beijing. He notes a recent State Department report on human rights which, among other things, cites China’s “[a]rbitrary and unlawful killings . . . forced disappearances . . . torture . . . life-threatening prison conditions . . . politically motivated reprisal[s] . . . pervasive and intrusive technical surveillance . . . restrictions of free expression . . . and severe restrictions and suppression of religious freedom.”
Leaving aside the coincidence that State’s list of Chinese horribles reads a lot like progressive Democrats’ dream agenda (ask the nonviolent face-paint & headdress guy from the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot still being held without bail about forced disappearances and politically motivated reprisals), Mr. Hiatt and The Post are right to urge American and global corporations to cast the same critical eye on China’s malevolence as they seem so eager to cast on the United States’ admittedly imperfect union.