Chinese Netizens Mock Biden: “Change the Nationality, and the Country is Doomed”
Who could have imagined that President Biden, patiently waiting for retirement, would suddenly be overwhelmed with fatherly love? He announces a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, sparing him the risk of imprisonment for federal gun and tax felonies. This dramatic reversal of Biden’s prior stance and rhetoric has sparked uproar across the U.S. political spectrum.
Not only has the U.S. been stunned, but Chinese netizens have also been in an uproar.
China’s largest political news platform, Guancha.cn, featured the news as a headline. Its readership, already critical of the U.S., found Biden’s move pushing their limits, flooding the comments with sarcasm.
Musk comments on Biden pardoning his son.
Highlights from Chinese Netizens’ Reactions
@情殇梦落花
“If only he’d change his nationality, the whole country would be doomed.” 🐶
@波波父 Crafted a poetic couplet:
“Biden pardons his son, forgetting public for private; Trump shields his kin, treating country as family.”
Cross-script: I Am the Lighthouse.
@guan_17191914882925
“On Thanksgiving, a president pardons a turkey. Is his son worth less than a bird?” 🐶
President Joe Biden stands next to Liberty, one of the two national Thanksgiving turkeys, after pardoning them during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Photo by Dan McCue)
@信自己
“Biden can do it; Trump can too.”
@东风51
“This is what you call ‘power in a cage,’ ‘a rule-of-law society,’ ‘a democracy’?
Ha!
Is this the paradigm of the ‘separation of powers’?
Don’t kid me! Haha!” (*´・ｖ・)
@观友甲a
“Once again proving Obama’s historic evaluation of Biden: ‘Never underestimate Joe’s ability to f*** things up.’”
@guan_15673795712057
“Next, we’ll see a future president pardoning themselves. What a pinnacle achievement.”
@尘缘了了
“Sleepy Joe: Okay, you should all understand by now that America’s so-called ‘rule of law’ is just the Emperor’s New Clothes. What I did simply tells you: Our ‘rule-of-law society’ isn’t wearing anything.”
On China’s version of Quora, Zhihu, discussions exploded under a related question from a month ago:
“Will Biden pardon his son before leaving office?“
On Zhihu, a user asked a month ago: ““Will Biden pardon his son before leaving office?“
@一个人 (99 likes) noted that posts firmly claiming Biden wouldn’t pardon his son have disappeared.
Fifty thousand views scrubbed to leave just a hundred responses, most new. Some people can’t take losing—don’t play the game then. They didn’t plan an exit when bragging. Now it’s happened, and they quietly delete posts.”
However, traces of support for Biden’s “rule of law spirit” remain on Zhihu.
@石头 (108 likes )still had a lot of confidence in Biden at 9:50 on the morning of November 28.
“No way Biden pardons him.
Biden’s son went to prison in the first place to balance public opinion.
If they only target Trump through judicial overreach, the public would scoff.
Biden showed magnanimity by declaring he wouldn’t pardon his son. They both accepted the outcome, but losing to Trump made the whole ordeal futile.”
After Biden pardoned Hunter Biden, Chinese netizens created a meme with the text:When you talk about the rule of law, it just makes me laugh 😊.
Post-Pardon Comments
@梨花压海棠 (154 likes)
“One appoints based on merit, avoiding nepotism; the other pardons, ignoring it. Truly, Biden and Trump are a match made in heaven!”
@857412 (84 likes)
“Overnight, every Chinese dynasty—Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing—became ‘rule-of-law states.’ After all, emperors held this power.”
@孟良崮上床单飘 (54 likes) Ready-made spin for America:
“A warm, humanized legal system!
Fatherly love shows the gentle side of a great power’s president.
Even the president must bow to the rule of law.
This is why the free world is unbeatable!”
@爱琴海的习习 Drafting Western media’s headlines:
‘America, the beacon of democracy! Biden, a president powerless to save his son from prosecution, finally had to act out of familial love. A moving testament to democracy’s spirit!’ Unlike some countries, where corrupt officials’ children aren’t prosecuted, Biden’s pardon highlights transparency.”
@巡夜人
“Biden’s fear isn’t Trump. It’s Obama.”
@淮阴不二生 (16 likes) found a loophole in Biden’s rhetoric and commented:
Biden had already said six months ago that he would pardon Hunter.
Unfortunately, most people didn’t understand.
You thought he said “No one is above the law,”
but what he actually meant was “No 1 is above the law.”
Who is America’s No. 1?
The President.
This is not the first time Chinese internet users have successfully predicted events in the U.S. The most liked comment in the above Zhihu question was:
@平子不二 (3429 likes)
“Zhihu asks: Why doesn’t Biden blow up Nord Stream 2? Then it gets bombed.
Zhihu asks: Why doesn’t the Democrats assassinate Trump? Trump loses an ear.
Zhihu asks: Will Biden pardon his son before leaving office? Then he pardons his son.
Does Biden’s team lurk on Zhihu?”
All in All
Mr. President of the United States, we are well aware that China’s internet is undoubtedly within the scope of your intelligence surveillance network. What we didn’t expect, however, is that what you aim to learn from it are these!
As one netizen summed up:
@Jason (505 likes)
“The political acumen of the U.S. president is on par with a typical Zhihu user.”
