Protesters Interrupt Senate Hearing, Shout Anti-Ukraine and Pro-China Slogans

A congressional hearing on March 22 was interrupted by pro-China protesters who shouted over Senators and demanded that the United States change its stance towards China’s communist regime and end its commitment to arming Ukraine against Russian aggression. Several protesters held signs during the meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and periodically stood and shouted over the Senators before being removed by police.

“China is not our enemy,” one protester shouted, while another accused the United States of “terrorism” and called Russia’s attempted occupation of Ukraine a “proxy war.”

The protesters identified themselves as aligned with Code Pink, a left-wing organization that claims to prioritize feminism but promotes messages favoring authoritarian powers like Russia and China while discouraging interventionism by the United States. The organization recently disrupted the first meeting of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and Chinese Communist Party.

During one of the outbursts, Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) addressed the audience and stated that the protesters were undermining the democratic process. He added that “once you break into a public outcry and you disrupt the proceedings, that is not democracy in action.”

One protester demanded that the United States accept the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “peace plan” for Ukraine, which blames the United States and NATO for Russian aggression. To this, Menendez encouraged the protester to seek opinions from the millions of people who have been persecuted, jailed or tortured by the CCP. He added, “Maybe you should ask the millions of Uyghurs in concentration camps how they feel about that,” referencing the CCP’s ongoing genocide of ethnic minorities in China.

Code Pink has been known to promote anti-American initiatives for years, some of which have been financially supported by countries that are adversaries of the United States. Examples of their propaganda campaigns include those aimed at spreading false information that the United States is committing genocide against Black Americans.

Code Pink’s website still maintains a section dedicated to promoting such misinformation and demanding that the United States be subjected to an international tribunal. However, it is unclear if the group has performed similar support for CCP influence operations.