Biden war criminal, Taiwan part of China: Pink Floyd's Roger Waters
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Pink Floyd's co-founder Roger Waters criticizes the United States over its role in the Ukraine war while underlining that Taiwan is part of China.
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British singer-songwriter Roger Waters of Pink Floyd
China is not encircling Taiwan, for the latter is part of China, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters told CNN during an interview on Monday, sparking controversy against the British artist.
In an interview with CNN's Michael Smerconish, Waters responded to comments from Smerconish that China was "encircling Taiwan", saying: "They [the Chinese forces] are not encircling Taiwan! Taiwan is part of China."
"And that's been absolutely accepted by the whole international community since 1948, and if you don't know that, you are not reading enough," the singer added.
The comments led to a large-scale campaign of hate against the British artist.
China announced carrying out fresh military drills around Taiwan Monday, days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island escalated tensions between the two powers.
Pelosi's visit led China to announce ending cooperation with the United States on a number of issues such as climate change, anti-drug efforts, and military talks.
The US official's visit to Taipei triggered a series of Chinese large-scale military drills east of the Taiwan Strait, as well as massive rows between Beijing and Washington.
"Try and figure out what the United States would do if the Chinese were putting nuclear-armed missiles into Mexico or Canada," Waters stressed.
Waters responded to questions about his This Is Not a Drill live show, which sees an image of Joe Biden appear among pictures of "war criminals".
He backed his position by underlining that this was because Biden was "fueling the fire in the Ukraine."
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US President Joe Biden among the "war criminals" in George Waters' "This Is Not a Drill" live show
It is a "huge crime," he said. "Why won't the United States of America encourage [Volodymyr] Zelensky, or whatever his name is, the [Ukrainian] President, to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war?"
He went on to say that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was to do with the "action and reaction of NATO pushing right up to the Russian border."
Waters brought up the ratification of the Minsk agreement, calling on Zelensky to explain why "when he stood on the platform of ratifying the Minsk agreements, which he did when he was elected by 73% of the Ukrainian population that was able to vote."
"After that, somebody whispered in his ear, or he completely changed his mind about making peace in the Donbass and about solidifying the Minsk agreement and making peace with their Russian neighbors, and obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war. You're killing - we don't know how many Ukrainians," Waters underscored, holding Zelensky accountable for what has taken place in Ukraine.
I took CNN's edit of the sRoger Waters interview and compared a particular section, where Roger spoke about Ukraine, to the uncut version that contained some important context about the Minsk agreements but was taken out by producers. pic.twitter.com/uOUqeN59nL
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) August 8, 2022
His position backs that of Moscow, who had been warning NATO and the European Union against pushing toward the Russian border, but its warnings fell on deaf ears and culminated in the Ukraine war.
