American writer and New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah Jones, the lead writer of the controversial revisionist education titled “1619 Project,” debated a self-proclaimed survivor of Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution on Sunday about “American exceptionalism.”

Jones first published the project in a special New York Times Magazine issue in 2019 that argued America’s foundation began in 1619 as a “slavocracy” because some of the founders were slaveowners.

Amid numerous accounts of criticism for her work, Jones faced more backlash from Critical Race Theory opponent Xi Van Fleet after she claimed that the “very presence” of black people is the idea of American exceptionalism’s “greatest rebuke.”

“Yourself and I, an immigrant from China with 200 borrowed dollars in my pocket when I arrived more than 30 yrs ago, are the proof of American Exceptionalism,” Van Fleet responded.

Van Fleet went viral two years ago after delivering an impassioned speech to a Virginia school board claiming CRT is rooted in cultural Marxism and warned Americans the communist subversion happening in the United States classroom mirrors the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which divided China’s population by class instead of race.

“Natural rights is unique to American founding,” Van Fleet said in response to Jones asking for specifics. “Bc of it we were able to abolish slavery, Jim Crow, anti-Chinese laws … to allow individuals to succeed. What is not unique to America is slavery, which still exists today. Ppl fighting for human rights in China are jailed by CCP.”

Jones did not deny natural rights “may have been unique” but argued one-fifth of the population was enslaved and without such rights during America’s foundation.

“Further, you do not think protesters in the US face state violence and arrest? You think the US has no political prisoners?” Jones asked, adding, “I’m afraid your vision of America does not match the reality.”

Van Fleet denounced the idea that her view of America is “not a vision.”

“Mine is ‘lived experience’ under the enslavement of Communism, freedom in America, and the current Woke Revolution aiming to undo America,” she said. “Black Americans are enslaved no more thanks to the persevering principles and humanity of this country.”

Define woke revolution.

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) February 26, 2023

In her own experience, Van Fleet has said living in America is the “biggest privilege” after emigrating to the United States in 1986 when she fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution, which he launched in 1966 until his death in 1976. Reports of the total number who reportedly died during the revolution claim up to 80 millions lives were taken during Mao’s rule.

“I appreciate EVERYONE who participated in the debate yesterday about American Exceptionalism, natural rights, slavery, and the 1619 Project,” Van Fleet said on Twitter. “The author should be challenged by us since the mainstream media no longer does its job.”

I appreciate EVERYONE who participated in the debate yesterday about American Exceptionalism, natural rights, slavery, and the 1619 Project. The author should be challenged by us since the mainstream media no longer does its job. @ConceptualJames https://t.co/t9SDv2wbPj

— Xi Van Fleet (@XVanFleet) February 27, 2023

Historians across the political spectrum have criticized the “1619 Project,” claiming it contains serious factual errors, including the premise that “one of the primary reasons the colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery.”

A Daily Wire investigative report last month showed Jones made in 2022 more than $1.2 million from dozens of private and public education institutions after delivering over 30 speeches condemning America and shaming her audiences for belonging to “one of the most unequal societies in the history of the world.”

Luke Rosiak contributed to this report.

China approved the equivalent of two new large coal plants each week last year even as the United States and other Western nations prioritized renewable energy.

As worldwide energy costs increase amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and persistent supply chain bottlenecks, Chinese authorities approved 106 gigawatts of new coal power projects in 2022, more than quadrupling the 23 gigawatts approved in 2021, according to an analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

“Coal power plant permitting, construction starts and new project announcements accelerated dramatically in China in 2022, with new permits reaching the highest level since 2015,” the clean energy organization said. “The coal power capacity starting construction in China was six times as large as that in all of the rest of the world combined.”

Developers in the United States have meanwhile transitioned away from coal: nearly one-quarter of the nation’s 201 gigawatts of coal power capacity is slated to be retired by 2029, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Companies have not reported any future plans to construct new coal facilities as of September 2022.

The decline in coal power comes amid the increased prevalence of natural gas and incentives from the Biden administration to prioritize growth in the renewable energy sector. Some $369 billion in climate initiatives and subsidies were approved in the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last year to combat “the existential crisis of climate change.”

Other Western countries have likewise emphasized a transition toward renewable energy, a policy priority which has been tested by soaring power costs. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen admitted that low hydropower generation, which occurred as a result of low river capacity, is partially responsible for the heightened cost pressures across the continent, although she said the “effects of climate change” were to blame for the low water levels.

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Germany reverted last year to importing and burning coal as natural gas prices increased more than tenfold compared to normal levels, which followed Russia decreasing natural gas exports to the European Union. Other countries such as France and Spain have asked or mandated residents to reduce energy consumption; the United Kingdom greenlit expensive stimulus measures to assist citizens with soaring electricity bills.

China was nevertheless responsible for 26.1% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions as of 2018, according to data from the International Energy Agency, surpassing the 13.4% of worldwide emissions produced by the United States and the 7.6% of worldwide emissions produced by members of the European Union. Skeptics of governments which encourage the renewable energy transition have observed that higher emissions from China, as well as India and developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, are outpacing emissions declines in the West.

“Hundreds of brand-new coal power plants will make meeting China’s climate commitments more complicated and costly. The politically influential owners of the plants have an interest in protecting their assets and avoiding a rapid build-out of clean energy and a phase-out of coal,” the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air acknowledged. “The continued addition of new coal power capacity implies insufficient emphasis on overcoming the power system and power market constraints that perpetuate dependence on coal.”