China invites Katie Zacharia to visit again after she claims nation lacks ‘proper toilets’

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Beijing has invited now-ousted White House press secretary Katie Zacharia to visit China more often after she claimed the country lacks “proper toilets” in a recent interview.

Zacharia, who was sacked by President Donald Trump less than a week into her job following an onslaught of scrutiny, came under fire for her lavatory remarks while speaking with far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec on Thursday.

“I remember this very distinctly, having just come from China, thinking, how is China the next country on the horizon? They don’t even have proper toilets,” she said, while discussing a perception around the lead-up to the US election in 2016 that the golden days of America were over, and that China was on the rise.

When asked about those remarks on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning quipped: “She’s welcome to come and see China more often when she has the opportunity.”

On China’s popular X-like social media Weibo, Zacharia’s comments sparked many responses, with many calling her “foolish,” while others admitted some toilets a decade ago were lacking in standards.

Since reforming and opening up its economy in the late 1970s, China has barreled its way to becoming the world’s second largest economy, with hundreds of millions lifted out of poverty and a nation transformed. But development inequality remains acute, especially between cities and more rural or remote areas.

Why Trump decided to fire Katie Zacharia as press secretary after just five days: ‘Did anyone vet her?’

Zacharia’s time in China was just one of her career highlights that triggered intense media scrutiny following her brief and turbulent appointment to the White House press secretary.

A White House official previously told CNN that Zacharia had lived in China with her husband.

On her LinkedIn profile, Zacharia lists herself as having worked as an “associate” in the international practice team at one of the largest law firms in the country, Zhong Lun, in Beijing for nearly two years starting in 2011.

Zacharia had said in a statement she had “practiced international transactional law, with all the appropriate credentials.”

Only citizens can become licensed to practice law in China, according to the Ministry of Justice , so it’s not clear what kind of credential she might have obtained.

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在被解职的白宫新闻秘书凯蒂·扎卡里亚最近接受采访时声称中国缺乏“像样的厕所”之后，北京方面邀请她更频繁地访问中国。

扎卡里亚在上任不到一周后就被唐纳德·特朗普总统解雇，此前她受到了铺天盖地的审查。周四，她在与极右翼播客主持人杰克·波索比克交谈时，因在厕所发表的言论而受到抨击。

“我清楚地记得，我刚从中国回来，当时我在想，中国怎么会是下一个崛起的国家呢？他们连像样的厕所都没有，”她在谈到2016年美国大选前夕的一种看法时说道，当时人们认为美国的黄金时代已经结束，中国正在崛起。

周五，当被问及这些言论时，中国外交部发言人毛宁打趣道：“有机会的话，欢迎她多来中国看看。”

在中国流行的类似X的社交媒体微博上，扎卡里亚的言论引发了许多回应，许多人称她“愚蠢”，而另一些人则承认十年前的一些厕所缺乏标准。

自上世纪70年代末改革开放以来，中国经济飞速发展，成为世界第二大经济体，数亿人摆脱了贫困，国家面貌焕然一新。但发展不平衡的现象依然十分严重，尤其是在城市与农村或偏远地区之间。

特朗普为何在凯蒂·扎卡里亚担任新闻秘书仅五天后就将其解雇：“有人审查过她吗？”

扎卡里亚在中国的经历只是她职业生涯中的一个亮点，在她短暂而动荡的白宫新闻秘书任命之后，引发了媒体的密切关注。

一位白宫官员此前告诉 CNN，扎卡里亚曾和她的丈夫在中国生活过。

在她的 LinkedIn 个人资料中，Zacharia 表示，她从 2011 年开始，在北京中伦律师事务所（中国最大的律师事务所之一）的国际业务团队担任“助理”近两年。

扎卡里亚在一份声明中表示，她“拥有所有相应的资质，从事国际交易法方面的工作”。

根据司法部的说法，只有中国公民才能获得在中国执业的律师资格，因此目前还不清楚她可能获得了什么样的资格证书。