BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - U.S House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is "so quick to instigate" with her opposition to Hong Kong's decision to ban the use of masks at protests, Global Times' editor-in-chief Hu Xijin said in a Twitter post.

Hu was responding to a comment by Pelosi where she said a newly implemented anti-mask law in Hong Kong only intensifies concerns over freedom of expression.

He said her comments showed what she wanted to see most is "turmoil, not democracy" in Hong Kong.

On Friday (Oct 4), Hu said he hoped Western countries wouldn't apply double standards on the Hong Kong's government rule of banning face masks at public gatherings. He cited Canada and the state of New York as examples of places that had similar laws.

The Global Times is a Chinese tabloid run by the People's Daily, which is the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. Hu has said the paper voices opinions that official sources can't.