Ex-Communist Party insider blasts Beijing after mockery of India's pandemic

May 5 (UPI) -- A Chinese dissident and former Communist Party insider is speaking out against Beijing after a government agency mocked the surge in COVID-19 cases in India on social media.

Cai Xia, a former professor at China's Central Party School, a training ground for Communist Party members, recently said on Twitter the Chinese government is "inhumanely" making fun of Indians amid their "suffering."

On Saturday, the Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs, the agency in charge of courts and law enforcement in China, posted photos comparing China and India.

One image showed the liftoff of the Chinese Long March-5B carrier rocket. The second image showed a cremation site in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"China lighting a fire versus India lighting a fire," the caption stated.

The post was deleted a few days later, but the Central Commission has not disclosed the reason for the removal.

Cai said China is hiding the fact that Beijing received assistance from India in February 2020, when the city of Wuhan was under lockdown and panic gripped the country over the first wave of the coronavirus.

In her Twitter post, Cai included a screenshot of an Indian plane arriving in Wuhan with aid.

Cai was a trusted member of the Communist Party before she was removed from her position at the Central Party School. Cai had criticized Beijing's national security law on Hong Kong, and called the Party a "political zombie," according to CNN.

The former professor also is a ferocious critic of Xi Jinping, and has compared the Chinese leader to a "mafia boss."

The Chinese social media post disparaging India has divided the public.

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Chinese state tabloid Global Times, has said China should instead show sympathy for India's plight and "raise the flag of humanitarianism."

Hu's statement received criticism.

Shen Yi, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, said China has a right to "state its position on India."

Xi sent condolences to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Xinhua last week.