TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former U.S. State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus on Monday (Aug. 8) announced that based on China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying’s (華春瑩) claims of palates dictating sovereignty, China with its thousands of KFC restaurants "has always been part of Kentucky."

On Sunday (Aug. 7), Hua scored a propaganda own goal by arguing that because Baidu Maps showed 38 Shandong dumping restaurants and 67 Shanxi noodle eateries in Taipei, "palates don't cheat" and made the logical leap that "Taiwan has always been part of China." Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) was quick point out that China has thousands of American fast food restaurants, in addition to eateries featuring cuisine from numerous countries, while the same could be said of Taiwan, which has developed its own unique cuisine.

Ortagus retweeted Hua's post and observed that there are over 8,500 KFC's in China; therefore, borrowing Hua's motto that "palates don't cheat," Ortagus concluded that "China has always been a part of Kentucky." She closed saying that the "long lost child will eventually return home" to the Bluegrass State, echoing Hua's original tweet claiming Taiwan would eventually return back to China. 

A Twitter user who goes by the handle Michael "In A Move Likely To Anger China" Mazza wrote that based on the vast number of KFCs in the communist country, the consensus is that China should be referred to as "Greater Kentucky." Chris Stewart, who runs the Twitter page The History of China Podcast, officially declared that "every single city in China to be the sovereign property of Corbin, Kentucky," the city where Colonel Harland D. Sanders founded Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1930.

Under Hua's original post, Twitter user Lellius Rose posted a massive meme showing Sanders superimposed on the Mao Zedong (毛澤東) portrait in front of Tiananmen Square and wrote "Coming soon to Beijing."

(Twitter, Lellius Rose)

There are over 8,500 KFC restaurants in China. Palates don't cheat. #China has always been a part of Kentucky. The long lost child will eventually return home. pic.twitter.com/V55WEAgatC

— Morgan Ortagus (@MorganOrtagus) August 7, 2022

So we’ve all agreed to start referring to China as Greater Kentucky now given the prevalence of KFCs, yes? This is happening, right?

— Michael “In A Move Likely To Anger China” Mazza (@mike_mazza) August 8, 2022