7 ms·

China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

87 points by La-ang 7y ago

margeatwork 7y ago
Perhaps the Chinese government can also show the footage where a pregnant Hong Kong woman was beaten down by government paid gangsters in public spaces while police was nowhere in sight, and may have possibly miscarried?! (God bless her) I am a mother, and after learning that the Chinese government takes away Uighur children from their parents and is placed in concentration camps, I will try my darndest not to buy anything from China. Thankfully a lot of companies already source from Thailand or Vietnam or Taiwan. I hope more companies will move out of China soon
niknakniknak 7y ago
The Chinese government should also show the footage where a pregnant Hong Kong woman was beaten down by government paid gangsters in public spaces while police was nowhere in sight?! I am a mother, and after learning that the Chinese government takes away Uighur children from their parents and is placed in concentration camps, I will try my darndest not to buy anything from China. Thankfully a lot of companies already source from Thailand or Vietnam or Taiwan. I hope more companies will move out of China
caust1c 7y ago
It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. I wonder what happens when the tension comes to a precipice and China sends in security forces to "maintain the peace". I hope for Hong Kong and the global economy's sake, it doesn't come to that. Although it seems like that's exactly what the Chinese state government is gearing up for.
- vkou 7y ago
  > It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. Are you equally shocked that other nations are unwilling to take sides in the various political conflicts that we've lived through in the past decade in the United States? Generally, it's prudent, in the geopolitical arena, for nation states to keep their noses out of other nations' domestic politics.
  - caust1c 7y ago
    Fair enough. I'm very curious what will happen in the coming weeks. I hope both nations come to a peaceful agreement to allow for continued autonomy in Hong Kong.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      Which "both nations"?
  - Qworg 7y ago
    I would disagree that our on street political conflicts are at the same level with internal citizens. We don't have protests at the same scale, nor organized crime being hired to beat people.
    - vkou 7y ago
      You disagree because I assume, given the typical HN audience, that you live in a bubble of relative privilege, compared to the issues faced by African Americans (Ferguson), Native Americans (Land wars over pipelines), illegal aliens (ICE raids, DACA status), and Middle America (a Mad-Max style economic and social collapse, that had lead to an overflow of anger and frustration, and a political revolution, culminating in the election of DT.) Of course none of these things seem like a big deal to you. You aren't one of the people on the front lines of these conflicts. Notice how you don't see foreign leaders like Justin Trudeau, or Angela Merkel picking sides in these issues. That's because whatever their opinions on these matters might be, they don't want to piss off the the winner in these conflicts. And yes, we absolutely have organized crime that is hired to beat people - what do you think happens at any of the large protests/demonstrations where the police are found to have engaged in illegal use of force? Just because the criminals wear uniforms doesn't mean they aren't criminals.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      I presume that you mean the Triads? > The white-clad activists are suspected to be linked to local organized crime gangs known as triads that operate in the villages on Hong Kong’s more remote fringes, a Hong Kong Democratic Party official told The Wall Street Journal. I gather that the Triads have had a long and complex relationship with Chinese governments. Going back centuries. So I think that there's more to it than hiring criminals. But I'm not clear just what it is.
- CountSessine 7y ago
  I don't understand what you think other nations are supposed to do? Or what influence they can possibly have? Hong Kong is Chinese territory - really, they can do whatever they want there. This is the same regime that is holding as many as a million Uyghurs in concentration camps right now. One interesting constraint that Beijing is operating under, though, is Taiwan. The government has argued in favor of reunification for years now, under a similar one-nation-two-systems framework. If they send the tanks and the shock-troops in to Hong Kong, then no one can deny that that's all bullshit.
  - nostromo 7y ago
    China would be risking sanctions. Given that their economy is already slowing (dramatically faster than the official numbers by many reports) and their massive debt loads -- sanctions could pack a real punch.
    - loyukfai 7y ago
      Personally I don't think other countries are willing to sanction China just for Hong Kong. But it is a piece on the chessboard, for sure.
  - CogitoCogito 7y ago
    > If they send the tanks and the shock-troops in to Hong Kong, then no one can deny that that's all bullshit. Of course people can still deny it. Tiananmen Square happened after all. The PRC has never governed Taiwan yet essentially no governments call their imperialism what it is and tacitly accept their “unification” language. At the end of the day countries can argue up is down if money is involved.
    - underthebus 7y ago
      > The PRC has never governed Taiwan yet essentially no governments call their imperialism what it is and tacitly accept their “unification” language. Taiwan is internationally recognised as being part of China. What happened is that the Chinese government of the time fled there during the civil war. The communists founded the PRC and the ROC government kept control of Taiwan. Since then the question has been who to recognise as legitimate government. And this has changed over time. What you're saying is like saying that South Korea never governed the North (or vice versa) or that East Germany never governed West Germany (or vice versa). While obviously factually true this does not diminish the fact that they are part of Korea or Germany as a whole. 'reunification' is the correct term, it's nothing to do with colonisation (what imperialism relates to).
- deogeo 7y ago
  > other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. As soon as a foreign nation takes sides, then those in the country on the same side can be easily cast as collaborators, or just tools of the foreign nation. E.g. it turns Protesters vs. Chinese Government into Tools of US Imperialism vs. China.
  - loyukfai 7y ago
    Foreign interferences have long been the main talking point of CCP and HK establishment, but it's mostly a smokescreen or misjudgement of the current protests, if you ask me.
- billfruit 7y ago
  By how the West seems to precipitate trouble without no clear end game in sight as in Venezuela, Syria and other places, international actors getting involved can only mean moving farther away from solutions. There is a famous commencement address of Solzhenitsyn delivered at Harvard, I think in the 80s, illustrating how West seems to deeply misunderstand Eastern cultures, but it seems to me, we are where were then, and nothing has been learned.
  - baxtr 7y ago
    So “other states” has now become “the West”?
- loyukfai 7y ago
  I'd say no, deploying the garrison troops would hurt the HK economy, big time. It's not likely something China is willing to afford at this moment, she's got her hands mostly full already. And the most radical of the protesters aren't getting what they want (independence) anytime soon, if ever. I'd say the CCP would keep trying to deal with it with domestic assets for the time being.
- mnm1 7y ago
  Given other nations' track record in places like Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and other places in Asia, thank fucking god they're not taking sides, especially the insane US. The last thing we need is another unwinnable, stupid, pseudo war based on bullshit and lies. If the Chinese wise up and decide to get rid of the commies themselves, great! But it shouldn't be up to other countries to interfere and fuck things up yet again because they are only interested in their own agenda, especially the madmen leading the US.
- La-ang 7y ago
  That's something to worry about. The mayhem will give China a card to play in getting deeply involved, and a scenario where the US will again get poetical as in with Taiwan. Picture Trump again claiming "support for the Hong Kong people" just to revive his image and annoy Xi, while intensifying trade talks. We can see here the cons of decentralisation to such an anarchy; there is no common ground and whether it's a peaceful march or sheer destruction of public property, China will all put it under the same umbrella.
hart_russell 7y ago
There's a lot of negative things that can be said about president Trump, but I for one am glad he's taken economic action against China. It seems like most Nations have resigned themselves to let China become the preeminent super power, which is very troubling to me; to let a nation with legitimate concentration camps, prisoner organ harvesting, and a general lack of moral compass become the most powerful country in the world is a bad idea to me.
- addicted 7y ago
  TPP was little more than an attempt to get a bunch of countries to stand up to China. Trump is hardly the first US president to do so. Arguably, Trump's economic actions and continued threats against the EU has led to EU countries cooperating with China in ways they refused to before.
  - bushdid911 7y ago
    Yes, this exactly! I can't believe how everyone is paying attention to such irrelevant things! Like how "Trump's Economy" sets 'records' everyday, or how just because everyone in the United States is making more money and things are turning around, doesn't mean it's a good thing for the whole world. Those people who voted him in are just selfish, they only care about their own kids.
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    > TPP was little more than an attempt to get a bunch of countries to stand up to China. It seemed more like we were being bullied into allowing US companies to bulldoze our institutions for their profit, while not giving much in return.
- billfruit 7y ago
  American prison system is deeply problematic too, one which both parties has continually failed to reform. Perhaps CCP see themselves as guardians of a country, a system thousands of years old. In comparison the existence of the modern democratic West has been for a mere ephemeral duration, and look who likes to lecture whom..
pfortuny 7y ago
The rule of law, indeed. What a travesti of the word.
moftz 7y ago
China is really betting on the media coverage helping the pro-China side. They control the narrative and the discussion in official channels but that doesn't mean they control everything. Hong Kong is insular enough that they could become something like Taiwan, de facto independent. I don't see major revolution in Beijing happening anytime soon.
- w_s_l 7y ago
  im quite surprised that they would be willing to take such a risky bet. but after seeing Crimea get a pass from the West, more and more countries with authoritarian regime have become emboldened further more with the US in political disarray. It appears that the leadership's patience has run out and it is nervous that it will spread to other cities like Wuhan, in which there's currently a massive protest ongoing. This almost certainly means elevated levels of violence. They've already deployed tanks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y1ezo6m8V8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y1ezo6m8V8) in Wuhan which means the Hong Kong PLA garrison's APCs will be making a world media debut soon.
  - moftz 7y ago
    Very little news coverage on the Wuhan protests. Maybe it's not as big as it seems. Although all it takes for a revolution to start is for everyone to realize that everyone else is not happy with the situation. You can point to protestors and say "look at how unruly and dangerous these people are" but that image of protestor being beaten up could just be enough to embolden some people. If someone out there is willing to get beaten up for their ideals, those ideals must be pretty important to them.
- loyukfai 7y ago
  Neither do I, unless the CCP can't keep the economic growth engine running.
CountSessine 7y ago
It's kind of fascinating how important the defacing of the national insignia is in the reporting in China. An authoritarian government like China's has no real mandate - they have no right to be running the country and no legitimacy that can be claimed. They're a bunch of men that the army listens to. They have the guns and the power and that's it. With such a government, symbols and flags are the proxies for legitimacy. I don't know whether the translation is faithful, but the vandalism was actually translated to the English word "desecrate". That's some powerful language for wooden sign.
- pmoriarty 7y ago
  "That's some powerful language for wooden sign." Many people feel the same towards their country's flag, which is merely a piece of fabric. Legitimacy is also in the eye of the beholder, with one's perception of history, cultural or ethnic identity, and politics playing significant roles. All of these are of course abstractions, just like symbols like the flag and like the very notion of a country itself. Yet there's no shortage of people willing to kill and die for them.
- underthebus 7y ago
  Patriotism and nationalism are strong in China and this is not because of the government. In fact the government is an expression of this, not the cause. China was attacked, invaded, humiliated from the end of the 18th century until 1945. This is what created a reaction that led to the collapse of imperial rule and to the rise of the modern parties (Nationalists and Communists). The communist government did manage to rid the country of foreign occupation and to recover some breakaway provinces. Hong Kong, lost to the British in the Opium Wars, was a very bitter symbol and a source of humiliation and most Chinese do credit the current government with getting it back at last. This is a real source of legitimacy. This is why showing the protests may be so potent on Chinese public opinion. Protesters should be worried because if the Chinese government changes policy and starts showing these images this can only mean that they plan a more serious crackdown. Public opinion will demand it.
  - lostlogin 7y ago
w_s_l 7y ago
really worried for hong kong. CCP is shoring up support at home for an escalation in physical violence.
- loyukfai 7y ago
  The establishment, or its agents, have sent out thugs to threaten the protesters. The Hong Kong government thus far has failed to rein in the protests using the police force. Situation is still fluid, but the thug thing may backfire. (or may it not)
  - w_s_l 7y ago
    I think it has backfired already. The leadership is getting desperate. They cannot contain the protests and the spirit of Hong Kong. What did they expect after a long period of democracy and western rule of law and capital wealth, that hong kongers just roll over peacefully like in Mainland???! This critical short sight from the current chinese leadership is incredible! now it has 2 major international scandals (falun gong organ harvesting and uighur concentration camps) from which it faces a threat to its powerbase and its about to get another one if they use excessive force in Hong Kong. but who knows! they might not give a damn.
    - loyukfai 7y ago
      Actually, if the thugs only attacked the protesters, or even journalists, a lot of people wouldn't have given a damn. However, they attacked even ordinary citizens in the restricted area of train stations and even inside the carriages. https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1469828-20190722.htm https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1469828-20190722.h... This afternoon and evening, there were rumors that the thugs would get their hands dirty again in the western parts of Hong Kong, but so far (3AM now) it hasn't materialized. But it's surely instilled terror in people's heart. The streets have become strikingly empty. BTW, I'd have quite a few reservations about calling the HK political system a "democracy". But that's a topic for another day.
ktln2 7y ago
Don't underestimate the power of these state media. In China the government has almost complete control of every single media channels - social media, TV, radio and even chat apps. They can install whatever they wants into people's mind and the people won't notice a thing.
- loyukfai 7y ago
  At the same time, I do believe many people know they're being lied to, but few are able or willing to stand against the system. Just look at the case of Liu Xiaobo.

87 points by La-ang 7y ago

Perhaps the Chinese government can also show the footage where a pregnant Hong Kong woman was beaten down by government paid gangsters in public spaces while police was nowhere in sight, and may have possibly miscarried?! (God bless her) I am a mother, and after learning that the Chinese government takes away Uighur children from their parents and is placed in concentration camps, I will try my darndest not to buy anything from China. Thankfully a lot of companies already source from Thailand or Vietnam or Taiwan. I hope more companies will move out of China soon

niknakniknak 7y ago

The Chinese government should also show the footage where a pregnant Hong Kong woman was beaten down by government paid gangsters in public spaces while police was nowhere in sight?! I am a mother, and after learning that the Chinese government takes away Uighur children from their parents and is placed in concentration camps, I will try my darndest not to buy anything from China. Thankfully a lot of companies already source from Thailand or Vietnam or Taiwan. I hope more companies will move out of China

caust1c 7y ago

It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. I wonder what happens when the tension comes to a precipice and China sends in security forces to "maintain the peace". I hope for Hong Kong and the global economy's sake, it doesn't come to that. Although it seems like that's exactly what the Chinese state government is gearing up for.

vkou 7y ago
> It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. Are you equally shocked that other nations are unwilling to take sides in the various political conflicts that we've lived through in the past decade in the United States? Generally, it's prudent, in the geopolitical arena, for nation states to keep their noses out of other nations' domestic politics.
- caust1c 7y ago
  Fair enough. I'm very curious what will happen in the coming weeks. I hope both nations come to a peaceful agreement to allow for continued autonomy in Hong Kong.
  - mirimir 7y ago
    Which "both nations"?
- Qworg 7y ago
  I would disagree that our on street political conflicts are at the same level with internal citizens. We don't have protests at the same scale, nor organized crime being hired to beat people.
  - vkou 7y ago
    You disagree because I assume, given the typical HN audience, that you live in a bubble of relative privilege, compared to the issues faced by African Americans (Ferguson), Native Americans (Land wars over pipelines), illegal aliens (ICE raids, DACA status), and Middle America (a Mad-Max style economic and social collapse, that had lead to an overflow of anger and frustration, and a political revolution, culminating in the election of DT.) Of course none of these things seem like a big deal to you. You aren't one of the people on the front lines of these conflicts. Notice how you don't see foreign leaders like Justin Trudeau, or Angela Merkel picking sides in these issues. That's because whatever their opinions on these matters might be, they don't want to piss off the the winner in these conflicts. And yes, we absolutely have organized crime that is hired to beat people - what do you think happens at any of the large protests/demonstrations where the police are found to have engaged in illegal use of force? Just because the criminals wear uniforms doesn't mean they aren't criminals.
  - mirimir 7y ago
    I presume that you mean the Triads? > The white-clad activists are suspected to be linked to local organized crime gangs known as triads that operate in the villages on Hong Kong’s more remote fringes, a Hong Kong Democratic Party official told The Wall Street Journal. I gather that the Triads have had a long and complex relationship with Chinese governments. Going back centuries. So I think that there's more to it than hiring criminals. But I'm not clear just what it is.
CountSessine 7y ago
I don't understand what you think other nations are supposed to do? Or what influence they can possibly have? Hong Kong is Chinese territory - really, they can do whatever they want there. This is the same regime that is holding as many as a million Uyghurs in concentration camps right now. One interesting constraint that Beijing is operating under, though, is Taiwan. The government has argued in favor of reunification for years now, under a similar one-nation-two-systems framework. If they send the tanks and the shock-troops in to Hong Kong, then no one can deny that that's all bullshit.
- nostromo 7y ago
  China would be risking sanctions. Given that their economy is already slowing (dramatically faster than the official numbers by many reports) and their massive debt loads -- sanctions could pack a real punch.
  - loyukfai 7y ago
    Personally I don't think other countries are willing to sanction China just for Hong Kong. But it is a piece on the chessboard, for sure.
- CogitoCogito 7y ago
  > If they send the tanks and the shock-troops in to Hong Kong, then no one can deny that that's all bullshit. Of course people can still deny it. Tiananmen Square happened after all. The PRC has never governed Taiwan yet essentially no governments call their imperialism what it is and tacitly accept their “unification” language. At the end of the day countries can argue up is down if money is involved.
  - underthebus 7y ago
    > The PRC has never governed Taiwan yet essentially no governments call their imperialism what it is and tacitly accept their “unification” language. Taiwan is internationally recognised as being part of China. What happened is that the Chinese government of the time fled there during the civil war. The communists founded the PRC and the ROC government kept control of Taiwan. Since then the question has been who to recognise as legitimate government. And this has changed over time. What you're saying is like saying that South Korea never governed the North (or vice versa) or that East Germany never governed West Germany (or vice versa). While obviously factually true this does not diminish the fact that they are part of Korea or Germany as a whole. 'reunification' is the correct term, it's nothing to do with colonisation (what imperialism relates to).
deogeo 7y ago
> other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. As soon as a foreign nation takes sides, then those in the country on the same side can be easily cast as collaborators, or just tools of the foreign nation. E.g. it turns Protesters vs. Chinese Government into Tools of US Imperialism vs. China.
- loyukfai 7y ago
  Foreign interferences have long been the main talking point of CCP and HK establishment, but it's mostly a smokescreen or misjudgement of the current protests, if you ask me.
billfruit 7y ago
By how the West seems to precipitate trouble without no clear end game in sight as in Venezuela, Syria and other places, international actors getting involved can only mean moving farther away from solutions. There is a famous commencement address of Solzhenitsyn delivered at Harvard, I think in the 80s, illustrating how West seems to deeply misunderstand Eastern cultures, but it seems to me, we are where were then, and nothing has been learned.
- baxtr 7y ago
  So “other states” has now become “the West”?
loyukfai 7y ago
I'd say no, deploying the garrison troops would hurt the HK economy, big time. It's not likely something China is willing to afford at this moment, she's got her hands mostly full already. And the most radical of the protesters aren't getting what they want (independence) anytime soon, if ever. I'd say the CCP would keep trying to deal with it with domestic assets for the time being.
mnm1 7y ago
Given other nations' track record in places like Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and other places in Asia, thank fucking god they're not taking sides, especially the insane US. The last thing we need is another unwinnable, stupid, pseudo war based on bullshit and lies. If the Chinese wise up and decide to get rid of the commies themselves, great! But it shouldn't be up to other countries to interfere and fuck things up yet again because they are only interested in their own agenda, especially the madmen leading the US.
La-ang 7y ago
That's something to worry about. The mayhem will give China a card to play in getting deeply involved, and a scenario where the US will again get poetical as in with Taiwan. Picture Trump again claiming "support for the Hong Kong people" just to revive his image and annoy Xi, while intensifying trade talks. We can see here the cons of decentralisation to such an anarchy; there is no common ground and whether it's a peaceful march or sheer destruction of public property, China will all put it under the same umbrella.

hart_russell 7y ago

There's a lot of negative things that can be said about president Trump, but I for one am glad he's taken economic action against China. It seems like most Nations have resigned themselves to let China become the preeminent super power, which is very troubling to me; to let a nation with legitimate concentration camps, prisoner organ harvesting, and a general lack of moral compass become the most powerful country in the world is a bad idea to me.

addicted 7y ago
TPP was little more than an attempt to get a bunch of countries to stand up to China. Trump is hardly the first US president to do so. Arguably, Trump's economic actions and continued threats against the EU has led to EU countries cooperating with China in ways they refused to before.
- bushdid911 7y ago
  Yes, this exactly! I can't believe how everyone is paying attention to such irrelevant things! Like how "Trump's Economy" sets 'records' everyday, or how just because everyone in the United States is making more money and things are turning around, doesn't mean it's a good thing for the whole world. Those people who voted him in are just selfish, they only care about their own kids.
- lostlogin 7y ago
  > TPP was little more than an attempt to get a bunch of countries to stand up to China. It seemed more like we were being bullied into allowing US companies to bulldoze our institutions for their profit, while not giving much in return.
billfruit 7y ago
American prison system is deeply problematic too, one which both parties has continually failed to reform. Perhaps CCP see themselves as guardians of a country, a system thousands of years old. In comparison the existence of the modern democratic West has been for a mere ephemeral duration, and look who likes to lecture whom..

pfortuny 7y ago

The rule of law, indeed. What a travesti of the word.

moftz 7y ago

China is really betting on the media coverage helping the pro-China side. They control the narrative and the discussion in official channels but that doesn't mean they control everything. Hong Kong is insular enough that they could become something like Taiwan, de facto independent. I don't see major revolution in Beijing happening anytime soon.

w_s_l 7y ago
im quite surprised that they would be willing to take such a risky bet. but after seeing Crimea get a pass from the West, more and more countries with authoritarian regime have become emboldened further more with the US in political disarray. It appears that the leadership's patience has run out and it is nervous that it will spread to other cities like Wuhan, in which there's currently a massive protest ongoing. This almost certainly means elevated levels of violence. They've already deployed tanks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y1ezo6m8V8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y1ezo6m8V8) in Wuhan which means the Hong Kong PLA garrison's APCs will be making a world media debut soon.
- moftz 7y ago
  Very little news coverage on the Wuhan protests. Maybe it's not as big as it seems. Although all it takes for a revolution to start is for everyone to realize that everyone else is not happy with the situation. You can point to protestors and say "look at how unruly and dangerous these people are" but that image of protestor being beaten up could just be enough to embolden some people. If someone out there is willing to get beaten up for their ideals, those ideals must be pretty important to them.
loyukfai 7y ago
Neither do I, unless the CCP can't keep the economic growth engine running.

CountSessine 7y ago

It's kind of fascinating how important the defacing of the national insignia is in the reporting in China. An authoritarian government like China's has no real mandate - they have no right to be running the country and no legitimacy that can be claimed. They're a bunch of men that the army listens to. They have the guns and the power and that's it. With such a government, symbols and flags are the proxies for legitimacy. I don't know whether the translation is faithful, but the vandalism was actually translated to the English word "desecrate". That's some powerful language for wooden sign.

pmoriarty 7y ago
"That's some powerful language for wooden sign." Many people feel the same towards their country's flag, which is merely a piece of fabric. Legitimacy is also in the eye of the beholder, with one's perception of history, cultural or ethnic identity, and politics playing significant roles. All of these are of course abstractions, just like symbols like the flag and like the very notion of a country itself. Yet there's no shortage of people willing to kill and die for them.
underthebus 7y ago
Patriotism and nationalism are strong in China and this is not because of the government. In fact the government is an expression of this, not the cause. China was attacked, invaded, humiliated from the end of the 18th century until 1945. This is what created a reaction that led to the collapse of imperial rule and to the rise of the modern parties (Nationalists and Communists). The communist government did manage to rid the country of foreign occupation and to recover some breakaway provinces. Hong Kong, lost to the British in the Opium Wars, was a very bitter symbol and a source of humiliation and most Chinese do credit the current government with getting it back at last. This is a real source of legitimacy. This is why showing the protests may be so potent on Chinese public opinion. Protesters should be worried because if the Chinese government changes policy and starts showing these images this can only mean that they plan a more serious crackdown. Public opinion will demand it.
- lostlogin 7y ago

w_s_l 7y ago

really worried for hong kong. CCP is shoring up support at home for an escalation in physical violence.

loyukfai 7y ago
The establishment, or its agents, have sent out thugs to threaten the protesters. The Hong Kong government thus far has failed to rein in the protests using the police force. Situation is still fluid, but the thug thing may backfire. (or may it not)
- w_s_l 7y ago
  I think it has backfired already. The leadership is getting desperate. They cannot contain the protests and the spirit of Hong Kong. What did they expect after a long period of democracy and western rule of law and capital wealth, that hong kongers just roll over peacefully like in Mainland???! This critical short sight from the current chinese leadership is incredible! now it has 2 major international scandals (falun gong organ harvesting and uighur concentration camps) from which it faces a threat to its powerbase and its about to get another one if they use excessive force in Hong Kong. but who knows! they might not give a damn.
  - loyukfai 7y ago
    Actually, if the thugs only attacked the protesters, or even journalists, a lot of people wouldn't have given a damn. However, they attacked even ordinary citizens in the restricted area of train stations and even inside the carriages. https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1469828-20190722.htm https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1469828-20190722.h... This afternoon and evening, there were rumors that the thugs would get their hands dirty again in the western parts of Hong Kong, but so far (3AM now) it hasn't materialized. But it's surely instilled terror in people's heart. The streets have become strikingly empty. BTW, I'd have quite a few reservations about calling the HK political system a "democracy". But that's a topic for another day.

ktln2 7y ago

Don't underestimate the power of these state media. In China the government has almost complete control of every single media channels - social media, TV, radio and even chat apps. They can install whatever they wants into people's mind and the people won't notice a thing.

loyukfai 7y ago
At the same time, I do believe many people know they're being lied to, but few are able or willing to stand against the system. Just look at the case of Liu Xiaobo.