{"id":142862,"date":"2019-09-16T12:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T11:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=142862"},"modified":"2019-09-23T10:15:07","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T09:15:07","slug":"western-media-portrays-hong-kong-hooligans-as-heroes-but-are-they","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/09\/western-media-portrays-hong-kong-hooligans-as-heroes-but-are-they\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Media Portrays Hong Kong Hooligans as Heroes. But Are They?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whenever Hong Kong protesters are destroying public property, there are no cameras of Western media outlets in sight. But when police decide to intervene, protecting their city, Western media crusaders emerge in full force.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

11 Sep 2019 – <\/em>On Sunday [8 Sep], huge US flags were waving in the air. A massive demonstration, consisting of mainly young people, was moving up from the old British-built downtown area of the city towards the US Consulate General, often erroneously called the \u201cembassy<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The temperature was well over 30 degrees Celsius, but the number of \u2018protesters\u2019 kept growing. Many of the main arteries in Hong Kong were entirely blocked.<\/p>\n

Western media were there in full force, wearing yellow fluorescent vests, their \u2018Press\u2019 insignia, helmets and masks. They mingled with the crowd, filming US flags, clearly enjoying the show.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump, Please Liberate Hong Kong,<\/em>\u201d I read on several posters.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiberate from whom?<\/em>\u201d I asked a cluster of protesters, all of them in ninja outfits, metal bars in their hands, black scarves covering their faces.<\/p>\n

Several of them replied, mumbling something incomprehensible. One girl shouted defiantly:<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Beijing!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Hong Kong is China, isn\u2019t it?<\/em>\u201d I asked. \u201cHow could it be liberated from itself?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo! Hong Kong is Hong Kong!<\/em>\u201d came a ready-made reply.<\/p>\n

Nearby, I spotted British Union Jack, with old colonial-era Hong Kong coat of arms.<\/p>\n

The big demonstration was clearly treasonous. Its members delivered a petition to the US consulate general, demanding<\/a>\u00a0that the US Congress pass legislation that would require its government to monitor and decide whether Hong Kong is \u2018autonomous enough\u2019 from the PRC, and whether it should then qualify for US trade and economic benefits.<\/p>\n

All over the downtown area, hundreds of \u2018ninjas\u2019 were shouting pro-Western slogans. Here British-era HK flags were being waved, alongside the US flags.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I approached a young couple among the protesters, who were resting on a bench:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo your friends realize how brutal, undemocratic and oppressive was British rule? Do they know in what misery many Hong Kong citizens had to live in that era? And about censorship, humiliation\u2026<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!<\/em>\u201d They shouted at me, outraged. \u201cIt is all propaganda!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhose propaganda?<\/em>\u201d I wondered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe propaganda of Beijing!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

At least they spoke some English. A bizarre thing about Hong Kong is that, while some people here would like to (or are perhaps paid to say that they\u2019d want to?) have the British colonial administration back, a great majority of the people hardly speak any English now, while also refusing to speak Mandarin. Little wonder that Hong Kong is quickly losing its edge to the pro-Chinese and highly cosmopolitan Singapore!<\/p>\n

But the demonstration was not where \u2018the action\u2019 really was and I knew it, intuitively.<\/p>\n

The flag-waving march was a big staged event for the Western mass media. There, \u2018pro-democracy\u2019 slogans were chanted in an orderly manner. Nothing was burned, vandalized or dismantled wherever Western press cameras were present!<\/p>\n

A few blocks away, however, I witnessed monstrous vandalizing, of one of the entrances to the Central subway (MTR) station. Hooligans who call themselves \u2018protesters\u2019 were ruining public property, a transportation system used by millions of citizens every day.<\/p>\n

While they were at it, they also dismantled public metal railings that separate sidewalks from roadways. Metal bars from this railing were later utilized for further attacks against the city infrastructure, as well as against the police.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Before burning the store<\/p><\/div>\n

Umbrellas in the hands of \u2018protesters\u2019 were covering the crime scene. Umbrellas similar to those used in 2014, during the previous, so-called \u2018Umbrella Uprising.\u2019<\/p>\n

No foreign reporters were in sight! This was not for the world. This was raw, real, and brutal.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t film!<\/em>\u201d covered mouths began shouting at me.<\/p>\n

I kept filming and photographing. I was not wearing any press jacket or helmet or Press insignia. I never do, anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

They left me alone; too busy destroying the street. As they were dismantling public property, their backpacks, stuffed with portable players, were regurgitating the US national anthem.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My friend from Beijing wrote me a brief message:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are selling their own nation and people. We have very bad words for them in Chinese.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

But it is not only mainland China that is disgusted with what is happening in Hong Kong. Three major Hong Kong-based newspapers, Wen Wei Po, Ta Kung Pao and Hong Kong Commercial Daily, are all pro-Beijing, pro-police and are defining \u2018protesters\u2019 as \u201crioters<\/em>\u201d or \u201ctroublemakers<\/em>\u201d (in Chinese).<\/p>\n

Among the big ones, only Ming Pao and Apple Daily, which are traditionally anti-Beijing, are defining \u2018protesters\u2019 as \u2018gatherers\u2019, \u2018protesters\u2019 and even \u201cliberators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local citizens are mainly (as they\u2019d been during the 2014 riots) hostile to the \u2018protests\u2019 but are scared to confront the mainly young, covered and armed (with metal bars and clubs) gangs. Some tried to, even in a luxury mall in the center of the city, and were brutally beaten.<\/p>\n

\u2018Protesters\u2019 seem to be on adrenalin, and in a highly militant mood. They gather and move in hordes. Most of them refuse to speak.<\/p>\n

What is important to understand is that, while the rioters are trying to spread the message that they are \u2018fighting for democracy,\u2019 they are actually highly intolerant to all those who disagree with their goals. In fact, they are violently attacking those with different opinions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Attack on \u0441entral station<\/p><\/div>\n

Furthermore, and this I have to spell out, after covering protests in literally hundreds of cities worldwide, from Beirut to Lima, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Paris, Cairo, Bangkok and Jakarta: what is happening in Hong Kong is extremely mild when it comes to police responses! Hong Kong police run well and fast. It created human chains, flashed a lot of light and sporadically used tear gas. It defends itself when attacked. But violence?<\/p>\n

If you compare police actions here to those in Paris, it is all politeness and softness. Hardly any rubber bullets. Tear gas is \u2018honest\u2019 and not mixed with deadly chemicals, like it is in many other places, and administered in small doses. No water cannon spitting liquid full of urine and excrement, as in many other cities of the world. Trust me: I am an expert in tear gas. In Istanbul, during the Gezi Park uprising, protesters had to use gas masks, so did I. Otherwise you\u2019d faint or end up in a hospital. People are also fainting in Paris. No one is fainting here; this is mild stuff.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Western press in action<\/p><\/div>\n

As for the \u2018other side,\u2019 the level of violence from the protesters is extreme. They are paralyzing the city, ruining millions of lives. The number of foreign arrivals in Hong Kong is down 40 percent. Reception at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is right next to Sunday\u2019s battles, told me that most of the rooms are now empty, and during the \u2018events\u2019, the hotel is cut off from the world.<\/p>\n

And what about their traitorous demands? Would this be accepted anywhere in the world? Flying flags of a foreign country (in this case, of the USA) and demanding intervention?<\/p>\n

Hong Kong \u201cpro-democracy activist leaders<\/em>\u201d like Joshua Wong are clearly colluding with Western interests and governments. He and others are spreading, constantly, what anywhere else would be described as fake news. For instance, \u201cMy town is the new Cold War\u2019s Berlin,<\/em>\u201d he recently declared. Yes, perhaps, but not because of the HK government, but because of his own actions and the actions of people like himself.<\/p>\n

Coverage of events by Western mass media is clearly selective and that is putting it mildly. Actually, many media outlets from Europe and North America are \u2018adding fuel to the fire.\u2019 They are encouraging rioters while exaggerating the actions of local police. I am monitoring and filming their work and what I see is outrageous!<\/p>\n

I am writing this report in Tai Kwun Center. Now world-famous art complex (of\u00a0 the \u201cnew, Chinese Hong Kong<\/em>\u201d), this used to be the Central Police Station under the British occupation, as well as so-called Victoria Prison Compound.<\/p>\n

Mr. Edmond, who works for the center, explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was a referendum now, the so-called protesters would not win. They would lose. This is an internal issue of China, and it should be treated as such. A continuation of the 2014 events. What changed this time is that the protesters are opting for extreme violence now. People of Hong Kong are scared; scared of them, not of the authorities.<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

British prison \u0441ells<\/p><\/div>\n

Here, prisoners were confined and executed<\/a>, during British rule. Not far away from here, monstrous slums were housing deprived subjects of the queen. After the Brits left, those slums were converted to public parks.<\/p>\n

Life in Hong Kong improved. Not as fast as in neighboring Shenzhen or Guangzhou, but it improved. The reason Hong Kong is being \u2018left behind\u2019 is because of its antiquated British-era laws, rules and regulations, its extreme capitalist system; because of \u201ctoo little of Beijing<\/em>\u201d, not \u201cbecause of too much of it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

These hooligans are going against the interests of their own people, and their own people are now cursing them. Not loudly, yet, as rioters have clubs and metal bars, but cursing.<\/p>\n

Western media chooses not to hear these curses. But China knows. It hears. I hear Hong Kong people, too.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

More: Hong Kong and the Audacity of the U.S. Part of a \u201cDestabilization War\u201d with China<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Andre Vltchek\u00a0is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. His latest books are: \u201c<\/em>Exposing Lies Of The Empire<\/a>\u201d and<\/em> \u201cFighting Against Western Imperialism<\/a>\u201d.Discussion with Noam Chomsky:<\/em> On Western Terrorism<\/a>.\u00a0Point of No Return<\/a>\u00a0is his critically acclaimed political novel.<\/em>\u00a0Oceania<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific.\u00a0His provocative book about Indonesia: \u201c<\/em>Indonesia \u2013 The Archipelago of Fear<\/a>\u201d. Andre is making films for <\/em>teleSUR and <\/em>Press TV. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and the Middle East. He can be reached through his\u00a0<\/em>website<\/em><\/a> or his <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

All images in this article are from the author<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 globalresearch.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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