Examining Western Coverage of the Hong Kong Protests

In months past, Western coverage on the protests in Hong Kong has consisted of biased reports that distort reality and validate the hyperbolic fears of China espoused by radical protesters. This distortion begins with the lack of adequate historical context for the current protests. News reports highlight the fact that Hong Kongers have raised the Union Jack at protests as proof of their reminiscence for England, neglecting the inconvenient truth that some of these youths did not even live through colonialism. Hong Kongers had even fewer rights under colonial rule. Since the early years of British Hong Kong, leaders were appointed, from the Governor to the members of the Legislative Council. Towards the end of the colonial dependency, LegCo members were directly elected, as they continue to be. As further evidence, consider the fact that when demonstrations for independence arose in the sixties, dozens of protesters were killed in a single day, whereas today’s protests have not resulted in any bloodshed. Now, there is some semblance of democracy, rather than imperialist rule by those thousands of miles away. Simultaneously, the media unquestioningly parrots statistics peddled by protest organizers. Reuters, the only major organization to independently tabulate the number of protesters at the rally on July 1, found the number to be half that claimed by the protest ringleaders. This experiment also found that the Hong Kong Police Department, which released its own estimates, was far closer to the mark than the protesters’. Still, the media has repeatedly printed protester estimates over independently reported ones, including the bloated claim that two million people participated in the rally on June 12. The media have also dismissed the notion that protesters are being paid off as fabrications created by the Communist Party. I know that this is untrue. While I do not believe a large number of protesters are bought, I personally know people who have received monetary compensation for attending the protests. It is irresponsible for the Western media to ignore this fact. The Hong Kong and Chinese governments have also been beleaguered by a series of double standards. While investigations of Chinese intervention air frequently, the United States’ influence in Hong Kong has been almost entirely ignored. This comes despite the fact that the National Endowment for Democracy, a soft power organization funded by the U.S. Congress, has funded anti-Chinese groups and maintained close relations with their leaders. These groups include Demosisto, led by Joshua Wong. Furthermore, individuals with deep connections to the U.S. government continue to operate in Hong Kong without criticism from the Western media. Billionaire and Interpol fugitive Guo Wengui, who formed the Rule of Law Fund with former Trump aide Steve Bannon, was recorded promising current agitator Leung Chung-hang protection and financial support from the U.S. By the same token, Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, who recently met with Mike Pence and John Bolton, uses his paper as a propaganda tool, publishing blatantly false accusations regarding the Hong Kong Police Force and government. Instead of equating these actions with the Chinese-run fake news campaign, CNN called Mr. Lai “the only Hong Kong multi-millionaire standing up to China.” The allegations of police brutality by the Hong Kong Police Force are equally the result of a double standard. Incidents in which the Hong Kong Police have used force have been measured by and in response to illegal activity. Protesters have prominently employed improvised explosive devices, firebombs and even industrial chemicals against police and pro-government civilians, causing numerous injuries among local security forces. Members of the police were denied access to medication for chronic illnesses when protesters barricaded several police stations, but this event received no coverage by the Western media. Furthermore, vandalism by protesters led to millions in damage to the Legislative Council building, but later reports claimed it was just “currently closed for repairs.” Had these events occurred in the West, the police response would be equally severe, but the media seems too stubborn to admit that this is the case. The media has also tended towards humanizing victims of police misdeeds, all the while placing a much lesser emphasis on those targeted by the opposition. A woman whose eye was hit by a police weapon—but didn’t go blind—became the subject of headlines, while two innocent mainland Chinese who passed out while being tied up by protesters at the airport were barely mentioned in reports. The simple fact is that protester violence has as much of a human cost as that of the police.  While I largely agree with the basic demands of the protesters, I am disturbed by the methods that some have chosen to take. I am more disturbed by the fact that the media has insisted upon a hero-villain narrative that is unhealthy for Hong Kong’s future and diminishes any hope of reconciliation. If the media would like a more holistic picture of the Hong Kong protests, they needn’t look far—should they look beyond the surface, they will find a story that is not as clean-cut as the one they are telling.