By: Xiaohan Sun

Exactly 23 years after the return of Hong Kong to China on July 1st 1997, China introduced the world national security legislation for HKSAR in 2020. Well, I know what you are thinking. Given all the daily, or even hourly, mainstream media coverage that depicts an evil Hong Kong government, you must feel like Hong Kong “freedom fighters” are now under oppression and in great jeopardy because of this so-called “national security law” that will punish whoever supports democracy and freedom.

Yet, you are all wrong. The innocent image of “unarmed and peaceful” Hong Kong protestors broadcasted by mainstream media is just one of the many propaganda tools utilized to disparage China. It’s not that hard to find footage of “peaceful” protestors setting an old man on fire or beating women and men into a pulp with modified umbrellas (sharper and longer ends) and huge iron pipes just because these people didn’t agree with their vandalism and got in the way of their “pursuit of freedom.”

 However, mainstream media purposely neglected these facts and went ahead to write about the “evil police,” who in fact used necessary force to protect civilians. Outnumbered by the “innocent protestors,” who used umbrellas to block the camera and surround their targets, the police and other citizens were always in great danger. Even worse, more coverage about the evil police and government, leads to even more protests. Nevertheless, many protestors stopped their violence and became extremely pro-government in the middle of the protests. But you will never hear this from mainstream media, who only show a sinful government against its vulnerable people.

You may think, why are there protests in the first place? Isn’t it because the government did something bad and people were unhappy about it? Well, you don’t know how much I wish the mainstream media would faithfully tell people more about what actually happened instead of creating a getting-more-eyeballs narrative, always catering to human rights, democracy, freedom, and all those “buzzwords,” while leaving journalism ethics behind.

 The truth is, the media started this. As a powerful tool to assist the Color Revolution, the media has always been heavily used by the West, especially the US, to push its foreign agenda, either for so-called humanitarian intervention or democratization. The original cause of the 2019 Hong Kong protest is an unprecedented legal case. A Hong Kong boy killed his Hong Kong girlfriend during their Taiwan trip and fled back to Hong Kong alone. The Hong Kong government then needed to put an extradition bill in place to address the case so that the boy could be extradited to Taiwan for charges. 

This sparked the anger of some Hong Kongers right away. And it is beyond reasonable. If you have been swimming in the mainstream (media) long enough, you may have a deeply ingrained belief that Chinese citizens are oftentimes innocent and it’s always the government who decides to charge the citizens with unfounded allegations. Anyway, such stories are all over the place, so it is normal for you to see the Hong Kong extradition bill as yet another excuse for China to assert more control over Hong Kong’s legal framework.

The mainstream media started firing. Stories and conspiracies on how and why Beijing needs more power for a “crackdown” infuriated young students in Hong Kong, who were raised bathing in the narratives the mainstream has made for them, claiming that they are the superior Chinese people because Hong Kong was once handled by the British. During my time as an undergrad in Hong Kong, I was shocked when I realized the level of ignorance and racism, as some local students worshipped the whites and asked me ignorant questions like “do you have Korean barbeque restaurants in Beijing?” It should not surprise us when you take into consideration the fact that Hong Kong’s education and law system has been overseen by the British - a legacy that has persisted long after 1997. China, on the other hand, has always been cautious and respectful towards Hong Kong, trying to allow for autonomy with the “one country, two systems” policy.

What would you expect China to do when mainstream media wrote biased stories on Hong Kong independence or published inaccurate pieces about protestors to convince the whole world to condemn Beijing and Hong Kong’s government? Those western politicians and media never care about Hong Kongers or “one country, two systems.” They just need to raise the voice of “two countries” to make China look bad.

Not to mention that some of the famous “democracy fighters” are strongly endorsed by Ted Cruz, who said he would always stand with Hong Kongers. The Wall Street Journal just had the exact piece we need: “The Senator (Ted Cruz) blocks a bill opening America’s door to victims of China,” which means that those “peaceful” Hong Kong protestors charged with riots, promised by Ted with US political asylum, were played. (To WSJ, great word choice, “victim of China,” by the way.)

Additionally, some young “democracy fighters” even met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They also received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, a US organization pushing for democratization overseas. I am curious if Mike Pompeo would ever meet with the leaders of Black Lives Matter or if Antony Blinken would happily accept if the leaders of the Capital Riots were to meet with President Xi. Would US officials allow Chinese “NGOs” to sponsor BLM or any other dometic protest groups? Not to mention that Hong Kong’s ‘pro-democracy’ activists siding with far-right US politicians that seek to crush Black Lives Matter is not something we can ignore.

 The ultimate foundation of the Hong Kong national security law is about national sovereignty, which is China’s inalienable right due to the long legacy of western colonialism and imperialism. China will always defend its sovereign rights. Regardless of your preconceptions, my dear readers, I hope my article gives you a new perspective on Hong Kong, that is, a 100-year-old ex-colony, a strategic fulcrum used by the West against China. A reality that will never be as simple as you think. It’s up to you to discover the underlying truth.