Chinese Articles about Hong Kong – June 22 to July 5

{Editor’s Notes: On June 9 and Jun 16, Hong Kong citizens held two marches with millions in attendance to protest the controversial extradition bill that the Hong Kong government intended to pass. After seeing no substantial government response, they continued with more protests, including a 550,000 person march on July 1.

Beijing countered by organizing a “Support the Police” march in which 160,000 were said to have participated.

The most intense action was on July 1. Some protesters entered the Legislative Council building for a few hours after the police pulled out of the building. Beijing then started a storm of media condemnation in mainland China over this “lawless riot.”

Chinascope covered several Chinese articles in its report, “Chinese Articles about Hong Kong That Western Media May Not Have Covered” {1}. The following are excerpts from Chinese articles about the developments in Hong Kong. They may help readers gain a more comprehensive grasp of the Hong Kong situation.}

Timeline of the events:

• June 9: Over one million people took to the streets in protest.
• June 12: Tens of thousands of people protested in front of the Legislative Council building before the planned debate on the extradition bill. Hong Kong police used tear gas and pepper spray and fired rubber bullets, injuring at least 72 people with 2 in serious condition.
• June 13: Liu Xiaoming, China’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, stated that the Central Government of Beijing did not ask for the China Extradition bill.
• June 16: Nearly two million people took to the streets to protest again.
• June 18: Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam offered a “sincere and solemn” apology and said she had effectively shelved the bill.
• June 26: Thousands of people protested before the G-20 meeting took place in Japan.
• June 26: The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) stationed in Hong Kong held a joint air-sea exercise.
• June 30: Han Zheng, the CCP official in charge of Hong Kong affairs, went to Shen Zhen, China’s southern city bordering Hong Kong.
• June 30: 160,000 pro-Beijing people gathered in a “Support the Police” rally.
• July 1: 550,000 people marched on the street in protest. Some students entered the Legislative Council building after the police pulled out, between 9 p.m. and midnight.
• July 7: 230,000 protesters marched in Kowloon, to let the tourists from mainland China to know about the Hong Kong protest.
• July 9: Carrie Lam announced that the extradition bill “is dead.”

Newspaper Close to Xi Jinping: Han Zheng Was in Charge of the Hong Kong Affairs; Xi Jinping Is Not Happy with the Work.

(Editor’s Notes: There are multiple factions within the CCP. Xi heads one group. Jiang Zemin, the former CCP leader, has his own group. In the CCP structure, one Politburo Standing Committee member overseas the Hong Kong and Macao affairs. For the past two decades, that position has always been held by someone from Jiang’s faction, including Zeng Qinghong, Zhang Dejiang, and now Han Zheng. Han Zheng, former Shanghai Party Chief (Shanghai is Jiang’s base), has been the First Vice Premier and a Politburo Standing Committee member since 2018.

Both Xi’s faction and Jiang’s faction control some Chinse media overseas. Xi’s faction has Duo Wei News (DW News) in the U.S.  and HK01 in Hong Kong, while Jiang’s group has Boxun in the U.S.

When reporting on an HK01 article, Radio France International (RFI) included a paragraph to explain the background of the media. It suggested that HK01 is close to Xi Jinping. HK01’s owner Yu Pinhai also bought DW News and moved its headquarters from New York to Beijing. Yu also owns a lot of theaters in China. {2}

The following two articles from Xi’s media HK01 might convey some important political messages from the Xi camp.)

The first Article indicated that it is Han Zheng who directly manages the Hong Kong affairs. {3}

The article said that Han went to Shen Zhen, the mainland southern border city next to Hong Kong, on June 30. “The CCP Central Committee paid special attention to Hong Kong’s July 1 march.” “It was the first time in the past several years that a top CCP leader came to the south for Hong Kong’s July 1 march. It reflects the attention that Beijing is paying to Hong Kong.”

“This is the second Shen Zhen trip that Han took within a month. Han came on June 12, after the police-protester clash . He met the Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam on June 14. The next day, Lam announced she would suspend the extradition bill.

“According to insider information, the CCP’s Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs is working at full speed to study the situation and propose responses. ‘Han Zheng happens to be in the front line to gather information; he may be able to make a quicker decision.’

“In the past, whenever there was a big event in Hong Kong, some top CCP leader would go to Shen Zhen to ‘supervise’ the work. In 2017, Zhang Dejiang, then President of the People’s Congress and head of the CCP’s Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, came to meet representatives of multiple parties and social groups from Hong Kong. Zhang stated that Carrie Lam was the only candidate that the Central government supported.”

The second article, published on July 5, said that Han Zheng had returned to Beijing and was going to reflect on the details of Hong Kong affairs. {4}

“Han Zheng, who is in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs went to Shen Zhen before July 1, to gather information at the earliest moment. He has returned to Beijing.

“However, though Han’s observation trip was complete, Beijing’s ‘surgery’ work on its Hong Kong policies has just started.

“According to information close to Beijing, Beijing’s top leaders were surprised by the ‘June wave’ in Hong Kong and worried about the situation there. The Hong Kong government is, of course, responsible (for the situation), but the whole working system over Hong Kong affairs, including the CCP Liaison Office in Hong Kong, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, and the public security system, all need to reflect on the situation ‘because their ‘initial situation assessment’ reports were quite optimistic (in predicting the passage of the extradition bill). The result was completely different. What went wrong?’

“At least three areas need reflection:

“First, the youth work. Young people in Hong Kong were the main force this time. Reviewing and improving (Beijing’s) youth work is the most important task.

“Second, the unity problem. Wang Zhimin, head of the CCP Liaison Office in Hong Kong, criticized some politicians in the pro-Beijing camp. For their own publicity, they didn’t stay in the government, while some even acted against the government. The unity of the pro-Beijing group is another key area on which to reflect after the event is over.

“Third, the media. The pro-democracy group was able to use the social media platform to mobilize people far better than the pro-Beijing group did. ‘If, in the future, (the government) does not take back media control, it will still be in a bad situation (like it is today).’”

PLA Announcement: The PLA Held a Joint Air-Sea Exercise on June 26 {5}

The Weibo account of the PLA’s army stationed at Hong Kong posted news on June 27:

“On June 26, the PLA army stationed in Hong Kong held its second quarter joint air-sea patrol for this year, to conduct exercises for multiple real-war scenarios simultaneously. The army, navy, and air force all participated in the patrol exercise. They conducted an emergency response practice and worked on issues in command control, coordination, and support.

Three ships and three helicopters from the PLA participated in the exercise.”

Beijing’s Action: Block the Hong Kong Protest Information from Getting to the People in the Mainland

Voice of America (VOA) reported on June 22 that the CCP regime had completely blocked the information about the Hong Kong protest from the people in the mainland. Most of the Chinese people do not know what has happened in Hong Kong. {6}

“All Chinese media and major web sites have filtered out the protest. A college student in China, who used anti-blockade software to access websites outside of China, said that over 90 percent of his classmates and teachers did not know about it.

“The information blocking also created an ironic situation. Hu Xijin, the Chief Editor of Huanqiu, (Global Times), a subsidiary of People’s Daily, commented on his Weibo account that Hong Kong’s extradition bill was a just, legal legislation action and the Hong Kong’s protest was a malicious action by the Hong Kong opposition group that was under Western support.

“Some Chinese citizens responded that Hu was creating fake news as there was no official report on a Hong Kong’s protest.”

 RFI reported on two official documents that issued a warning to prevent Hong Kong’s protest information from spreading to mainland China. {7}

The first document, titled, “Special Report of the Order from the Stability Maintenance Command Office,” was leaked on the Internet recently. It was about the speech that Zeng Xianjiang gave on June 12. Zeng is the head of the Criminal Investigation Group of the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Uyghur Automation Region.

“In his speech, Zeng mentioned that amid the escalation of the Sino-U.S. trade war and Hong Kong’s protest on June 9, all local public security offices must resolutely prevent any ‘Hong Kong impact on the mainland’ and any ‘overseas impact on China.’”

The second document was an order issued by the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau. RFI quoted the South China Morning Post which reported this document. It was about the speech of Xu Gansu, Vice Minister of Public Security, at a video conference on June 12.

“Xu said that the U.S.’ suppression (of China) had become the biggest external factor impacting China’s ‘political security.’ Given the ‘interference, plotting, and support’ of the U.S. and other Western forces, the Hong Kong opposition force held a large scale protest on June 9, which was quite impactful. ‘According to the information gathered, the protest will become even greater when (the Legislative Council) reads and votes on the extradition bill.’

“The order asked local public security offices to give their highest alert to the prevention of information from Hong Kong and foreign forces from spreading over the Internet and impacting the ‘political security’ in the mainland.”

Beijing’s Response to the U.K.’s Request for Honoring the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong: “Stop Overestimating Your Capabilities and Rudely Interfering in Hong Kong Affairs.”

After the U.K. Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, made comments about “serious consequences” if Beijing breaches the legally binding joint agreement between the U.K. and China over Hong Kong, Beijing gave a strong response.

On July 3, Geng Shuang, the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry countered harshly:

 “First, after Hong Kong was returned to China, all the rights and responsibilities that the U.K. had over Hong Kong, as defined in the Joint Declaration of the U.K. and China, were completed. Since July 1, 1999, China has been executing its sovereignty over Hong Kong following its Constitution and the Basic Law of Hong Kong. The U.K. has no sovereignty, administrative rights, or monitoring rights over Hong Kong. It is a self-inflated dream that the U.K. is playing as the ‘guardian’ of Hong Kong.

“Second, it is a sheer lie that the liberty of Hong Kong residents was obtained through the U.K.’s efforts. I remind Mr. Hunt, there was no democracy in Hong Kong under the British rule. It was (China) that guaranteed Hong Kong residents their democracy rights and their liberty.

“Third, the violent rush into the Legislation Council building on July 1 is a severe law-violation event that breaks the law and damages the social order. It was like claiming black is white when Mr. Hunt said the Hong Kong government is ‘suppressing.’

“Last, I want to stress that Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal affairs. We resolutely will not allow any government, organization, or individual to brutally intervene. We hope the British government, especially Mr. Hunt, will not overestimate its own capability and rudely interfere in Hong Kong affairs. It will be in vain.” {8}

Liu Xiaoming, China’s Ambassador to the U.K., made the following statement at a press conference on July 3, 2019:

“On this big issue, the U.K. government chose to stand on the wrong side. They issued improper statements that not only interfered in Hong Kong affairs, but also supported the violent criminals. Furthermore, they attempted to interfere in Hong Kong’s rule of law and prevent the Hong Kong government from bringing those criminals to justice.”

“China has an unwavering determination to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development, an unwavering determination to maintain Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability, and an unwavering attitude to reject foreign forces’ interference. We demand that the British government profoundly reflect on the consequences of its wrong words and actions and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong and in other of China’s internal affairs in any way.” {9}

Hong Kong’s Pro-Beijing Gathering to Support Police {10}

Huanqiu, Phoenix, and several major web portals in China reported that 160,000 people in Hong Kong participated in a “Support the Police” gathering on June 30. Tang King Shing, former Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police force, and some movie stars went on the stage to praise the police and condemn the protesters.

Huanqiu interviewed Tang King Shing on July 1. Tang said that the police’ declaration of “riot” to some opposition people was accurate. “As the situation developed to today, it is no longer an issue of whether to pass the extradition bill, but rather (an issue that) some people are using the anti-extradition bill as an excuse to attempt to cause severe damage to the ability of the Hong Kong government and police to manage Hong Kong.”

Media Suspect: Beijing Posted Ads on Google to Slander the Protest {11}

Epoch Times reported that Google showed a paid ad link that criticizes the anti-extradition bill movement as the first item on its search result page for certain searches of Chinese words.

Searching for key words of newspaper and Hong Kong, such as “Epoch Times Hong Kong,” “Mingpao Hong Kong,” and “Oriental Daily Hong Kong” in Chinese will result in a link to a website www.jophk.com as the first result. The website is called the Hong Kong Justice Federation, but there is not much introduction about this organization. Its page blamed the Hong Kong protest for “damaging Hong Kong” and “the infiltration of anti-China forces.”

Some people also posted this finding on the Internet and commented that “the CCP spent the state money, regardless of the cost (to fight for information control).”

Hong Kong People Suspect: Hong Kong Police Set up the Protesters to Enter the Legislative Council Building {12}

The most controversial event was that some people entered the Legislative Council building from 9 p.m. to midnight on July 1. A YouTube video exposed several facts that indicate the likelihood that the Hong Kong police set up the situation.

On the official video in which the police officer condemned the protesters for using metal material to damage the building and then rushed into the building, his watch showed the time to be 5:05. However, the protesters did not enter the Legislative Council until 9 p.m.

The video showed several middle-aged radical “protesters” who pushed a metal cart to break the glass doors, while the policemen inside the door were just calmly standing and watching. When a councilman tried to stop the action, a very radical “protester” simply pushed the councilman to ground. This protester’s face was fully covered, and he wore gloves. All these radical “protesters” later completely disappeared. The actual protesters walked into the building at a much later time.

There were also some other awkward phenomena. The policemen inside the building set off a gas canister before any protester entered the building. Then 4 minutes later, around 9 p.m., all of the policemen retreated and left the entrance unguarded. Five minutes later, the gate was broken and protesters came in.

Hong Kong News Reporter: “They Are Not Rioters” {13}

Ching Kris, a news reporter from Hong Kong, published on Facebook, “This Is a Government That Eats Children.” He provided his first-hand witness of the students’ actions at the Legislative Council building.

“In the front lobby, there are decorations in cabinets. Someone wanted to touch the artistic decoration, but others shouted, ‘Do not touch them.’

“A short while later, I saw four pieces of paper were posted on the cabinets, with ‘Please Do Not Damage Them’ on it. The furnishings put on top of the cabinets were also undamaged. Some young people took out drinks from a refrigerator and left money there. They also posted a note on the refrigerator saying that they did not steal drinks.

“As time passed by, the discussion on whether to stay or leave became more intense. Pro-democracy council members came to the assembly hall and some tried to talk to the young people. Young people expressed that they want to replicate the ‘Sunflower student movement’ (a student movement in Taiwan where they occupied both the legislative office and executive office from March 18 to April 10, 2014, to protest the then ruling party Kuomintang’s [KMT] passage of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement with Beijing.) They asked if council members or other heavy-weight adults could stay with them so that the police would not be too brutal to them.

“Discussion on whether to stay or leave became even hotter when a young man took off his mask. ‘We have no way to exist,’ he said, ‘If we leave, CCTV will claim tomorrow that we were the ‘rioters.’ We will be arrested. (Hong Kong’s) civilized society will suffer a ten-year setback.’ He asked people to stay. People applauded. Some people reminded him to put on the mask. ‘I don’t need the mask, because we have nowhere to retreat and cannot afford loss.’

“A while later, things changed. Another young man expressed that the Sunflower movement needed heavy-weight people and council members for support, but the council members said they would not support them. Then the discussion went back and forth. They reached a consensus to leave after issuing a statement. But after issuing the statement, they discussed again whether to leave or stay. It was hard to make a decision.

“The final conclusion was that midnight was the deadline. Most of the people would leave and a few would stay, waiting for arrest. The ones preparing for arrest took off their masks to take media interviews.

“The discussion was still going on and someone proposed ‘either go together or stay together.’

“Some people came from outside, reporting that the police were getting ready to come in. The majority of people left. Only a few stayed, ready for arrest.

“Ten minutes before midnight, a dozen young men came back. ‘Let’s go together.’ They pulled the remaining people out. A news reporter asked a few girls who came back, ‘The deadline is coming. Are you afraid?’ ‘We are scared. But we must save those four brave people, even if we are scared.’

“That’s my observation of the whole night. I leave it to the public to decide whether they are rioters, why they entered the building, and whether they damaged the building on purpose.”

Hong Kong Student: “Why Did We Go to the Legislative Council Building?” {14}

An article was posted on the Internet, titled, “A Young Man Who Loves Hong Kong Tells His Parents: Why We Went to the Legislative Council Building.” The wording follows:

“To Dad and Mom,

Dad and Mom, sorry, I made you worry about me. Looking at the TV live report, you might be disappointed with Hong Kong’s young people and wonder why they wanted to be rioters. Let me explain it to you.

Why did we enter the Legislative Council building? There have been continuous protests since June 9. Many people were sad and heart-broken. We went to the street for only one reason: remove the evil extradition bill.

One million people protested, two million people protested, sitting in front of the Legislative Council building, staying on the main streets at Admiralty, peacefully surrounding the police headquarters, and even paralyzing the government offices, we tried all peaceful means. However, no peaceful means have brought us the governments’ response. (The government) only dragged on or used excessive force. We had no other option. The government forced us to switch to a stronger way to protest.

Today, we came to the Legislative Council building for one reason. It is the reason that we had from the very beginning: we ask the government to respond to the citizens’ request. The news called us ‘rioters.’ I only want to make you understand that we are no rioters. Rioters would not pay at the unmanned store; rioters would not care for reporters’ safety and give them masks and helmets; and rioters would not protect the historical artifacts at the Legislative Council building.

Rioters would shout ‘support the police’ but actually conduct the Cultural Revolutionary-styled denouncement of people holding different opinions, take deviant actions against young ladies, or even attack passengers and reporters. We are a group educated well by your generation and a group grown under your love, (so we would not do that.)

You might see that the Legislative Council building was entered by force and think that damaging public properties was a violent act. But, can a lifeless building compare to the lost lives?

Three children who took Hong Kong as their home used their lives to express their opinions to the government. What forced them to take that approach, to give up their precious, young lives? Our hearts were torn every time we heard a life was gone. Many nights we were surrounded by cries. They left us only because they loved Hong Kong.

No building is comparable to these precious lives. If you sigh for the damaged building, won’t you feel sadder for the lost lives?  They are three children who love Hong Kong deeply.

We will not ask you, our parents, to go to the front line. We have only a humble wish: please try to understand your children and don’t blame their actions out of their love (of Hong Kong). Only with your support, can we have the strength to fight for Hong Kong’s future, democracy, and liberty. Thank you, Dad and Mom!

By a child who loves Hong Kong and takes Hong Kong as his home.”

Endnotes:
{1} Chinascope, “Chinese Articles about Hong Kong That Western Media May Not Have Covered,” July 19, 2019.
http://chinascope.org/archives/18852.
{2} RFI, “Han Zheng Returned to Beijing from Shenzhen, Will Reflect on the Work by the CCP Liaison Office at Hong Kong and the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office,” July 5, 2019.
http://cn.rfi.fr/中国/20190705-韩正从深圳返京传将检讨中联办港澳办等工作系统.
{3} HK01, “Exclusive: Han Zheng Stationed at Shenzhen Before July 1, He Came Down South (from Beijing) Twice in a Month,” July 3, 2019.
https://www.hk01.com/政情/347389/逃犯條例-01獨家-韓正-七一-前坐鎮深圳-一個月內兩南下.
{4} HK01, “Exclusive: Beijing to Reflect on Its Hong Kong Affairs System,” July 5, 2019.
https://www.hk01.com/政情/348337/01獨家-北京對港系統醞釀大檢討-中聯辦急會-黃絲-港青調研.
{5} Weibo, “Army, Navy, and Air Forces Hold a Military Exercise,” June 27, 2019.
https://www.weibo.com/1181382331/HARzZyX5g.
{6} VOA, “The Gain and Loss of the CCP Regime Blocking Hong Kong Protest News,” June 22, 2019.
https://www.voachinese.com/a/China-Censorship-Tight-And-Leaky-20190621/4968645.html.
{7} Radio France International, “Internet Article Exposing the Public Security Order to Prevent Hong Kong Protest to Spread to Mainland,” July 2, 2019.
http://cn.rfi.fr/港澳台/20190702-网传新疆公安文件坚决防止香港影响内地.
{8} Chinascope, “China’s Spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry: The U.K. Foreign Minister Is Talking Nonsense,” July 5, 2019.
http://chinascope.org/archives/18950.
{9} China’s Embassy at the U.K. website, “Transcript of Ambassador Liu Xiaoming’s News Conference on Hong Kong Issue,” July 4, 2019.
http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/chn/tpxw/t1678390.htm.
{10} Phoenix, “Former Head Police Officer of Hong Kong: It Is No Longer the Issue Whether to Pass the Bill,” July 2, 2019.
https://news.ifeng.com/c/7nyPpVXjF32.
{11} Epoch Times, “The CCP Is Using Google to Slander Hong Kong Protest,” July 1, 2019.
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/7/1/n11356332.htm.
{12} Chinascope, “The “Magical Prediction” of Hong Kong Police,” July 5, 2019.
http://chinascope.org/archives/18948.
{13} Facebook, “This Is a Government That Eats Young Man,” July 1, 2019.

{14} Epoch Times, “A Young Man Who Loves Hong Kong Tells His Parents: Why We Went to the Legislative Council Building,” July 3, 2019.
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/7/2/n11359637.htm.