Hong Kong Police Threaten to Kill
Protesters are on the offensive
And a mocktail to die for
This is China Uncensored,
I’m Chris Chappell.
This week in Hong Kong.
In a move that is surely going to make everything better,
Hong Kong police officers are warning
they might have to kill protesters.
Some police claim they feel so threatened by protesters,
they would need to use deadly force to defend themselves.
Those poor police officers!
If only the Hong Kong protesters
could understand what it feels like to be threatened with violence!
But attacks like that are changing in Hong Kong.
Instead of protesters getting attacked in one big group,
now people are just being followed and then attacked individually.
Sure it’s less efficient,
but it’s way more intimidating.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker Roy Kwong
was attacked by masked men who pulled him out of his car.
This dashcam footage posted by RTHK shows three men
kicking Kwong and then running off.
Apparently a fourth man filmed the attack.
Which seems like a bad idea,
if you’re at all worried about getting caught.
Kwong was hospitalized with neck injuries.
Meanwhile a government spokesperson has said that
“the police will follow up seriously
in order to bring those responsible to justice.”
Maybe look for the guy with the incriminating video.
But that’s not all.
On the same day,
a reporter for the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily
was attacked in a restaurant.
Four men dressed like protesters punched and kicked
the reporter and her sister,
while mentioning Jimmy Lai,
the owner of the paper.
So clearly, they knew who the reporter was.
Apple Daily is offering a reward
for information on the attackers.
But that’s not all.
Again on the same day, this woman,
a Falun Gong practitioner in Hong Kong,
was attacked by two men in black
shortly after she left a police station.
The masked men hit her several times with a baton,
then jumped into a white car and got away.
Which again, does not sound like a random attack.
Falun Gong practitioners haven’t really been
involved in the Hong Kong protests.
But this attack shows that any people
who speak out against the Chinese Communist Party
could now be in danger in Hong Kong.
You know, Falun Gong practitioners
have been dealt loads of violence over the years
in mainland China.
I don’t think they’ve ever said they might need to kill someone.
But there has been a lot of confusion
in the midst of these protests that have rocked Hong Kong
for more than 100 days.
For instance, this video has gone viral recently.
It shows what appears to be police
kicking a man in a yellow shirt.
But Hong Kong police say it wasn’t a man,
it was a yellow object.
Wow, they’re taking this dehumanization thing kind of literally.
Guys, you’re supposed to make your contempt less obvious.
Otherwise, people might notice.
Amnesty International is now also
accusing Hong Kong police of brutality.
“The evidence leaves little room for doubt—
in an apparent thirst for retaliation,
Hong Kong’s security forces have engaged
in a disturbing pattern of reckless and unlawful tactics
against people during the protests.
This has included arbitrary arrests and retaliatory violence
against arrested persons in custody,
some of which has amounted to torture.”
“From those experiences we can see
a common thread running through,
that the Hong Kong government is failing to facilitate,
failing to allow its, allow peaceful assembly,
to allow critical political speech,
because of the concern that somehow
this would be violating the one country, two systems principle
which is new.”
However, it can’t be denied that the protests,
which began peacefully,
have taken a violent turn.
Well, I mean they always were violent—
that is, the police and triads being violent.
But now, some of the protesters are getting violent as well.
“Anger and tension on Hong Kong's streets
spilled into bloody violence on Saturday night.
In a video obtained by broadcaster TVB,
men who reportedly disagreed with Hong Kong's protest movement
can be seen being savagely beaten by protesters.”
Protesters also targeted businesses
linked to mainland China at a mall in Sha Tin,
as well as vandalizing the nearby subway station.
“This is the ticketing system for the MTR
its been completely trashed.
People have sprayed all over it,
they've smashed holes in it.”
Protesters started targeting the subway
after the MTR started shutting down stations near protests
after being criticized by state-run media,
and police started beating passengers in subway stations.
But now that protesters have also started
trashing subway stations...
at least the protesters and police have something in common.
Protesters have also set various small fires over the past week,
for instance outside a police station,
and near the Sha Tin mall.
Tensions are running high.
A group of protesters attacked this pro-Beijing man,
before other protesters broke up the fight.
That’s why I think people just need to chill out
with a nice mocktail.
Like this one from a Hong Kong diner
that’s offering a protest-inspired menu.
This is the “eye for an eye soda.”
It’s a reference to the young woman
who was shot in the eye by a police rubber bullet.
Obviously the police had been very afraid
for their own safety when they shot her.
“The menu includes rice balls
named after the protesters' five demands,
like universal suffrage and an investigation
into whether police have used excessive force.
There's also a soup called "beaten raw pork" -
a nod clashes that have turned violent.
If you want the set meal that'll be a "full gear",
as in face masks, umbrellas,
and all the other ad hoc battle armour
worn by demonstrators.”
Wow, I hope “an investigation into whether police
have used excessive force rice ball”
flows a little better in Cantonese.
But the Chinese Communist Party still hopes
it can drum up a little patriotism in Hong Kong.
An upcoming Chinese propaganda film
called My people, My country
will celebrate the October 1 National Day holiday.
And Hong Kong is a particular focus of the story.
One of the seven stories in the movie
is about getting the Chinese flag raised in Hong Kong
at the stroke of midnight on July 1, 1997.
I assume that it’s because if there’s one second of delay,
the flagpole will blow up.
Otherwise,
why are they treating a flag raising like MacGyver
disarming a bomb.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from one of you,
a fan who supports us through Patreon—
which I might remind you is critical to our continued coverage,
since YouTube demonetizes most of our Hong Kong episodes.
David Tower asks
“I just don't understand why people
still think China is a reliable trade partner.
It's obvious they are THE enemy of the USA
and many other countries.”
An interesting question David.
It kind of goes back to the original pusher
of China appeasement and engagement,
Henry Kissinger.
Now when President Nixon
secretly sent him to China in the 70’s,
the US was seeking a way to counter the Soviet Union.
And at the time,
dragging China away from the Soviet sphere of influence
seemed like a good idea.
And the belief was that if we engage with China,
they’ll see how good our system is
and will shed their erroneous Communist ways.
Obviously, that did not happen.
But there was a whole generation of “experts”
trained in that line of thought.
And so the narrative continues.
The Chinese Communist Party will change
if there’s engagement and appeasement.
Over the past 2-3 years however,
that attitude has been changing.
China is now being called a strategic competitor.
Which is why standing up to the Chinese Communist Party
is one of the few bipartisan issues
in the United States right now.
Thanks for your question.
And thank you for your support.
Visit Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored and contribute
so that we can keep making great episodes for you.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.