Before Hong Kong suffered the extremely violent “black-clad” protests (aka insurrection) in 2019, there was a prelude called “Occupy Central”. While this was almost completely peaceful, it did disrupt life in Hong Kong for weeks on end and, as planned, caught the attention of the global press.
It also enabled the organizers, and more importantly, the overseas instigators and funders, like the innocent-sounding National Endowment for Democracy (NED) — which receives an estimated minimum of $135 million a year from various US government entities and falls under US congressional oversight — to plant their nefarious seeds among students and prepare them for the main act. Students were encouraged to download the Telegram messaging app, among others, and misleading information was shared, giving the impression that Hong Kong was in the process of disappearing into a black hole without any identity, history, or rights for its residents. This highly professional propaganda war continued in a very quiet, discreet way until the perfect excuse came to harness all of this negativity with the proposed 2019 extradition bill and so began the long-planned “black-clad” revolution attempt.
The events at the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and most notably, the occupation of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University demonstrated how successful the organizers had been in manipulating large groups of students whose misguided idealism, inexperience and naivete, coupled with easy-to-ignite misplaced passion, make them especially gullible and malleable. Unfortunately, modern social media has made brainwashing easier than ever before.
Interestingly, the international press at the time was largely positive, supporting the protests and sympathetic to the students. “Hong Kong Students Continue the Fight” was a typical headline. And US right-wing senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz even flew to Hong Kong in support of the “black-clad” movement and met with students. In an astonishing display of hypocrisy and dishonesty, Hawley stated during his brief visit that he found the “leaderless nature of the movement remarkable”, as the senator surely was aware of the NED involvement.
In Hong Kong, we are fortunate to have learned from our experience, and our law enforcement agencies are better prepared than ever. The national security laws will protect our students against being manipulated once again
The tone is different now that the boot is on the other foot, and the irony is almost too good to fathom.
From coast to coast, US universities have been swamped by student protesters, all of whom have suddenly discovered the fate of Palestinian Arabs living in Gaza. Their earlier disinterest in the fate of Palestinians slaughtered in Syria and Yemen suggests that the interest in their fate isn’t genuine and that other forces are at play. The more than 2 million Arabs, almost all with Palestinian roots, living in Israel itself are also never mentioned, a prerequisite in any evenhanded intellectual debate. Students are suddenly wearing the kaffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian Arab headscarf. Still, Senator Cruz, who landed in Hong Kong attired in black head-to-toe, has not yet been seen in one. Neither have senators Hawley and Cruz been out visiting the campuses and meeting with the Palestinian flag-waving students, unlike during their previous Hong Kong outings.
In this case, when the protesters are closer to home, US politicians of both political parties denounce their alleged acts of destruction, intimidation, and violence. These are the same politicians who did not utter any words denouncing the daily wanton destruction of public property and pro-China businesses and unprovoked violence against Hong Kong residents who did not share the “black-clad” protestors’ politics.
Of course, just as we have experienced, the student protests are not spontaneous: anyone who deals with students knows they don’t have the experience or skill sets necessary to organize multiple nationwide protests simultaneously. We learned this in Hong Kong, and it will not be different in America. Indeed, the first US reports in the press appeared with reference to “outside agitators” taking part in the protests, and not all those arrested were students. For Hong Kong residents, this sounds all too familiar.
Time will reveal who is orchestrating the seemingly spontaneous protests on American campuses and what their motivations are. A US law firm is suing organizations involved in the student protests — the National Students for Justice in Palestine, and American Muslims for Palestine — claiming that they are a front for Hamas. Perhaps this legal case will reveal more of the background.
In Hong Kong, we are fortunate to have learned from our experience, and our law enforcement agencies are better prepared than ever. The national security laws will protect our students against being manipulated once again.
The author is a specialist in international public law, and an adviser on China-related matters to the private and public sectors. He has lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
