Wednesday, September 09, 2009

The difference between Hong Kong & China

Three journalists from Hong Kong were beaten by Chinese police in Urumqi, Xinjiang, a troubled city in western China last Friday. The three TV journalists were doing legal news reporting covering the recent unrest in China. When they were reporting on site in Urumqi, local police kicked, punched, and shoved them to the ground. The Hong Kong journalists were taken by force and detained for three hours.

The incident has been investigated by the Chinese authorities. And the result was disappointing, but not surprising. According to the Xinhua News, the one and only official Chinese news agency, the Hong Kong journalists were “asked” to leave repeatedly by local police without success. Therefore, under the circumstances, they detained them. A Chinese official accused the three TV journalists of breaking the law as they reported on the protest. And of course that was not it. The three Hong Kong journalists were also accused of instigating a group of demonstrators to protest against the government.

As expected, the beating part was not mentioned at all. However, we must give commy some credit this time for being creative. Instead of admitting beating journalists up for reporting the truth, they called that “something that everybody doesn’t want to see took place.”

The story would’ve ended here if the three journalists were from mainland China. Well, journalists in China wouldn’t have committed such crime in the first place since they understand completely that protest is evil and reporting it is morally wrong and means hard labor camp or life sentence if lucky. But sadly or fortunately (depending on which side you are on), Hong Kongers don’t get that (yet). Hong Kong media rejected the results of the investigation and the accusation and issued separate statements. “The allegation of inciting public disorder by the relevant Xinjiang authorities is wholly a fabrication.” said Hong Kong news organizations in one of the statements.

In my opinion, “fabrication” is an understatement. If I were the one issuing statements, I would’ve called that “complete bollocks” and the people who made that accusation “tossers”. Oops… please forgive me. I always wonder how my life would’ve been if I were born and lived in China, not long I guess.

Alright, now let’s get back to the subject matter – What’s the difference between Hong Kong and China? According to the Associated Press, “Unlike mainland China, Hong Kong is promised Western-style civil liberties and is home to a vibrant media industry known for its aggressive, uncensored coverage of the rest of China.” And according to my parents and some of my friends, most (if not all) Hong Kongers know that commy can’t be trusted, whereas people in mainland China don’t have a choice (they might know that too, though).


S Alexandria Ave, CA

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