Online community gives SAR police 'resolute support'

An online community of young Chinese people spontaneously launched a campaign Saturday night to explain the Hong Kong issue and voice their support for Hong Kong police on various digital platforms.

The community, known as Di Bar on Chinese social media, is a group of young Chinese who live throughout the world and post about their love and support for China. They posted a message on Sina Weibo on Saturday afternoon, emphasizing their "resolute support for the Hong Kong police to arrest rioters," and that their mission is "conveying the voice of Chinese youth in a rational way".

Their campaign, they said, is driven by "patriotism, rationality, civilization and truth-seeking" and they put forward five demands countering "the unreasonable demands" from Hong Kong protesters.

The community called for "stopping the violence, restoring order, punishing the rioters, fighting against lawbreaking acts and reporting fair news".

It also set up social media groups for people to communicate and share contents that can be posted on overseas social media, including Chinese and English comments, emojis, posters, and images of how foreign police deal with radicals.

Their campaign was soon welcomed by a large number of young netizens from different online communities, including fans of pop idols who now look at China as their biggest idol.

Starting at 7 pm Saturday, netizens first crowded into Instagram and showed support to many public figures who have openly stood with Hong Kong police. Many of the celebrities had been much criticized by Hong Kong separatists, but their recent posts now are flooded with supportive comments accompanied by Chinese flags.

Each post on the Hong Kong Police's Facebook page has received thousands of supporting comments and likes from netizens. Apple Daily, a Hong Kong-based newspaper, shut down its livestreaming of Hong Kong radical protesters on its Facebook page after tens of thousands of instant comments poured in to strongly condemn the protest.

"We're sticking to the one China principle, support Hong Kong police and safeguard China's sovereignty. We do not allow external forces to ever touch China's land," a Facebook user named Jie Tian wrote.

Laurence Zhang, a 23-year-old mainland graduate of Hong Kong Baptist University, said he would be pleased if this campaign would promote "sincere communication" between young people in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

Zhang joined the Facebook group when he saw Di Bar's post. Since he currently lives in Hong Kong and has access to more firsthand information, Zhang said he wanted to post more fake news and false statements so that police supporters would know what and how to respond.

"I've seen mostly more rebuttals than sincere talk after the influence of fake news and Western ideology. If this action can help us promote better communication with Hong Kong young people I will be very happy," Zhang said.

Zhang is one of the Chinese youths who are the most active Chinese-speaking internet users.

A statement released by Di Bar on Thursday said that the younger generation stepping up to let their voices be heard reflects their confidence and faith in their country.

Junius Ho, a Hong Kong lawyer and politician, left supporting message to the campaign on his Weibo account, saying they are using their "patriotic sentiments, rational attitudes and spirit of truth seeking to sweep away the dark clouds in the sky of public opinion and restore peace and freshness to the society."

The Communist Youth League of China also showed its support on Weibo Saturday, saying, "Tonight belongs to the netizens of Di Bar".