US media bias against HK laid bare

US media outlets, in general, supported Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan's decision to clear the "autonomous zone" of Capitol Hill Organized Protest launched nearly four weeks ago in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping across the United States. Durkan made the decision on July 1 following the deaths of two teenagers in the CHOP zone, a large employer's announcement that he was shifting business from the city, and the protesters' threat to attack the mayor's $7.6 million house. Subsequently, law enforcement officers entered the "autonomous zone", comprising several blocks, and cleared it of the protesters.

But the US media have not extended the same courtesy to the Chinese central government for its decision to promulgate national security legislation in Hong Kong to plug the national security loopholes in the special administrative region.

The CHOP was launched by individuals supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which started in protest against the death of African American George Floyd due to alleged police brutality in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last month and has been marred by sporadic violence, vandalism and looting.

There have been reports, although not in the US mainstream media, that bricks, stones and other objects that could be used at missiles were delivered to the protesters at prime locations across Seattle so they could be use them to break storefront windows to loot them, and attack law enforcement officers.

As an American scholar and writer, I had the opportunity to live in China for four rewarding months last year delivering lectures at various places and studying the people. As an anthropologist, I appreciated the depth of culture and kindness among the Chinese people－whether on the streets, in coffee shops or in professional engagements in Beijing, Chengdu, Nanjing and Hong Kong.

I was in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for just two days to present my new book to members of the media at the Hong Kong Press Club. I noticed a palpable nervous energy among the Hong Kong residents I observed－everyone was busy, in a rush to get to his or her destination.

I believe the Chinese central government did not want to overreact to the violent protests initially; instead, it decided to wait patiently for the violence to die down. But the indiscriminate violence continued for one year. Worse, it was later discovered that much of the cost of training and supplies to the protestors in Hong Kong was being funded by US think tanks. Under such circumstances, the Chinese central authorities had no choice but to promulgate the national security law.

On the tendency－and capability－of the US military to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, perhaps American commentator Doug Casey said it best in a stirring essay on July 2. Having lived in Hong Kong from 1985 to 2005, Casey responded to the negative US press about the Hong Kong protesters being cleared out by saying: "What's happening in Hong Kong is unfortunate, but frankly, this is none of our business."

Casey also said the US had for too long been involving itself in the internal affairs of other countries, including the South and East China seas. "The US is sending a bunch of aircraft carriers there (South China Sea) to show the flag, which is dangerous and provocative and none of our business." Casey added: "The fact is that US businessmen and Chinese businessmen get along fine…(so) the US has got to stop sticking its nose in other people's business."

We can all learn something from Casey who has lived in Hong Kong for many years and thus has the perspective of "an outsider within."

In many ways, the protests in Seattle and Hong Kong are similar. Both have harmed their local economies. In Seattle, many major businesses have moved to safer jurisdictions in other states. In Hong Kong, banking transactions and tourist activity have plummeted, and thriving businesses have shifted their operations to safer places such as Singapore.

I wrote a commentary in China Daily in November 2019, saying: "Three large NGOs in particular have contributed not only the core funding but also the pre-planned tactics being used by the protesters: the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Foundation and the Rand Corporation."

Some reports say at least one such entity paid for thousands of bricks to be delivered at strategic locations in Seattle. And at least one such organization paid for busloads of protesters to be brought from other US states to join the protesters in Seattle.

So in the end, it doesn't really matter whether or not US media outlets laud China for bringing an end to the Hong Kong protests. The positive outcome is that the destabilizing protests and riots have been stopped in both Seattle and Hong Kong.

Of course, that would be too much for the mainstream US media to admit that.

The author is an anthropologist and the author of Systemic Collapse and Renewal (New York: Peter Lang Publishing).