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Information operations directed at Hong Kong

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1116 points whatok | 9 comments | 19 Aug 19 18:11 UTC | HN request time: 1.29s | source | bottom
1. xt00 ◴[19 Aug 19 19:09 UTC] No.20740783[source]▶
Was in China when the first protest happened and the news coverage was mostly saying things like that the people are clueless in Hong Kong and don’t understand the law about extradition. They had various experts all saying similar things and they would also point to random weibo posts about totally not on the payroll “people” saying they want their city back from the protesters.. I mean it’s one thing if China’S central government wants Hong Kong to be a certain way but dressing it up as “lots of ordinary folks agree with them” is pretty disingenuous and it seems very fair for any platform to call the government out on it—-especially non-Chinese owned platforms.
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2. derefr ◴[19 Aug 19 20:29 UTC] No.20741494[source]▶
> but dressing it up as “lots of ordinary folks agree with them” is pretty disingenuous

I wouldn't say it's disingenuous... given that there's nothing legally preventing mainland-Chinese from choosing to live in HK, and then being quoted as people who want "their" city back.

Odd to think, but HK is now experiencing a real Red Scare, the likes of which the US only ever imagined in the depths of paranoid delusion. There are real (CCP) Communists, living amongst the HK citizenry, nudging HK's democracy (such as it is) toward their agenda by appearing to stand for "public sentiment"!

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3. prewett ◴[19 Aug 19 20:53 UTC] No.20741732[source]▶
I believe that mainland people have to apply for a special permit to even cross the border into HK. I would expect it to be even harder to live there as a mainlander. So while they may be posing as HK residents on Twitter, I don't think they are in reality.
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4. rolltiide ◴[19 Aug 19 21:39 UTC] No.20742068[source]▶
> was mostly saying things like that the people are clueless in Hong Kong and don’t understand the law about extradition

It is important to understand there is some truth in the statement, while it neglects the symbolism that Hong Kong citizens have rallied behind.

It is no longer important, but the possibility of extradition to mainland China was a very small part of the bill, which updated a long list of countries that extradition would be possible to. It also lowered the number of crimes that were extraditable.

So on its face it was a meaningful updating of an old law and mostly kept the existing process which was full of appeals and approvals of various departments to actually extradite someone, but the mere inclusion of one particular country allowed everyone to channel their disdain for crossing an ideological line.

So when the first protest happened, China's cherry picking of the issue is not at all inaccurate. Coupled with the understanding that all the disdain comes towards them, from their own autonomous region, it is pretty embarrassing.

5. yomly ◴[19 Aug 19 21:42 UTC] No.20742095{3}[source]▶
How old is your knowledge? China changes fast - my impression was that it was quite straightforward to go to HK. At least for people in SZ...
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6. rolltiide ◴[19 Aug 19 21:43 UTC] No.20742096[source]▶
> the likes of which the US only ever imagined in the depths of paranoid delusion

Back in 2012 I went to a few Occupy Wall Street protests and encampments, I was very surprised to see how many advocates for "real" communism - since nobody has done it correctly - really were hiding in the bushes the whole time.

(I did read up on this seemingly comical notion, and I can at least tell you that they're correct, communist countries have never gotten to level 2 which calls for abolition of the state, and all fail during the pitstop of centralized power.)

7. laughinghan ◴[19 Aug 19 22:04 UTC] No.20742244[source]▶
there's nothing legally preventing mainland-Chinese from choosing to live in HK

This is completely wrong.

Mainland-Chinese may only move to Hong Kong to reunite with family, and they have to apply for a One-Way Permit, which has a "quota of 150 people per day and the waiting time for spouses is currently 4 years": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China_P...

To even visit Hong Kong requires applying for an Entry-Exit Permit in person, and duration is typically limited to 7 days: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit-Entry_Permit_for_Travelli...

8. robocat ◴[19 Aug 19 22:45 UTC] No.20742469{4}[source]▶
Shenzhen is a special economic zone, which had its own border with mainland China until early 2018.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/21...

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9. 886 ◴[20 Aug 19 06:24 UTC] No.20744287{5}[source]▶
it's not a real boarder. and regardless the so called boarder was effectively gone since early 2000s.