Hong Kong students receive death threats. Beijing's war
During a press conference three university students report receiving death threats. Over 500 Chinese police trucks gathered in Shenzhen. Chinese newspapers launch disinformation campaign.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Three university students, among the leaders of the anti-extradition movement, today said they have received death threats and other threats of violence for them and their families if they do not stop creating "chaos in Hong Kong".
Pang Ka-ho of Hong Kong University, Zoey Leung of Baptist University, Kex Leung of Education University (photo 1) held a press conference telling of social media messages, anonymous phone calls, visits by strangers to homes, flyers with their photos and with threats.
The young people, who reported these facts to the police, expressed concern, but also stated that they cannot "bow their heads to terror and these anonymous threats" and that by continuing the movement, "it will happen to more and more people and not just us".
Not a few young people see in this episode another of Beijing's attempts to block the anti-extradition movement, which from the oceanic demonstrations in June has now also become a movement that demands full democracy and universal suffrage for the people of Hong Kong.
At the start of the demonstrations, China remained silent. When demonstrators began to denounce police violence and clashes with law enforcement agencies became more frequent, Beijing reacted with criticism of the young people. In two press conferences held by the Liaison Office with Hong Kong and Macao, on July 29 and August 6, it accused them of "destroying the principle 'One country, two systems'", to drown Hong Kong "in chaos", to be in the pay of "black hands (foreign powers)", to be "terrorists", to the point of threatening military intervention.
As if to back up this hypothesis, photos and videos of a cluster of Chinese police troops in Shenzhen were released in recent days (photos 2 and 3). Officially, the 500 and more trucks are there for programmed military exercises, but in reality the rally began just when the Beijing authorities denounced "signs of terrorism" among the Hong Kong protesters.
Few among the population of popular China understand what young people in Hong Kong want. A media campaign presents students as hooligans, contemptuous of the motherland, offensive towards the Chinese flag, manipulated by the United States and Taiwan.
An example of this disinformation occurred in the past few days: the wounding of a woman, who risks losing an eye, was attributed not to the police, but to the anti-extradition demonstrators.
And again: a journalist from the "Global Times" - close to the "People's Daily" - sparked a brawl at Hong Kong airport with some demonstrators on August 12. In China he is being considered a "hero" who defends the "One country, two systems principle", a victim of "press freedom". The man, however, whose name is reportedly Fu Guohao, had begun to argue with the young people and had not wanted to produce his journalist credentials, lading to suspicions that he was a provocateur and a Chinese policeman infiltrated among the demonstrators. In fact, several testimonies have proven that among the young people there are some who speak Mandarin (the Chinese used on the continent), who refuse to show their documents, and who are always present in the most violent clashes.
Meanwhile, the organizers are preparing a rally for this evening and another one at the city level for August 18. However, the police have not yet granted permission to carry out any march.
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19/08/2019 11:25
14/08/2019 10:27
