The Other Side of the Story
A Secret War in War in Hong Kong
"Millions of dollars were spent supporting the unrest, and much evidence points to this money coming from the US government's back channels."
The Other Side of the Story
Since the Hong Kong protests turned violent last year, I've reflected on whether I misinterpreted the messy affair. I listened to all sides, using a critical eye to examine events, including the actions of the government and Police. Along the way, I felt pity for kids caught up in the moment. Many of these youngsters now face serious criminal charges, possible ruin and unsure futures. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous politicians who led them to the streets have fled or gone silent.
At every turn, I kept returning to the inescapable conclusion—some unseen entity is manipulating events. Somebody is nudging the well-drilled radicals along, seeking to draw the Police into overreacting. As a student of social movements, crowd dynamics, and how the actions/reactions of the authorities shape outcomes, this all intrigued me. I could see specific patterns emerging.
Of course, as an ex-copper, it's easy for the pundits to dismiss my interpretation as partisan. "He's protecting his former colleagues" was the often-heard refrain. A friend suggested, "You're paranoid." But it's not so easy to dismiss the conclusions of an ardent government critic with an in-depth knowledge of Hong Kong.
Like me, journalist and commentator Nury Vittachi is an adopted son of Hong Kong. That's where the similarities end. He made his name taking the mickey out of officials, including the Police. In the past, I was on the receiving end of Nury's barbs. For that reason, I always viewed his musings with a jaundiced eye. Yet, I recognise and respect the value of his work. Every court needs a jester who can speak truth to power under cover of humour. That's a powerful tool.
Having finished Nury's account of the Hong Kong protests, titled 'The Other Side of the Story', I was surprised to find that we agree on many points. Nury's account provides a balanced and insightful framing of the events, aligning with my analysis.
Nury's book may prove the defining exposition of why legitimate concerns about the extradition bill spiralled rapidly into wanton violence. And yet, when the bill was withdrawn, that violence continued unabated.
In telling the tale, Nury points out that there is plenty of blame to go around. He spares no one. However, he focuses mainly on the biased coverage by foreign journalists and the unseen 'forces' working behind the scenes.
Nury deploys his trademark humour, the absurd and a 'tongue in cheek' style to get the story across. You're lulled into a false sense of ease before an exceptionally profound point lands in your lap.
Unlike foreign journalists, with their monochromatic views, Nury understands the nuance, the grainy detail of this place. But as he points out in the opening remarks, he's immediately lashed on social media as a Beijing stalwart for pointing out truths.
Unfortunately, that's the crazy world we live in. Personal attacks and unthinking bile have replaced sensible discussion. Irrational types engage in this sort of name-calling rather than addressing the issues. All this nonsense is despite Nury's credentials as a robust critic of the Hong Kong Government and Beijing.
After laying down some 'red lines ', China has long sought to give Hong Kong as much freedom as possible. Consequently, after 1997, Hong Kong boomed despite constant prophecies of doom. It's the safest city on the planet, where people enjoy the longest life expectancy. We do better than Japan on that score. Yes, we have inequality and pollution, but we are working towards addressing these issues.
Plus, in all the recent noise, it is often forgotten that in 2014, our march towards democracy stalled. Why? The pan-democrats vetoed proposals incrementally, moving us in the right direction. For them, it was 'all or nothing'—this thickheaded decision set in train a course of events that soon spun out of control.
Violent radical elements began testing one of China's 'red lines' by demanding independence. These people surfaced at the end of the Occupy Movement and in the Mongkok Chinese New Riot of 2016. Then, as Nury documents, the extradition law proposed in 2019 was seized upon by a coalition of local and external forces to incite an insurrection.
Millions of dollars were spent supporting the unrest, and much evidence points to this money coming from the US government's back channels.
With an investigator's eye for detail, Nury observes the appearance of US flags and such words as 'protect our constitution' on protest banners. This is not Hong Kong's lingo. Also, we don't have a constitution as such. Likewise, he breaks down the deliberate over-reporting of crowd sizes. In truth, a million marchers numbered around 200,000. You have to ask, did Diane Abbott do the counting?
We hear about the tactics adopted for assailing the Police and then taking refuge in the massive press pack. As the Police respond, only images of officers wading into the press emerge, ignoring the build-up. The radicals take this to the next level by dressing up as reporters and first-aid workers.
Also, less visible and not covered by overseas journalists, an underground campaign to intimidate the Police was underway. Activist teachers bullied their pupils, while the firebombing of officers' homes marked a horrific development.
A whole chapter assesses the ordained narrative that the Hong Kong Police are guilty of widespread brutality. Nury and friends attended the key events and trawled through the photos and videos to conclude that evidence of generalised badly-behaved police officers didn't exist. He concludes the opposite: "Comparing them with clips of police forces in other places … our local officers are far less violent than many."
Dehumanising the Police is the textbook strategy taught by the Oslo Freedom Foundation, a US-based organisation that teaches revolutionary theory. This process is curated by circulating doctored or single images that portray the Police as brutal. None of the lead-up, context, or truth is allowed into this 'transmogrification'. Once ready, the media amplify the message.
I have to say that biased reporting, especially from Western media outlets, is not merely an outrage; it's far more sinister. It feeds a sentiment of hate that encourages physical and mental cruelty.
Thanks to wild claims and exaggerations on social media, things went, er, totally batshit. Fake stories of death trains, rapes and torture flashed around the world. Gullible politicians, like Lord Alton in the UK, swallowed these lies wholesale.
However, in the end, the radicals, with their violence, intimidation and wanton destruction, forged the weapons to be used against them. Good, decent Hong Kong people wouldn't stand for the burning and killing of dissenters or the threatening of children.
Many will likely disagree with Nury's conclusions, especially those absorbing different information streams and unwilling to contemplate they got it wrong. That's the problem of our age. People see the same event but disagree with what they see.
For now, COVID-19 and the National Security Laws have stopped the violence. Many instigators have fled overseas; others are in jail or awaiting trial. Our parliament is functioning without constant interruptions from hooligan politicians intent on damaging progress. In the meantime, most ordinary folks are trying to get on with their lives.
Simultaneously, the West, led by the USA, is imposing sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong Officials while fretting over Taiwan and the rise of China. In this febrile atmosphere, it's easy to fall into the doomsday trap; cue another round of 'it's all over!'
Yet, as Nury points out, Hong Kong will continue to prosper. I never bet against this place.
December 2020
At every turn, I kept returning to the inescapable conclusion—some unseen entity is manipulating events. Somebody is nudging the well-drilled radicals along, seeking to draw the Police into overreacting. As a student of social movements, crowd dynamics, and how the actions/reactions of the authorities shape outcomes, this all intrigued me. I could see specific patterns emerging.
Of course, as an ex-copper, it's easy for the pundits to dismiss my interpretation as partisan. "He's protecting his former colleagues" was the often-heard refrain. A friend suggested, "You're paranoid." But it's not so easy to dismiss the conclusions of an ardent government critic with an in-depth knowledge of Hong Kong.
Like me, journalist and commentator Nury Vittachi is an adopted son of Hong Kong. That's where the similarities end. He made his name taking the mickey out of officials, including the Police. In the past, I was on the receiving end of Nury's barbs. For that reason, I always viewed his musings with a jaundiced eye. Yet, I recognise and respect the value of his work. Every court needs a jester who can speak truth to power under cover of humour. That's a powerful tool.
Having finished Nury's account of the Hong Kong protests, titled 'The Other Side of the Story', I was surprised to find that we agree on many points. Nury's account provides a balanced and insightful framing of the events, aligning with my analysis.
Nury's book may prove the defining exposition of why legitimate concerns about the extradition bill spiralled rapidly into wanton violence. And yet, when the bill was withdrawn, that violence continued unabated.
In telling the tale, Nury points out that there is plenty of blame to go around. He spares no one. However, he focuses mainly on the biased coverage by foreign journalists and the unseen 'forces' working behind the scenes.
Nury deploys his trademark humour, the absurd and a 'tongue in cheek' style to get the story across. You're lulled into a false sense of ease before an exceptionally profound point lands in your lap.
Unlike foreign journalists, with their monochromatic views, Nury understands the nuance, the grainy detail of this place. But as he points out in the opening remarks, he's immediately lashed on social media as a Beijing stalwart for pointing out truths.
Unfortunately, that's the crazy world we live in. Personal attacks and unthinking bile have replaced sensible discussion. Irrational types engage in this sort of name-calling rather than addressing the issues. All this nonsense is despite Nury's credentials as a robust critic of the Hong Kong Government and Beijing.
After laying down some 'red lines ', China has long sought to give Hong Kong as much freedom as possible. Consequently, after 1997, Hong Kong boomed despite constant prophecies of doom. It's the safest city on the planet, where people enjoy the longest life expectancy. We do better than Japan on that score. Yes, we have inequality and pollution, but we are working towards addressing these issues.
Plus, in all the recent noise, it is often forgotten that in 2014, our march towards democracy stalled. Why? The pan-democrats vetoed proposals incrementally, moving us in the right direction. For them, it was 'all or nothing'—this thickheaded decision set in train a course of events that soon spun out of control.
Violent radical elements began testing one of China's 'red lines' by demanding independence. These people surfaced at the end of the Occupy Movement and in the Mongkok Chinese New Riot of 2016. Then, as Nury documents, the extradition law proposed in 2019 was seized upon by a coalition of local and external forces to incite an insurrection.
Millions of dollars were spent supporting the unrest, and much evidence points to this money coming from the US government's back channels.
With an investigator's eye for detail, Nury observes the appearance of US flags and such words as 'protect our constitution' on protest banners. This is not Hong Kong's lingo. Also, we don't have a constitution as such. Likewise, he breaks down the deliberate over-reporting of crowd sizes. In truth, a million marchers numbered around 200,000. You have to ask, did Diane Abbott do the counting?
We hear about the tactics adopted for assailing the Police and then taking refuge in the massive press pack. As the Police respond, only images of officers wading into the press emerge, ignoring the build-up. The radicals take this to the next level by dressing up as reporters and first-aid workers.
Also, less visible and not covered by overseas journalists, an underground campaign to intimidate the Police was underway. Activist teachers bullied their pupils, while the firebombing of officers' homes marked a horrific development.
A whole chapter assesses the ordained narrative that the Hong Kong Police are guilty of widespread brutality. Nury and friends attended the key events and trawled through the photos and videos to conclude that evidence of generalised badly-behaved police officers didn't exist. He concludes the opposite: "Comparing them with clips of police forces in other places … our local officers are far less violent than many."
Dehumanising the Police is the textbook strategy taught by the Oslo Freedom Foundation, a US-based organisation that teaches revolutionary theory. This process is curated by circulating doctored or single images that portray the Police as brutal. None of the lead-up, context, or truth is allowed into this 'transmogrification'. Once ready, the media amplify the message.
I have to say that biased reporting, especially from Western media outlets, is not merely an outrage; it's far more sinister. It feeds a sentiment of hate that encourages physical and mental cruelty.
Thanks to wild claims and exaggerations on social media, things went, er, totally batshit. Fake stories of death trains, rapes and torture flashed around the world. Gullible politicians, like Lord Alton in the UK, swallowed these lies wholesale.
However, in the end, the radicals, with their violence, intimidation and wanton destruction, forged the weapons to be used against them. Good, decent Hong Kong people wouldn't stand for the burning and killing of dissenters or the threatening of children.
Many will likely disagree with Nury's conclusions, especially those absorbing different information streams and unwilling to contemplate they got it wrong. That's the problem of our age. People see the same event but disagree with what they see.
For now, COVID-19 and the National Security Laws have stopped the violence. Many instigators have fled overseas; others are in jail or awaiting trial. Our parliament is functioning without constant interruptions from hooligan politicians intent on damaging progress. In the meantime, most ordinary folks are trying to get on with their lives.
Simultaneously, the West, led by the USA, is imposing sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong Officials while fretting over Taiwan and the rise of China. In this febrile atmosphere, it's easy to fall into the doomsday trap; cue another round of 'it's all over!'
Yet, as Nury points out, Hong Kong will continue to prosper. I never bet against this place.
December 2020
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