News regarding China’s anti-extradition protests has recently become trending topics on Chinese social media such as Weibo.
News and posts on the protests were previously impossible to find on Chinese social media platforms.
However, following the events that took place in Hong Kong International Airport, the Chinese censors are evidently allowing these images of chaos to become visible to social media users everywhere.
Among the trending terms are “Hong Kong” and “Fu Guohao,” the latter refers to a man who was believed to be undercover police by protesters and was tied up and beaten in Hong Kong’s airport amid the chaos.
Fu drew suspicion after an “I Love HK Police” shirt was discovered inside his bag, like the shirts worn by those who previously attacked protesters.
However, it was later found that the man in question was actually a reporter for the Global Times, a notoriously nationalistic tabloid publication.
While Fu’s arms were zip-tied above his head with demonstrators surrounding him, he shouted, “I support the Hong Kong police, you can beat me!”
Shortly, images from the incident went viral on Weibo, showing the man’s bruises along with a photo displaying a heading that reads, “What a shame for Hong Kong.”
Since then, Fu has been hailed as a “hero” by some users while protesters were condemned and labeled as “terrorists,” with some even stating that mainlanders should not travel into Hong Kong as it is “unsafe.”
China has been concerned about videos of the large-scale protests in Hong Kong surfacing on its social media platforms.
However, images of foreigners complaining of travel cancellations at Hong Kong’s airport and footage of protesters blocking travelers were not among their concerns as these images have been allowed to go viral.
Featured Image Screenshots via YouTube / CBS This Morning
