Hong Kong Commentary: If Protests Turn Violent, They Hurt the Cause

Hong Kong Commentary: If Protests Turn Violent, They Hurt the Cause

[Note: With the outbreak of fresh protests in Hong Kong, a video-making company in Beijing (BON CP) invited me to share my memories of HK – and why I’m troubled by protesters who turn violent. After filming this Commentary May 26th, it was uploaded May 27th – the same day that my own country, America, was convulsed by nationwide protests against police brutality. Watch my video here, or read below for the full script I wrote.]

By Michael J. Jordan

SUMMIT, New Jersey -- I’m Michael Jordan, speaking to you from the U.S. state of New Jersey, where I’m quarantining from the Covid19 pandemic.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s great cities and financial capitals. Yet it’s once again burst into the global headlines, due to violent clashes between anti-government protesters and Hong Kong police. But this is a far cry from the Hong Kong that I grew to love, as a journalist and visiting professor. In fact, as an American who’s been fortunate enough to have also lived in Europe, Africa and Asia, of all the cities where I’ve worked, Hong Kong stands out as the place most like my home-base of New York City.

To me, Hong Kong feels like “the New York of the East,” as a city that never sleeps, where the dynamism of the streets fuels my adrenaline, every day. I’d walk for hours, photographing ordinary people, living their lives, then sit in a café to write about my experiences. Like these photos, shown here.

However, it wasn’t just the city I fell in love with, but with my Chinese students, as well. From 2009 to 2016, I was a seven-time Visiting Scholar at Hong Kong Baptist University, spending six weeks each year teaching International Journalism to about 100 graduate students. Most of my journalism students were from mainland China, and generally arrived with great enthusiasm and appreciation for this opportunity: to be studying in English, in a territory that was what I called “China-plus” – certainly Chinese, but with so many features of an international, multicultural city.

I was always struck by how keen my Chinese students were to write about those less-advantaged than themselves – like migrants, minorities and refugees – while they idealistically sought answers to improve their society.

It’s because of all these memories that I’m saddened to see Hong Kong erupt in renewed violence. The central government in Beijing is now pushing for what it says is a necessary new National Security law. But some Hong Kongers see it as another attempt by Beijing to impose its will on the former British colony.

Since being returned to China in 1997, Hong Kong has enjoyed a degree of autonomy found nowhere else on the mainland, through a policy known as “one country, two systems.”

Both sides have their perspective, which they feel is justified. The Hong Kongers cherish their civil liberties, like free speech and rule of law. Yet the reality is that Hong Kong is a part of China. And the Chinese people – from the top down – insist that all 7 million-plus residents of HK accept that fact.

I now see this from a unique perspective, as I’ve been based in Beijing since 2015: teaching at some of China’s finest universities, while working as a Communications Consultant. Over the past year, I experienced something truly unique, working inside Chinese state TV – as a News Editor, Scriptwriter and Foreign-Media Analyst. That gave me greater insight into both sides of the Hong Kong crisis. Especially last year, when the tit-for-tat between protestors and police snowballed into bloody chaos.

We in the international audience hear dueling narratives between the Chinese and the West, with each side focusing on opposite extremes. The Chinese media tend to focus on the most violent protestors, and their destructive actions – while largely ignoring the more reasonable protesters. On the other hand, Western media tend to spotlight the peaceful protestors, and their demands – while largely ignoring the more violent elements within their movement.

Look, I myself haven’t been in Hong Kong for four years, so I don’t know exactly what the situation is like on the ground. Even many there probably don’t know. But I can say with some confidence that the situation is far from black-and-white, with many shades of grey – and the outside world isn’t receiving a full, complete picture of this reality.

All that said, there can be no tolerance of violence. I’m not speaking here as a lawyer, or national-security expert. So, I won’t get into the details of the proposed law, or whether it’s justified, or even if the Hong Kongers are justified to worry if this new law might be implemented to muzzle dissent. I’m looking at the broader issue: of methods they use.

I recall watching one television interview last year, when a Western journalist pressed a young Chinese spokeswoman for the protesters, about the extremists within her movement. She refused to denounce the violence, basically asking, “What can we even do to control those who are more violent?”

Physically, there’s nothing you can do. But you can surely speak up, to ostracize and marginalize those individuals. Make clear they don’t represent the true movement, and should stop immediately, because it’s counter-productive and harms the cause. She could’ve sent that positive message to her fellow protesters – and to the world. Yet the fact she wouldn’t do so, even refused to, demonstrated a cluelessness, or naivete, or … indicated that some movement leaders do indeed condone violence.

Violence like this is not only morally unjustified, it’s rarely defensible. Like other people, I myself have been furious before. Even at my own government. Protest is one thing. But I never felt so outraged that it drove me to smash a shop-window, or destroy a traffic-light, or hurl a glass bottle at a police officer.

Or, could it be that some violent protestors hope to achieve something darker: to provoke a crackdown? They know the police must respond somehow, and in a heavier-handed fashion than you. Are you hoping to have your victimization filmed, then go viral, to turn yourself into a martyr for the cause?

Regardless, I’ll now speak as a Communications Consultant: turning to violence is also a lousy Communication strategy. The protest movement clearly hopes to drum up support from Western governments, Western activists, Western media, and other backers. But if you turn violent, you also run the risk of losing the support of fair-minded, freedom-of-expression advocates … like me. All I hope is that peace returns to this special city.

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