Hong Kong: Russian TV Denounces an American Plot

259

October 14, 2014

Published in Les Echos
(France) on 2 October 2014
by Jacques Hubert-Rodier (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Samantha Nzessi. Edited by Bora Mici.

The conspiracy theory is back. According to The Wall Street Journal, state-owned media in Russia are suggesting the existence of a plot, organized by the Americans, behind the protests in Hong Kong. These insinuations, the newspaper underlines, are similar to those made in Russia in order to denounce pro-democracy movements in Moscow and Kiev, which were only used to destabilize the Russian government. According to the Russian media, they were far from being spontaneous popular protests showing discontent, and while this past Monday the Russian media only briefly brought up the movement in Hong Kong, on Tuesday state-controlled channels, which remain the primary news source in Russia, started presenting the Hong Kong protesters as “agents of an American-organized revolt, just like their counterparts in Kiev."* The Wall Street Journal reports that a Rossiya 24 news anchor repeated accusations according to which “the leaders of the Hong Kong movement received special training from the American intelligence services.”* The anchor of the Russian First Channel went so far as to confirm that “Beijing has said that protest organizers are linked to the U.S. State Department”* – which the Chinese government apparently never said. The proof of the plot? State-owned channels showed “similar” calls from protesters in Kiev and Hong Kong and, of course, in the eyes of the Russian media, it’s no coincidence that the Hong Kong protests happened so quickly after those in Ukraine. Conspiracy theories still have many days ahead in Russia.

*Editor's note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.

Hong Kong : des TV russes dénoncent un complot américain
Jacques Hubert-Rodier

La théorie du complot est de retour. Selon « The Wall Street Journal », les médias d'Etat en Russie suggèrent l'existence d'un complot organisé par les Américains derrière les manifestations à Hong Kong. Ces insinuations, souligne le quotidien, sont similaires à celles qui avaient été faites en Russie pour dénoncer les mouvements pro-démocratie à Moscou et à Kiev destinés uniquement à déstabiliser le gouvernement russe. Loin, selon les médias russes, de manifestations populaires spontanées de mécontentement. Et si lundi dernier, les médias russes n'ont évoqué que brièvement le mouvement à Hong Kong, mardi les télévisions publiques, restant la première source d'informations en Russie, ont commencé à présenter les protestataires de Hong Kong comme « des agents d'une révolte organisée par les Etats-Unis comme les manifestants de Kiev ». Ainsi, raconte « The Wall Street Journal », un présentateur du JT de Rossiya 24 a repris des accusations selon lesquelles « les leaders du mouvement à Hong Kong ont suivi un entraînement spécial des services de sécurité américain ». Le présentateur de la première chaîne russe est allé jusqu'à affirmer que « Pékin avait dit que les organisateurs du mouvement étaient liés au département d'Etat américain ». Ce que n'a apparemment jamais dit le gouvernement chinois. La preuve du complot : les télévisions publiques ont montré des appels « similaires » de manifestants à Kiev et à Hong Kong. Et évidemment, aux yeux de ces médias russes, ce n'est pas un hasard si les manifestations à Hong Kong ont suivi si rapidement celles en Ukraine. La théorie du complot a encore de beaux jours devant elle en Russie.

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