Why Is the Voice of America Courting the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement?

In the marches of July 1, two cohorts of demonstrators raised the eyebrows of many outsiders. One of them, named the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement, paraded the dragon-lion flag* and distributed fliers en route promoting autonomy while chanting slogans such as “Hong Kong needs self-rule” and “I am Hongkongese, not Chinese.” Another team called Hongkongers First** marched to the Hong Kong Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army. These marchers erected two giant banners featuring a headshot of Queen Elizabeth II on both sides of the entranceway and hoisted the flags of the United Kingdom and colonial Hong Kong, while blaring the British national anthem in blatant provocation of the garrison and national sovereignty.

Even though the number of participants from the two organizations involved in the march numbered only a handful, they caught the attention of foreign media. Britain’s The Guardian reported on the march with a feature article flanked by an image of a supporter of the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement (HKAM) brandishing the colonial flag. Even [the United States’ international public broadcast] Voice of America (VOA) had followed HKAM’s activities from the eve of to the actual day of protests, releasing on its website a preview of Hong Kong’s July 1 marches. Yet the preview only served to introduce HKAM and its activities, featuring a detailed personal interview with Liu Youheng, HKAM’s spokesperson, to promote its concept of a so-called Hong Kong-China segregation movement, the defense of Hong Kong’s interests and so on. It even broadcast the whole march live, and the depth and degree of attention lavished on them was akin to that bestowed on party leaders. Yet these groups promoting so-called autonomy are insignificant to Hong Kong society and their followers merely a group of youngsters unhappy with social realities. Why would Voice of America so flatter them?

In truth, the Voice of America is not your average media outlet, but rather an external propaganda organization set up by the U.S. government. The outlet also owns a broadcasting channel and a TV station and mainly serves as an organization instigating media wars on behalf of America. For such a calculating organization under foreign influence to ignore mainstream opposition parties yet wander peripatetically with youngsters of HKAM reveals that there is more to it than meets the eye. The attention and coverage given by the VOA to autonomy movement partisans actually expose the U.S. government’s Hong Kong strategy, which is to stir up public opinion for the notion of autonomy within society and to incite separatism. This is all in preparation for the forthcoming election of Hong Kong’s chief executive, which will end up turning the territory into its own political entity, one which acts as an anti-China beachhead for foreign powers.

On the one hand, the importance attached to the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement by the VOA serves to strengthen this movement’s influence, while on the other, it serves to convey to the opposition where Washington stands. Autonomy [for Hong Kong] is the strategy pursued by the U.S. government, and all opposition parties must follow behind. As a result, some politicians from the opposition have abruptly adopted slogans that bear principles of pro-autonomy and anti-Communist encroachment [into Hong Kong] in recent years. Among the quickest to flip-flop are Claudia Mo of the Civic Party, Gary Fan of the Neo Democrats, [actor] Raymond Wong and other politicians who excel at bending with the wind. Can you call this incidental?

This wave of pro-Hong Kong autonomy had begun in earnest two years ago, but under the radar. In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in May 2011, U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong Stephen Young said that Congress “passed the Hong Kong Policy Act in 1992. That legislation created the legal framework that allowed us to acknowledge and support Hong Kong’s autonomy by allowing us to continue — and expand — the broad and multifaceted relationships we had enjoyed for decades with the people of Hong Kong and their officials. But there is a catch. The law allows us to extend special treatment commensurate with Hong Kong’s autonomy only so long as the president can certify that Hong Kong is ‘sufficiently autonomous to justify treatment … different from that accorded the People’s Republic of China.’” Stephen Young had already signaled early on that America would include the matter of the so-called Hong Kong autonomy movement as a point of attack for U.S. intervention. From then on, this wretched wind began to permeate through Hong Kong society. The VOA’s complete coverage [of HKAM’s activities] helped shore up support for the movement and clearly demonstrates that foreign intervention in Hong Kong’s affairs will become bigger and bolder.

*Editor’s note: The dragon-lion flag is derived from the colonial coat of arms used by the British in Hong Kong.

** Editor’s note: Hongkongers First is the literal translation from Chinese of the name of this group, as it has no official English name thus far.