into chaos and have jeopar-
dized the livelihood of 7 mil-
lion Hongkongers, Lam said on
Tuesday that she is committed
to coming up with more mea-
sures to support the economy.
Following an earlier an-
nouncement by Financial Sec-
retary Paul Chan Mo-po of a
hefty relief package worth 19.
billion Hong Kong dollars ($2.
billion), Lam said the Hong
Kong government’s support
will not be limited to the relief
measures, with more effective
measures being planned to
cope with the downward eco-
nomic pressure.
The Hong Kong government
has already lowered its 2019
growth forecast to between 0
and 1 percent in light of the on-
going citywide protests.
A growing number of Hon-
gkongers are feeling the impact
of violent protests on a wide
range of industries, including
retail, consumption and trans-
portation.
When black-clad protest-
ers converged on major tour-
ist sites, shopping centers and
business districts, almost all
the stores closed before night
fell as the so-called peaceful
assemblies would turn violent
later.
The sluggish commercial
activity was also reflected in
economic data. Hong Kong’s
unemployment rate was 2.
percent between May and
July, higher than 2.8 percent
in April, according to govern-
ment statistics. The number of
unemployed people rose from
4,200 to 118,500.
“It is not related to the anti-
extradition bill at all. Violent
protests seriously hurt the econ-
omy, as retail business revenues
in some districts slumped 30 to
50 percent,” Peter Shiu Ka-fai,a legislator who represents the
retail and wholesale sector, told
the Global Times on Tuesday.
“The impact on business af-
fects the job market, and we’ve
seen more bankruptcies and
layoffs,” he said.
As the violent actions of
black-clad protesters have been
live-streamed, more business
representatives asked whether
Hong Kong is still a safe place
to do business.
“If violence doesn’t stop, thesituation will further deterio-
rate,” the legislator said.
Liang Haiming, dean of
the Belt and Road Institute at
Hainan University, said that
the vast majority who takes to
the streets are dissatisfied with
their lives as their income can-
not keep up with the economic
growth, and they see no hope
for their future. However, they
naively think “one person, one
vote” is the solution.
At a press conference onTuesday of the Civil Human
Rights Front, which has orga-
nized various rallies, the group
said Sunday’s peaceful protest
was the last chance protesters
gave Lam.
Hung believes that Lam has
responded to the protesters’ de-
mands on an investigation and
communication.
Lam said an existing watch-
dog, the Independent Police
Complaints Council (IPCC),
would hire overseas experts to
help carry out a fact-finding
study to investigate recent vio-
lent incidents, and a report is
expected to be completed with-
in six months.
“The members of the IPCC
come from all sectors and will
make an independent report,”
Hung said.
Witman Hung Wai-man,
principal liaison officer for
Hong Kong at the Shenzhen
Qianhai Authority, echoed this
view. He called on the Hong
Kong government, together
with all walks of life, especially
the academia, to work on Hong
Kong’s development direction
and economic structure under
“one country, two systems.”
But he stressed the precon-
dition is that opposition forces
and protesters end violence.Twitter suspended 936 accounts on
Monday for “deliberately and specifi-
cally attempting to sow political discord
in Hong Kong” and “undermining the
legitimacy and political positions” of the
ongoing protests in the city.
The platform alleged the move was
“a coordinated state-backed operation.”
Facebook also removed seven pages,
three groups and five accounts “based
on a tip shared by Twitter.”
Facebook claimed the individuals
behind the accounts are associated with
the Chinese government.
However, account holders reached
by the Global Times stressed that their
actions have nothing to do with any gov-
ernment or authorities, saying they just
felt the need to speak out when informa-
tion about their homeland was far from
the facts.
“The information and reports over
the protests in Hong Kong are extremely
one-sided and we should refute lies and
make the right voice heard,” an orga-
nizer of the Diba online forum told the
Global Times on Tuesday.
Responding to an appeal from Diba,
thousands of internet users denounced
radical violence and supported the Hong
Kong police on the Facebook page of Ap-
ple Daily and Hong Kong media outletson Saturday.
After that, more than half of the orga-
nizers from Diba could not access their
personal Facebook accounts unless up-
loading a picture of their identity cards.
“It’s a shame that Western media la-
beled the voices, which are purely public
opinions, as state-backed,” said the or-
ganizer who requested anonymity. “We
are disappointed, but we will not give up
speaking out,” the organizer said.
Twitter listed posts that led to the
shutdown of the accounts, including in-
formation from registered media such
as Hong Kong-based Sing Tao Daily and
letters from Hong Kong residents call-
ing for an end to violent protests.
According to Twitter’s statement, the
account of user “Dream News” was sus-
pended after it posted “Are these people
who smashed the Legco crazy or taking
benefits from the bad guys? It’s a com-
plete violent behavior, we don’t want you
radical people in Hong Kong. Just get
out of here!”
Many users also complained that
their Facebook and Twitter accounts
were blocked after they voiced support
for Hong Kong police and posted pic-
tures of the Chinese national flag.
Internet user Shuning posted on Chi-
na’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo platform
that her Facebook account was blocked
after she commented “Hong Kong ispart of China” on the Apple Daily page.
“Now I understand the ‘freedom
of speech’ the West has boasted about,
which is blocking my Twitter after I
posted a picture of rioters leaving piles
of trash on a Hong Kong street,” said Xu
Danyi, a university student in Tokyo.Victim of bias
The takedown campaign, which is an
arbitrary crackdown of different voices,
is a violation of freedom of speech, Zhu
Wei, a professor at the China University
of Political Science and Law in Beijing,
told the Global Times.
When it comes to issues related to
China, especially on ideology, the plat-
forms don’t give much room to voices
from the Chinese side, which shows the
platforms’ vulnerability to being abduct-
ed by Western values and the weakness
in the face of Western political correct-
ness, said Zhu.
Facebook and Twitter were ques-
tioned by internet users. “I see. The US
and its media giants have the ultimate
right to define what freedom of speech
is,” posted Yunheqiluo on China’s Twit-
ter-like Sina Weibo platform.
Overseas Chinese students and Chi-
nese living abroad have the right to ex-
press their opinion and it’s pretty clear
what the stance of 1.4 billion Chinese is
over affairs of Hong Kong, Chinese For-eign Ministry spokesperson Geng Sh-
uang said at a daily briefing on Tuesday
After the Monday crackdown, users
from other countries, especially those
that hold different values with the US,
expressed their confusion about Twit-
ter’s logic, saying that accounts of inde-
pendent journalists and activists from
those countries are often suspended,
while voices catering to US values are
not, even when they spread fake news.
The move is classic US hegemony
and bullying in cyberspace with its dou-
ble standards, said Qin An, head of the
Beijing-based Institute of China Cyber-
space Strategy.
Qin warned that such moves will only
destroy the credibility of the platforms
for international users. The arbitrary
move also breached the spirit of the rule
of law, said Zhu, noting that the account
holders could file litigation in US courts.
Zhu noted the platforms should ful-
fill their social responsibility to offer a
place where different opinions and val-
ues can be freely expressed, instead of
offering stages for the solo performance
of Western values.
Such moves will only lead Twitter
and Facebook toward becoming a po-
litical tool, or a victim that kidnapped by
politics, which drifts the two platforms
further from being a responsible public
product, said Zhu.2 Wednesday August 21, 2019
Page Editor:
caosiqi@
globaltimes.com.cnTOPNEWS
Stronger policies planned to revive economy
Members of a pro-police group gather in front of the Hong Kong police headquarters on Tuesday.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she hoped calm would prevail after a massive
weekend march passed without clashes between police and demonstrators, but again refused to
give ground to the protesters’ demands. Photo: AFPPlatforms should not be compliance, victim of Western bias: analyst
Twitter, from Page 1Lam, from Page 1