[China's Propaganda: Part 1 of 9]

Twitter recently found out how China-based accounts interfered activities in Hong Kong, although access to Twitter is officially blocked by the authority in China.

According to Twitter on 19 August 2019:
“We're disclosing coordinated account activity focused on the ongoing protest movement in Hong Kong. Our investigations have found that these accounts are linked to state-backed information operations from mainland China.”

On the same day, Facebook also released similar news that they have removed “coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From China” on the same day.

In this series, we have collected several articles to explain this phenomenon in connection to the state controlled media and propaganda in China.

(to be continued)

Source:
https://twitter.com/twittersafety/status/1163513679335346176?s=21
https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/08/removing-cib-china/

#chinapropaganda #stateideology #n1

[China's Propaganda: Part 2 of 9]
What happened on Twitter?

Twitter describes the “deceptive strategies” undertaken by these China-based accounts as “covert, manipulative behaviors” where “bad-faith actors” are involved. A total of 936 active accounts and approximately 200,000 accounts that are created after Twitter's initial suspensions were suspended. These accounts posted in English and Chinese, usually portraying the protesters as violent criminals.

As Twitter reports,

“This disclosure consists of 936 accounts originating from within the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Overall, these accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground. Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation. Specifically, we identified large clusters of accounts behaving in a coordinated manner to amplify messages related to the Hong Kong protests.

As Twitter is blocked in PRC, many of these accounts accessed Twitter using VPNs. However, some accounts accessed Twitter from specific unblocked IP addresses originating in mainland China. The accounts we are sharing today represent the most active portions of this campaign; a larger, spammy network of approximately 200,000 accounts — many created following our initial suspensions — were proactively suspended before they were substantially active on the service”

(to be continued)

Source:
https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/information_operations_directed_at_Hong_Kong.html

#chinapropaganda #stateideology #n2

[China's Propaganda: Part 3 of 9]

What happened on Facebook?

On the same day (19 August), Facebook also removed 7 Pages, 3 Groups and 5 Facebook accounts “involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior”. According to Facebook, they are, however, only “part of a small network that originated in China and focused on Hong Kong”.

Similar to those in Twitter, these activities include the false accusation of the protesters in Hong Kong in Chinese and English. These pages, for instance, compare protesters to cockroaches and terrorists.

(to be continued)

Source: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/08/removing-cib-china/

#chinapropaganda #stateideology #n3

[China's Propaganda: Part 4 of 9]
Who can access Twitter in China when it is blocked by the authority?

Before Twitter's ban of covert accounts on 19 August, China's state media had been placing ads as promoted tweets to disperse fake news and attack pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, with an aim to undermine the legitimacy and political stance of Hong Kong demonstrations.

Zak Doffman in Forbes further writes about China's Xinhua News Agency:

“Dressed up as news but in reality peddling Beijing's messaging, the state media outlet Xinhua's consistent theme has been the Hong Kong public's demand for the restoration of social order, the threat to Hong Kong's prosperity and economy and the implication that the protesters (backed foreign actors) are themselves stoking the violence. Clearly a different set of messages from those we are seeing from genuine news outlets outside China.”

Credible evidence shows that the Chinese government has been backing these related Twitter accounts. Although these account holders tried to conceal their identity, investigations revealed their contact with the Chinese government.

In response to this, President Xi Jinping, however, requests the Western world to "stop bullying China and return Chinese people their freedom of speech".

(to be continued)

Source:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/08/19/twitter-under-fire-for-running-chinese-ads-attacking-hong-kong-protesters/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/xi-jinping-tours-chinas-top-state-media-outlets-to-boost-loyalty

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1475629-20190820.htm

#chinapropaganda #stateideology #n4

[China's Propaganda: Part 5 of 9]

PRC: "Propaganda Guidelines Regarding the Current Situation"

Written in simplified Chinese, the titular document is allegedly issued by the PRC to cope with information flow. The document was circulated on the internet since earlier this week. An English translation is provided as follows:

(1) It is strictly forbidden to report any Hong Kong citizens' democratic demands positively. The government's power to influence action and decision should be comprehensively deployed to control the public opinion. All incidents should be classified into the following “3 conflicts”, namely:
1. Patriotism Vs Seperatism
2. Peaceful Vs Violent
3. Lawfulness Vs Unrest

(2) Do report a moderate number of demands concerning livelihood, but only up to a certain degree without too much highlight. It is allowed to convert political events into incidents related to the enconomy, but all events shall foremost be defined as criminal acts.

(to be continued)
#stateideology #chinapropaganda #n5

[China's Propaganda: Part 6 of 9]

“Propaganda Guidelines Regarding the Current Situation”

(Translation continues)

(3) Water down the turnout and the public support of the protests by amplifying the voice of the government and the police. The population should be divided as follows:

1. Label the non-participants of the protests as the silent majoriy. They do not speak but they deeply support the government and the police in heart.

2. Label the protesters as young, naive and having been manipulated that they are the spears of the oppositional power from the West.

3. Label the protesters who storm government organizations and resist against the police as terrorists.

(to be continued)
#stateideology #chinapropaganda #n6

[China's Propaganda: Part 7 of 9]

“Propaganda Guidelines Regarding the Current Situation” allegedly issued by the PRC

(Translation continues)

(3) [sic]: Emphasize the following in texts, pictures and video reports:

1. Slogans on Hong Kong independence and the flags of foreign countries: This is to fabricate the collution between the protesters and Western hostile forces behind the advocacy for Hong Kong independence. Meanwhile, avoid capturing any slogans about democracy or freedom.

2. With the international exposure of the events, we foresee Western media to conduct interviews with politicians while we also expect Western politicians's vocal support of the protesters. This is exactly what we need, such that these incidents can be employed to depict how Western hostile forces has created the present chaotic situation.

3. Emphasize the protesters' battering governmental buildings.

4. Emphasize the protesters' acts of defacing the national flag, national emblem or any symbol of the government.

5. Emphasise the protesters' use of force against the police. Always amplify the injury of policeman, if any.

6. Consider the tension in the current situation, we expect that an escalation of protest activities will further affect the everyday life of many. In this case, we should emphasise people's conplaint and discontent. It is a must to report foreigners' discontent, if any, under the spotlight.

(to be continued)

#chinapropaganda #stateideology #n7

[China's Propaganda: Part 8 of 9]

“Propaganda Guidelines Regarding the Current Situation” allegedly issued by the PRC

(Translation continues)

(4) It is strictly forbidden to report any sympathy, comprehsion or support towards the protesters.

(5) Delete all videos and images that captured police violence, in order to prevent them from crossing the border. This content shall be hidden and removed immediately. It is absolutely forbidden to have them diffused in Weixin, Weibo and any social media.

(6) Delete all videos and images that captured protesters apologizing to travellers at the airport, in order to prevent them from crossing the border. This content shall be hidden and removed immediately. It is absolutely forbidden to have them diffused in Weixin, Weibo and any social media.

(7) Utilize the economic attraction of the China market to convince patriotic merchants who have bussiness in mainland and wounded artists who take part in mainland showbiz business to speak up ane to support the government and the police on open occasions.

(8) Monitor traditional mass media and censor social media to the fullest, so as to guide the public opinion towards a correct direction.

(end of original document)

(series conclusion upnext)

#chinapropaganda #stateideology #n8

"Propaganda Guidelines regarding the current situation" allegedly issued by the PRC

#stateideology #chinapropaganda

[China's Propaganda: Part 9 of 9]

As reported by the Time Magazine, James Lewis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that “the Twitter campaign reflects the fact that the Chinese government has studied the role of social media in mass movements and fears the Hong Kong protests could spark wider unrest”.

“This is standard Chinese practice domestically, and we know that after 2016 they studied what the Russians did in the U.S. carefully. So it sounds like this is the first time they’re deploying their new toy,” he said.

According to Time, the state-backed media organizations are still allowed to use Twitter, but only that they are no longer allowed to pay for ads, which “show up regardless of whether you have elected to follow the group’s tweet”. At the moment, Twitter did not provide a list of what it considers state-backed media organizations.

On that account, it shall be noted that Xi—during his visits to three top state-run media People’s Daily, Xinhua news agency and China Central Television (CCTV) in 2016—had told these state media workers:

“All the work by the party’s media must reflect the party’s will, safeguard the party’s authority, and safeguard the party’s unity. They must love the party, protect the party, and closely align themselves with the party leadership in thought, politics and action.”


Source:
https://time.com/5656149/twitter-chinese-accounts-hong-kong-protests/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/xi-jinping-tours-chinas-top-state-media-outlets-to-boost-loyalty

#chinapropaganda #stateideology #n9

During the police press conference, this woman was seen taking close-up pictures of journalists and sending them out via WeChat, a commonly-used social media app in China. She did not provide a journalist ID when asked by the officers at the conference, and only offered a business card showing her name as Ms. Chen from a mainland TV station. However, no employee that matches her details could be found at the station.

Journalists expressed concerns about her action, stating that many similar impersonators were found at recent press conferences, and asked the Police Public Relations Branch to verify Ms Chen was indeed a journalist. The PPRB representative indicated that they would follow-up with her organization, and escorted her out of the room after she made some phone calls.

Source: 612 reminder, live video of press conference

0831 Citizens gather to take part in non-cooperative movement at Kowloon Tong MTR station, transportation not affected as participants kept clear of train doors.
Citizens gather this morning to participate in a non-cooperative movement at the MTR station. At 8am, citizens gather at the Kowloon Tong MTR station, holding banners and chanting slogans to call for others not to forget about the attack at Yuen Long on July 21st, and also to join the general strike on Sept 2nd. Extra MTR staff are ordered out for crowd control and to call others not to block traffic.
Source: RTHK

Tonight at 8pm HK time (GMT+8), support Hong Kong through social media! Post a selfie on social media with your right eye covered. You can wear a mask, symbolizing HKers’ fear for doxing and prosecution. Tag at least 4 friends, and use the following:
#eye4HK
#NoPoliceBrutality
#FreeFromFear
#StandwithHK

Context: A young first-aider has been blinded in her right eye by a police rubber bullet at the HK 811 protest. Police brutality has become a routine and HKGov refuses to set up an independent commission of inquiry for the saga.

Universal values: freedom, justice and rule of law are now at stake. “The [extradition] bill is dead”, said Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and the city is dying too.

Australia, Sydney

Pro-China death threat poster directed at Hong Kong protesters guarded by Australian university security

A poster with a death threat on it directed at pro-Hong Kong protesters was protected by security guards for several days after being posted in the main foyer of a Sydney university.

A pair of cartoons written in Chinese were found on a "Lennon Wall" near the University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) main entrance and were removed only after the ABC brought them to the attention of campus security.

One cartoon on the UTS wall showed a man holding another man over a cliff with the caption: "Take back your Hong Kong independence speech if you don't want to die".

Another shows a figure getting slapped and read "this slap is for the CPC Committee".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-20/chinese-death-threats-at-hong-kong-uts-students-lennon-wall/11430440

August 20th
Police claim to have arrested a 50-year-old man at Lo Wu responsible for last night's attack in TKO, who will be charged for assault. All victims are stable now and one have been discharged from the hospital.
Source: Anti-ELAB FC Channel

Update on story:
The Police claim to have received complaints regarding officers' abuse of the old man in late June, but had not been able to reach the victims and therefore unable to follow up. Thanks to legislator Lam Cheuk-ting for disclosing a video of the incident, the Police have arrested the 2 officers involved and passed the case to DCS.
Source: Apple Daily

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong warned USA: “Halt actions and halt words” on Hong Kong affairs

Vice President of USA Mike Pence iterated America’s stance, stating that solving Hong Kong’s issues in a peaceful way will be a condition for reaching the US-China Trade Agreement. US also urges Beijing Government to keep their promises of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and respect Hong Kong law.

Source: RTHK

On August 20th at around 7pm, a woman called the police regarding a teenager who was wandering around the common area at Long Ping Estate with two kitchen knives in his hands. When police arrived, they stopped a 16-year-old teenager, Tang, and found two kitchen knives and an expandable baton. He was then arrested for carrying offensive weapons.
Source: on.cc
http://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/news/20190821/bkn-20190821005344685-0821_00822_001.html