Bloomberg reported Tuesday that Hong Kong is being stoked by "inundated rumors and fake news" after nearly six months of violent protests have caused more civilian injuries and pushed Hong Kong to the brink of a total breakdown.
It's the first time a Western media outlet which used to show sympathy and support to Hong Kong violent protesters made a huge shift of its rhetoric, though other Western mainstream media still turn a blind eye to the escalating rumors and atrocities.
Bloomberg reported that "rumors" began to spread soon after undergraduate Alex Chow Tsz-lok of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) fell off the edge of a parking garage in Hong Kong. Many posts circulating on social media claimed the 22-year-old student was chased – and maybe even pushed – by police who were clearing protesters with tear gas nearby. The rumors also claimed officers blocked an ambulance from reaching Chow, delaying aid that could have saved his life.
"Never mind that the claims were unsubstantiated, that police denied chasing Chow and that mainstream news outlets, including the South China Morning Post, described the circumstances of his fall as unclear," Bloomberg said.
It also reported that "protest supporters often demonize the police and the government," and few places are affected so severely by the spread of disinformation like Hong Kong.
"In the past 24 hours alone, local authorities have denied rumors that they ordered police to fire on protesters at will; planned to cap cash withdrawals from banks; and would use emergency powers to shut financial markets and schools," Bloomberg reported.
It's barely to hold stand that police have been committing excessive use of weapons, and the HKSAR government has been abusing its power when more and more facts indicated that masked protesters are the ones that not only destroy public facilities but also hurt innocent civilians and lawmakers and whoever disagrees with them.
A civilian was set on fire by rioters on Monday. The 57-year-old man was doused with a flammable liquid and set alight by a group of black-clad rioters on a footbridge in Ma On Shan. Videos appeared online, showing a man dressed in black pouring liquid over the man and setting him on fire following a heated argument. The man suffered 40 percent burns to his body and is still in critical condition.
Junius Ho, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), was stabbed in the chest last Wednesday while campaigning for re-election in the district council in Tuen Mun. Two of his colleagues also sustained injuries.
A 23-year-old mainland Ph.D. student surnamed Zheng was pursued and beaten by a group of masked radicals at the HKUST, during an open forum between students and university president Wei Shyy last Wednesday.
Following the attack, scores of students from the Chinese mainland have fled Hong Kong over fears they will be attacked in retribution for the death of Chow Tsz-lok especially when radical protesters had trashed the residence of Wei Shyy, a Starbucks, Maxim's canteen, and the campus branch of the Bank of China, forcing the university to issue an emergency broadcast just after lunch last Friday, warning students and faculty members that violence had erupted on campus.
Many believed the emergency warning was especially for students from China's mainland who cannot speak Cantonese and can be easily identified by radicals as their revenge targets.
Campuses have been morphed into a battlefield as escalating atrocities continued to take a violent turn for the worse on Tuesday. Radical protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs, launched arrows and even fired a signal flare at police officers during a standoff at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) near Tai Po, posing severe threats to police, innocent students and the faculty.
The New York Times pointed out Wednesday that the clashes after the nearly six-month-old protests have "turned particularly violent".
It's time for more Western mainstream media to acknowledge the fact that Hong Kong violence has reached a deadly level, which would never be allowed to happen no matter in which country or judicial system.
