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Why not call those on Wall Street 'freedom fighters'?

By Zhang Zhouxiang | China Daily | Updated: 2019-10-09 08:16

The Charging Bull statue, also known as the Wall St Bull, is seen in the financial district of New York City on Aug 18, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

A TOTAL OF 93 EXTINCTION REBELLION PROTESTERS WERE ARRESTED for pouring fake blood on Wall Street's famous "Charging Bull" statue. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

According to reports the protesters were not arrested until they blocked access for tourists.

Western media outlets covering the issue interviewed not only the protesters and tourists at the site, they also quoted the New York Police Department in order to provide balanced reports that had neutral headlines.

Such reporting was also seen during the Yellow Vests protest in France. Do a search on the internet and you find all kinds of media reports about the rioting that are balanced and objective.

Yet when it comes to violence in Hong Kong it is completely different. The keywords in the reports from the same media outlets are "police brutality" and "shocked by the police", with all the quotes coming from the demonstrators, some of which openly advocate separatism, which is illegal in China.

When a demonstration happens in the West that disturbs public order, the police are described as doing what their jobs require them to do. When a similar incident happens in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region it is transformed into "fight for freedom" and the police actions are "brutality".

Why not call the Yellow Vest protesters in France "freedom fighters"? Or the Extinction Rebellion protesters in New York?

The distorted reporting on the rioting in Hong Kong is symptomatic of much of the Western media's bias against China.

The Hong Kong police are as professional as their Western counterparts. The Western media should demonstrate the same professionalism when reporting on what is happening in Hong Kong and other issues relating to China.

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