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Hong Kong and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it has created much debate within the population of Hong Kong. There were many associations between the war and the 2019 Hong Kong protests three years before, mainly from the pro-democracy camp.[1] On the other hand, many from the pro-Beijing camp downplayed the relevance of the war.

Comparisons of Ukraine with Hong Kong[edit]

On February 26, 2022, the US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel compared Russia's actions towards Ukraine to China's actions towards Hong Kong. He described how both nations openly disregard agreements so that democratic voices may be silenced, mentioning the Sino-British Joint Declaration for Hong Kong and the Minsk agreements for Ukraine.[2][3]

Pro-Beijing commentator Lau Siu-kai rejected this comparison, claiming that it is an inappropriate comparison to draw.[4]

Reaction of netizens[edit]

The discussion over the Russo-Ukrainian War is very heated among Hong Kong netizens, where many posted images of the war-torn nation, including of Ukrainian refugees.

Pro-Ukrainian voices[edit]

Many of the netizens in the city voiced support for the people of Ukraine, with some even advocating for joining the Ukrainian International Legion in their fight against Russia.[4] As part of this discussion, a local influencer reposted a video of a Ukrainian father saying farewell to his daughter as he stays in Ukraine to fight on the frontlines; this video soon went viral among local netizens.

In addition, Simon Shen, a Hong Kong political scientist, also encouraged Hong Kongers to be more attentive to the news about the war in Ukraine. He also made comparisons between the destruction of territorial integrity in Ukraine to the tearing apart of the agreements in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.[1] Many netizens also encouraged their followers to closely watch events regarding Ukraine, and also to donate when possible to help the Ukrainian people defend against Russian aggression.[5][6]

Pro-Russian views of Chinese netizens[edit]

Former CPPCC member Lew Mon-hung posted on Facebook criticizing Chinese netizens for cheering on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, claiming they were like supporting the thievish actions of a tiger.[7]

There were posts from Chiense netizens praising Russians as "brothers" of China, and a columnist reprimanded them by brining up Russia's role in the Eight-Nation Alliance in suppressing the power of Qing China.[7] Chinese netizens also posted support for Putin, seeing any anti-Western sentiment as "patriotic", which Political scientist Simon Shen accused of being a false dilemma.[8]

Reaction of Politicians[edit]

Pro-democracy camp[edit]

In 2020, many local politicians in the pro-democracy camp were forced to flee into exile, among which are Ted Hui, Baggio Leung, and Nathan Law. With the outbreak of the Russian invasion in February 2022, both Hui and Leung posted on Facebook voicing support for Ukraine. Leung wished peace and victory for the Ukrainian fighters,[9] while Hui posted images of himself attending a pro-Ukrainian rally in Adelaide.[10] Law made a post satirizing China's role in the war, claiming that the country aims to "enemize the international community" and be "cut off from the world economy", and are trying to get rid of the rapidly devaluing Russian ruble from their currency reserves.[11]

On March 6, 2022, two representatives from the League of Social Democrats organized a protest outside the Russian consulate in the city, demanding a withdrawal of troops from Ukrainian territory. They also demanded the Chinese government pressurize Russia and end the war. This protest was surveilled by a dozen police officers, leading to questions about the need for such law enforcement measures.[12]

Pro-Beijing camp[edit]

In early February 2022, before the Russian invasion, a lawmaker from the pro-Beijing New People's Party posted an edited image of Mr. Bean on social media. He claimed that anyone who believed in Western propaganda and were awaiting the Russian invasion could only wait idly, implying talks about a Russian invasion were nothing but Western propaganda. Once the Russian invasion actually happened, he then deleted his post, but did not give an explanation or an apology. City newspaper Ming Pao also tried to contact him, but did not get a response.[13][7]

Because many banks in Russia were sanctioned by the West, pro-Beijing legislator Ronny Tong criticized this as a "Western imperialist" move to coerce Russia into submission. He also suggested that Western countries may do the same to China and Hong Kong in the future.

Positions of mass media[edit]

Ever since crackdown on press freedom worsened after the passage of the 2020 national security law, most mass media in the city now have a tendency to maintain pro-Beijing stances.

In a report in early March 2022, TVB News claimed that "there were commentaries" that the war in Ukraine began due to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy advocating for NATO membership, which provoked Russia into invading. However, the media site failed to mention which commentary it was referring to, instead focused on criticizing Zelenskyy's governance.[14]

In an article from Wen Wei Po, the newspaper repeated Russian propaganda by claiming the goals of the war to be the "demilitarization and denazification" of Ukraine. They also claimed that the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi group Azov Brigade were part of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, but did not provide evidence for this claim.[15][16]

On May 27, 2022, Oriental Daily News published false news, claiming that Poland wanted to use the Russian invasion to "annex Ukrainian territory". This was met with fierce criticism form Polish authorities in the city, with the Polish consulate in Hong Kong calling on the city's residents to not fall into Russia's disinformation. The consulate also mentioned Poland's own history of being annexed, referring to the Partition of Poland, and will therefore never recognize territorial changes based on invasion and other illegal means.[17]

Other reactions[edit]

Sports commentator Vincent Ng [zh] posted on social media, claiming that upon hearing about a friend from Ukraine needing to leave to protect his homeland, he became filled with tears, and wished his friend peace and blessings.[13]

Raymond Yeung, the founder of bookstore Hillway Culture, began selling photograph books of Ukraine after the invasion began. He also promised that all profits would be donated to humanitarian organizations to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.[18]

Posts about Russo-Ukrainian divorced couple[edit]

Following the Russian invasion in February 2022, local radio personality Candy Chea [zh] and blogger Bonnie Chu [zh] both forwarded a post that analogized the Russo-Ukrainian relationship to a divorced couple. In it, the post claimed that the invasion was like "protecting the couple's two children" (referring to Donbas and Crimea. Due to the post's pro-Russian viewpoint, the two influencers received much criticism online.

Chea later on deleted and apologized for her post, and wished for world peace. However, her original post continued to circulate online, and some criticized that Chea deleted some comments to the original post that were critical of herself.[19] Chu on the other hand refused to delete or apologize, claiming the post was of a "satirical nature" for explanation purposes only. She also criticized some netizens who assumed a pro-Russian stance onto her because of the post.[19]

On April 8, 2022, Taipei legislator Liang Wenjie [zh] reposted an image post from the "Free Hong Kong Centre", where a Ukrainian soldier thanked the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan for their support. However, Liang then questioned the reason for thanking the Hong Kong people in the repost, claiming that "thanking Hong Kong is very weird". This repost received criticism from Hong Kong netizens, with many reiterating that Hong Kong people are subject to speech censorship, and that many continued to donate to Ukraine despite this limitation. Liang then updated his post, acknowledging the difference in position between the government and the people of Hong Kong, and apologized to "pro-democracy friends in Hong Kong" for his earlier comments.[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "從歷史到現實 中港台三地民眾如何觀察俄烏之戰". BBC News Chinese (in Traditional Chinese). February 25, 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  2. ^ "U.S. envoy to Japan warns of global contagion from Ukraine war". Nikkei Asia. February 26, 2022.
  3. ^ 民間全民電視公司 (2022-02-26). "俄羅斯毀約打烏克蘭 美駐日大使：如同中國對待香港". 民視新聞網 (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  4. ^ a b 文維廣 (2022-03-01). "烏克蘭局勢︱港人關注事態發展 劉兆佳：香港與烏克蘭欠可比性". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  5. ^ "東歐餐廳 Ivan The Kozak︱💙💛多謝大家呢幾日對烏克蘭嘅關注💙💛". Facebook (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  6. ^ "Gunslinger 不曾遠去的硝煙 不再猶豫 不再觀望 立刻為烏克蘭捐款". Facebook (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  7. ^ a b c "中港大不同：中國人搶購俄羅斯食品以示支持 港人捐款聲援烏克蘭". RFI - 法國國際廣播電台 (in Traditional Chinese). 2022-03-04. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  8. ^ 沈旭暉. "香港藍絲『焗撐』普京屠殺烏克蘭人民：為何墮落至此？".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Parasiuk Volodymyr 就係記錄片Winter on Fire 入面講「如果我哋接受咗政府既條件，我哋死去既隊友唔會放過我哋」呢句經典既人。願他和其他烏克蘭戰士都平安，武運昌隆。". Facebook. Retrieved 2022-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "身體力行，在我身處的城市，出席集會撐烏克蘭，以我們的自由，捍衛他們的自由。希望世界上的香港人，一起為烏克蘭集氣。我依然相信，我們每人一小步的努力，是可以慢慢令世界改變的。".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ "同意中國一定要反制國際社會，最好加速同世界主要經濟體脫鈎，自主研發所有尖端科技，大量消化急速貶值嘅俄羅斯盧布， 禁止所有高官富豪子女投奔歐美敵對勢力，完成鎖國內循環大業🙌".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "社民連到俄羅斯駐港領事館抗議 促俄軍滾出烏克蘭". 獨立媒體. 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  13. ^ a b "【Emily】俄羅斯侵烏 李梓敬潛水 烏克蘭朋友保家園暫別 伍家謙淚湧 - 20220226 - 港聞". 明報新聞網 - 每日明報 daily news (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  14. ^ 無綫新聞. "專題節目 - 無綫新聞 - 澤連斯基由喜劇演員到總統". news.tvb.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  15. ^ "烏新納粹成俄打擊對象 曾受中情局訓練參與港黑暴". 香港文匯網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  16. ^ "文匯報忘了跟黨走？ 仍美化俄羅斯入侵行動、批評烏克蘭有人參與香港「黑暴」". winandmac.com 視麥媒體. 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  17. ^ Storm.mg (2022-05-31). "波蘭企圖併吞烏克蘭領土？港媒散布俄羅斯假新聞 波蘭總領事館：不要被蒙騙-風傳媒". www.storm.mg (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  18. ^ "【Emily】「山道」出版烏克蘭相集 收益捐當地". Ming Pao. 2022-03-01. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  19. ^ a b "用離婚夫婦比喻俄烏局勢惹批評 車淑梅刪文致歉 - 20220227 - 娛樂". 明報新聞網 - 每日明報 daily news (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  20. ^ "這位烏克蘭軍人謝謝台灣是對的，謝謝香港很奇怪。在香港，上街抗議俄國侵略烏克蘭可是會被抓走的。". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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