Beijing is ramping up its propaganda efforts against Hong Kong protesters

Protester at Hong Kong International Airport.
(Image credit: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Chinese officials and state media have begun to tighten their grip on the narrative surrounding Hong Kong's anti-government, pro-democracy protests.

Beijing has claimed protesters have committed "deranged acts," including throwing gasoline bombs. "Radical Hong Kong protesters have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers," Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said in a news briefing on Monday, per Chinese state media. "The first signs of terrorism are starting to appear." He added that such purported violence must be punished "without lenience, without mercy." The Daily Beast, however, reports that Beijing's depiction of the events is a "disinformation campaign" which could be a sign that China is "preparing for harsher crackdowns."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.