Chinese rappers sample Trump to trash democracy, Hong Kong protests
"If you had asked me, say, five years ago, if there was a likelihood that Donald Trump, as U.S. president, would be quoted in an anti-democracy hip hop tune promoted by the People's Daily newspaper on social media," tweeted Bloomberg News Hong Kong correspondent Iain Marlow on Monday, "I probably would have said no and felt pretty confident." But, well, here were are.
The song juxtaposes video of President Trump saying Hong Kong is an internal Chinese matter with tweets from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supporting the rights of Hong Kong's citizens to their promised limited autonomy: "Mrs. Clinton, you know nothing about Chinese citizens. Now I've got some words from your president." Generally, the officially promoted song claims that Hong Kong's massive pro-democracy protests are a plot by "somebody" to "split Hong Kong from us" by starting "a riot," adding in Chinese that the Chinese "will always protect Hong Kong without any hesitation, airplanes, tanks, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army."
The rappers, Roy & Chuckie, should probably listen to some NWA.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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