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36 / Our Community

information they gather outside the firewall. “But
they have to bear a risk for having their accounts
deleted,” she adds.

These Mainlanders think

they have the responsibility
to spread verified information

[about what is happening in
Hong Kong],

Mainland students who are studying abroad
are also aware of different news narratives on dif-
ferent news platforms they browse. David is now
studying in Canada, and he thinks it is important
to acquire information from different sources. He
cites a video about a man who was proved to be a
reporter of the Chinese state media Global Times
being beaten by protesters at the Hong Kong Inter-
national Airport as one example.
“The same image or the same video may be in-
terpreted differently by different media outlets in
different countries,” says David. “The video went
viral among Mainlanders and they think the pro-
testers are pro-independence rioters and the move-
ment has disrupted people’s daily life. That made
the viewers think it was unreasonable for Hong
Kong people to ask for their ‘Five Demands’.”
The “Five Demands”, Hong Kong people have
asked for, include an independent commission
of inquiry, full withdrawal of the extradition bill,
retraction of the characterisation of protesters as Local and foreign news media outlets are blocked inside China’s firewall. Weibo and WeChat are widely used as news sources by Mainlanders.
“rioters”, amnesty for arrested protesters and dual
universal suffrage, meaning for both the Legisla-
tive Council and the Chief Executive. news media outlets. “I believe in them more, because I think they
can report news from a more objective angle,” he says.
Narratives manipulated by politics He also reads news reports by Hong Kong media outlet, such as
David started to have a negative attitude to- Apple Daily as well as those articles posted on Weibo and WeChat
wards the Hong Kong movement after the protest- official accounts. “But I tend to avoid reading news produced by
ers occupied the Hong Kong International Airport Chinese media outlets. Since the media in China is controlled by
on August 12, as he thinks the movement has af- the party, you cannot learn about the movement in Hong Kong
fected other people and caused inconvenience and with an objective perspective [by reading their stories],” he says.
chaos. But he admits that it is hard to be objective Another mainlander Jacque shares David’s view on the Chinese
in judging the movement. news media. Having lived in Hong Kong for four years, he thinks
David follows official accounts of interna- Chinese official media outlets tend to be biased in their reporting.
tional media outlets such as the New York Times, “From their posts on Weibo or WeChat, I can sense that they
the Columbia Broadcasting System, and the Brit- tend to stir up readers’ emotions,” he says. But he still thinks news
ish Broadcasting Corporation on Instagram. He reports by these Chinese official media outlets are worth reading.
prefers reading news stories produced by foreign “You can understand the party’s attitude towards certain inci-