PRC Media Narratives: Hong Kong and Xinjiang

Key Findings:

• To legitimize the Hong Kong national security law, the PRC media emphasized the support the measures received from the Hong Kong government, from Hong Kong universities, from foreign leaders, and from foreigners residing in Hong Kong.
• Regarding the elimination of the preferential trade and travel relationship with Hong Kong by the US, the PRC media narrative stressed that Hong Kong would not be affected economically by new US sanctions and instead, it would be the US that would actually be harmed.
• External media regarded the George Floyd protests in the US as beneficial to the PRC’s propaganda machine, as they allow it to both emphasize the social and economic frictions existing in the US and accuse the US government of hypocrisy for allegedly engaging with the Hong Kong protest movement.

Key Events:

• On May 27th, the United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced that Hong Kong no longer has significant autonomy from the PRC and will therefore end its preferential trade relationship with the Special Administrative Region.
• On May 27th, the US House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act to punish the PRC for its internment of the minority Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang.
• On May 28th, China’s National People’s Congress approved the national security bill to suppress

subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign interference.

• On May 29th, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to gradually eliminate the preferential trade and travel relationship with Hong Kong.
• On June 1st, the Hong Kong government announced the prohibition of the June 4 Tiananmen Square protest and vigil, citing COVID-19 concerns.

Topic Analysis:

PRC National Security Law: While PRC media asserts that the national security law is legal and necessary, external media generally portrays it as a violation of the “one country, two systems” principle and as curtailing Hong Kong’s freedoms.

• PRC Narrative: The PRC media narrative aims to reassure its readership by maintaining that the national security law is legal, necessary, and will not infringe on the rights of law-abiding Hong Kong residents (China Daily, China Daily).
  • Support for the bill by the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government has been emphasized by PRC media, while pro-democracy lawmakers are seldom referenced. Rather, when mentioning opposition to the bill, PRC media generally emphasizes the “rioters” as harming people and disrupting life in Hong Kong (Xinhua, Xinhua).
  • To legitimize the bill, PRC media highlights support from entities outside of the PRC government, particularly among Hong Kong government officials, Hong Kong universities,
    

and foreign leaders, from countries such as Serbia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) (Xinhua, China Daily).

• A Xinhua article cites various foreign individuals who reside in Hong Kong and their support of the bill. For example, the article references an American freelance journalist who was allegedly “shocked by violent protests and destructive activities erupting” in Hong Kong.
• External Narrative: The external narrative generally depicts the national security law through an anti-PRC lens and, in some cases, also acknowledges the pro-PRC line (South China Morning Post (SCMP), Reuters, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)).
  • The narrative most frequently used in external media matches the narrative used by many Western leaders: the national security bill violates the “one country, two systems” principle established in 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to China (Jamestown Foundation).
  • The New York Times (NYT) reported that Hong Kong professionals have been harassed by employers into supporting pro-Beijing stances. This allegedly happened during the local elections in November 2020 in which, despite Beijing’s efforts, the pro-democracy party won decisively. Similarly, some articles suggest that it also happened for a petition in favor of the law that nearly three million Hongkongers allegedly signed (SCMP, NYT).
  • External media also linked the national security law with the cancellation of the Tiananmen Square Vigil, a cornerstone of the Hong Kong protest movement, which was halted allegedly over COVID-19 concerns. Democracy advocates doubt public health considerations are behind the decision and see the cancellation as a sign of growing repression (NYT, Washington Post (WaPo)). As the Tiananmen Square Protest is a highly censored topic and commemoration of it is prohibited in mainland China, the vigil is not addressed in PRC media.
• Analysis: There are 6.3k self-identified pro-democracy supporters on Twitter with 47.9k mentions of China. These accounts mostly share external narratives, with stories about China trying to thwart the pro-democracy movement and amplify US legislators’ messaging regarding growing repression in HK.

Hong Kong Autonomy and US Ending Preferential Status: The US declaring the gradual end of Hong Kong’s preferential status resulted in PRC media downplaying the negative economic and political impact of the declaration. External media covers the uncertainty over the declaration’s economic impact and the mixed sentiment of pro-democracy advocates toward it.

• PRC Narrative: The overarching PRC narrative is that not only would Hong Kong not be affected by new US sanctions, but it would be the US that would actually be harmed. Furthermore, the PRC media claims that American economic threats will only further unite the Chinese people against the US (Xinhua).
  • China Daily reported that the Hong Kong government is “unconcerned” about US sanctions, stating that they would have a minimal impact on the economy. The Global Times claimed that efforts to punish Beijing will “cost the US too much with little benefit,
    

which would make it suffer significantly.” This is a consistent messaging line: damage to the US economy is highlighted while potential damage to Hong Kong’s economy is underplayed (Global Times).

• PRC media has refuted both Pompeo’s and Trump’s remarks regarding the autonomy of Hong Kong, saying that they “smear and demonize” the PRC’s relationship with Hong Kong (Xinhua). Notably, PRC officials have described the US’ decision as interference in China’s internal affairs (Xinhua).
• China Daily also stressed that the US has a trade surplus with Hong Kong of more than

$300 billion over the last decade, while Hong Kong’s exports to the US are less than 0.1%

of its export total. This data is in line with the US Census Bureau’s data.

• External Narrative: While the PRC narrative strongly defends the national security bill against the US declaration, the external narrative describes the economic and political uncertainty resulting from it and the mixed sentiment of pro-democracy advocates towards it (SMH).
  • External media approaches the issue more neutrally than PRC media, citing the opinions of PRC and Hong Kong officials in addition to those of critics and Western leaders. However, western media also emphasizes the support the US declaration received from world leaders and notable Hongkongers (Reuters, WaPo).
  • The Asahi Shimbun and the Washington Post acknowledge that the economic toll of the declaration is difficult to predict, as the US has not fully specified the details of its position towards Hong Kong. However, as the PRC media and the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government minimize the potential economic and political impact of the US decision, Western media, such as the New York Times, cite pro-Democracy advocates’ fears of the repercussions the severing of ties would have.
  • External and PRC media agree that the US declaration will increase tensions between the two states (SCMP).

George Floyd Protests: As protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody consumed the US, PRC media emphasized social and economic frictions in the US and accused the US government of hypocrisy for allegedly engaging with the Hong Kong protest movement. External media has extensively covered the PRC narrative on the topic, explaining that the US protests are a blessing for the PRC’s propaganda machine.

• PRC Narrative: PRC media has criticized the US for its actions and rhetoric regarding the Hong Kong protest movement and the national security bill by citing the ongoing George Floyd protests as well as President Trump’s handling of it.
  • The Global Times accused the US of a double standard for allegedly interfering with the Hong Kong protest movement while also supporting the violent suppression of American protests. The Global Times also praised Hong Kong police officers for their “restraint” while simultaneously criticizing American police officers. PRC media’s headlines particularly highlighted Trump’s “forceful response” to the protests in an effort to highlight his alleged contradictory support of Hong Kong protesters (China Daily, China Daily).
    
  • PRC media has emphasized the violence happening during the protests such as looting, police cars set on fire, and the deployment of the national guard (Xinhua, China Daily). However, PRC media has largely refrained from referring to the US protesters as “rioters” which is largely used in PRC media in relation to the Hong Kong protesters.
• External Narrative: While external media is generally critical of President Trump’s handling of the George Floyd protests, it also has largely acknowledged PRC media’s coverage of the events without fully dismissing its narrative.
  • The Washington Post reported that the protests were a “convenient counterpoint” for PRC propaganda regarding the Trump administration’s alleged support of the Hong Kong protests. In an article detailing the global reach of the George Floyd protests, the New York Times reported that PRC media covered the news “as another sign of America’s decline” and particularly attacked Trump for his handling of the unrest.
  • An SCMP editorial criticized the Trump administration’s alleged hypocrisy, suggesting that it is evidence that Hong Kong is just a “pawn” in the US-China power struggle. This is a common theme in external media as Hong Kong is perceived to be at the center of growing tensions between the two countries (Asahi, WaPo). This narrative was also used by PRC media, arguing that the US is provoking a new “cold war” with its actions regarding Hong Kong (China Daily).

Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act: Across both PRC and external media, the US House of Representatives passing the bill punishing China for its alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang was covered less extensively than Hong Kong-related developments.

• PRC Narrative: The PRC media narrative stems entirely from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijain’s rebuke of the bill which he describes as an interference in China’s internal affairs and that allegedly represents “double standards on counter-terrorism” on the part of the US (Xinhua).
  • Apart from the bill, PRC media continues to reinforce the narrative that there have been no human rights abuses in Xinjiang (Global Times).
• External Narrative: The external narrative stresses the bipartisan support of the bill in the US House of Representatives following its near unanimous passing while also stressing evidence of human rights abuses despite Beijing’s denial (NYT, WaPo, SCMP).