• Tweeter

  • republish

Many Chinese people participated in counter-demonstrations against the Hong Kong demonstrations on August 17, 2019 in Canada and here in Vancouver. They are also many to take a selfie in front of the Chinese flag. AFP Photos / Don MacKinnon

In the face of the latest massive mobilization of Hong Kong opponents, the state media are calling on the " flag keepers ". China Central Television (CCTV) launched a selfie contest against a background of national colors.

Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, it's been weeks since the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing have their divisions in China. After long censoring information from Hong Kong, the media of the continent have multiplied reports retaining only clashes between protesters and police and denouncing a situation of " chaos " in the special administrative region.

But what about these aerial images of a pacifist crowd protesting against the Hong Kong executive and thus, indirectly, against the central government? As during major events last June, the human tide has simply disappeared from the mainland China screens on Monday.

Battle of numbers

Visibly embarrassed, the official press is engaged in a battle of numbers. On his account WeChat Monday, August 19, the People's Daily qualifies the figures of the organizers of Sunday's walk of " lie ". The official body is actually counting the Hong Kong police, according to which only 128,000 people would have participated in the giant demonstration on Sunday. The state media also prefers images of Saturday's pro-Beijing " anti-violence " rally that, according to the Global Times , would have gathered more than 470,000 participants in Tamar Park near parliament.

Aerial footage shows the scenes of anti-violence rally took place at Tamar Park in #HongKong on Saturday afternoon. Around 476,000 participants waved the national flag, repeated slogans and sing the national anthem together to call for the end of violence and support the police. pic.twitter.com/AvDm6qsWIm

Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 18, 2019

Selfie in front of the flag

The other figure drawn by Chinese propaganda is the " 1.4 billion guardians of the red flag five-star " as indicated by the title of the campaign launched Friday, August 16 by CCTV on the platform Sina Weibo . A click to say all his love for the homeland: those who post their photo in front of the national colors will have the chance to spend on TV, or will receive a red envelope containing 70 yuan (a little less than ten euros) , to remind the anniversary of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country on October 1st.

For the authors of the best photo, the reward can go up to 700 yuan (90 euros). Since Friday, the central television of China is crumbling under the selfies . This morning Monday, nearly 11 million flagkeepers were registered on CCTV's Sina Weibo account.

Rap against Hong Kong protesters

This call to defend the homeland and the Chinese Communist Party, concerns all sectors of society including artists. And to counter the creativity of young protesters in Hong Kong, the state media out the big artillery. This weekend, CCTV broadcast a video of the "Soldiers of the 7th company".

This mysterious group of patriotic rappers criticizes the violence of demonstrators " masked, armed with umbrellas and no future " against the backdrop of images of clashes between protesters and police. " Violence is not a good answer," says the clip, " your parents are worried and waiting for you at home. And for those who prefer the language of Shakespeare, another group whose origin we do not know either directly challenges " democracy " which would be " a luxury " and that some would have " found in Hong Kong ".

Hey #HongKong protesters! Chinese mainland rappers have something to say pic.twitter.com/6Pxp2JXcyN

CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) August 17, 2019

The English words denounce in passing the "lies" of protesters responding to the injunctions of their leader, US President Donald Trump. This denunciation of forces from abroad supposed to manipulate the demonstrators is associated with a call to take a stand for the country and the party. All actors in society are solicited: business owners , politicians, the world of fashion and artistic circles.

The martial arts king, the number one goalkeeper of the flag

Among the first to answer the call of the flag, Jackie Chan. " Hong Kong is my home country and China is my country, " said the emblematic figure of Hong Kong cinema in an interview with China's central television on August 4.

" I immediately wanted to take part in this campaign to defend the Chinese flag ," he said, who is also a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, who, like many in mainland China, said he was shocked by the gesture. a protester throwing the country's banner into Hong Kong Bay at the beginning of the month. Applauded on the continent, the video based on the actor Sina Weibo had recorded 5.83 billion views Monday, August 19.

It has however sparked the ire of social networks in Hong Kong reports the South China Morning Post . Same thing for the star of Disney's new version of Mulan. By supporting Hong Kong police with the 65 million subscribers to his Weibo account, Liu Yifei has called for a boycott against the film . Nationalism is a double-edged sword: very effective in mobilizing Chinese opinion on the continent, but negative on the outside.

The counter-demonstrations of the Chinese diaspora abroad Saturday triggered an avalanche of comments. The images of sometimes vindictive protesters or driving sports car wearing the national flag in Canada in particular does not necessarily in the direction of Chinese soft power.