Cadet Killian Buckley's Blog

Picture Above:  Hong Kong protester dressed in British military fatigues (click for source)

There have been several accounts of Chinese newspapers claiming that there are strong Western ties and influences in the Hong Kong protests.  There have been officials in Beijing that have claimed the same.  They claim that Western influences are providing funding and influence to these student protesters. However, in reality, the United States has released official statements which support the right for the students to protest but still recognize the fact that Hong Kong remains a territory of the People’s Republic of China. There seems to be a fear within the Beijing source of power over the protests and the potential extent of them.  According to Alex Chow, the “secretary general” of the student protests, ” It has always been Beijing’s inner demon easily falling into its own fears.”   His statement was in regards to the ethos from the Beijing government regarding the protests.  There seems to also be a greater fear within China over the spread of these protests and the ideals of the protests as well.  For example, the Chinese government decided to block the BBC website for fear of outside or Hong Kong sympathizer media influence within mainland China.   This fear may show a weakness within the Chinese government; a fear of Western influence in the guise of Chinese citizen protesters.  This fear may alert Chinese officials and lead to a stronger use of force or crackdown against the student protesters than what might occur without the existence of this fear.  As the protests continue, we will see if the Chinese officials in Beijing make decisions to do as such.