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Donald Trump’s refusal to grant the US presidential election has garnered distant support in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where a small but noisy number of people hold hope for his eventual victory.
The US president’s attempt to cling to power sharpened internal divisions in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement over its ties to the Republican Party of the United States and sparked a wave of vitriol against journalists reporting or commenting on United States vote.
The Hong Kong Free Press, a local English-language headline, has suffered a huge backlash on its election coverage. An editorial this week titled “President Biden will stand with Hong Kong – more effectively than Trump ever did,” was received hundreds of negative comments – including baseless allegations that Joe Biden was “in the pockets of the CCP” and claims that the election result had yet to be decided.
“Some of the comments are quite innocent (meaning the election isn’t over – which is technically true even if misleading),” Sasha Ramani, one of the editorial’s co-authors, told the Guardian.
“But I am genuinely surprised at the level of right-wing disinformation that has affected Hong Kong circles. The number of friends who have linked me to Breitbart articles or other misinformation that is easily exposed is depressing. “
A YouGov poll of Asian countries last month found Trump to be the most popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where Chinese authorities have respectively launched a crackdown on dissent and increased military threats to invade.
Trump and his administration responded with a term of anti-China rhetoric and action, imposing sanctions on the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong and selling billions of dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan.
While Biden has pledged to take a tougher line towards China, some pro-democracy activists fear it will return the United States to an era of engagement with Beijing.
Journalist Johan Nylander has lived in Hong Kong for a decade and said he saw a lot of anger and aggression from the US elections, including claims that Biden stole the election.
“I talked to a woman at a pro-democracy [shop], he’s strongly pro-democracy and anti-Beijing – and he’s the ardent Donald Trump. And it says Fox News is the only reliable media in the US, “he said.
A local reporter who did not want to be identified due to concerns about online abuse said colleagues and outlets had been accused of “being pro-Biden, or favoring Biden in their coverage.”
“One example is Apple Daily: its owner Jimmy Lai was very clear in supporting Trump, predicting Trump would win … and their coverage was generally pro-Trump. But the [Apple Daily] the reporters did what every reporter does and checked the stories. And they were accused of “showing their true colors” by siding with Biden. There’s this kind of conspiracy going on. “
Observers, including Ramani, said that people in Hong Kong and Taiwan have become “collateral damage” of disinformation campaigns targeting US voters but have spread internationally through traditional media, far-right and social media. .
Lack of understanding of the US electoral system has also helped drive allegations of voter fraud. The Hong Kong reporter said US state changes in the count of votes sent have been confusing and some people have established links between the complicated US voting system and the undemocratic tactics seen in some Asian elections.
“In a way, they connect the two and use the same standards to judge the United States. They don’t trust their system and there is a lack of understanding of the US system. “
Ramani said many people “have seen elections as existentially important to their survival, so they have a greater emotional attachment to it,” he said.
In October Biden promised that the United States would join with Pacific allies to “promote our prosperity, security and shared values in the Asia-Pacific region” and to strengthen ties with Taiwan.
He called Chinese President Xi Jinping a thug and condemned China’s actions in Xinjiang. Analysts have repeatedly argued that China is a defining global challenge now, and Washington’s approach, supported by a global network of allies, is unlikely to change.
In his editorial, Ramani said the Trump administration should be given credit for raising issues in China, but Hong Kong and Taiwan will benefit from a predictable but still tough US administration. “Support for our friends in Asia is not coming to an end.”
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