Opinion | Western media reports on the Hong Kong protests tell just one of many stories

The six months of protests and unrest in Hong Kong have attracted extensive media attention around the world. Most major Western press and TV news outlets have reporters here covering the story. Time magazine even shortlisted the city’s protesters for its “Person of the Year” award.

Yet, at the same time, far worse unrest has been taking place in other countries. In Chile – considered South America’s most developed economy – major protests broke out in October following a rise in public transport fares. At least 26 people have been killed, several thousand injured and over 25,000 arrested.

In nearby Ecuador, protests against government austerity measures broke out in October. Much of the country was paralysed for a while and eight deaths were recorded.

Haiti, in the Caribbean, has suffered widespread unrest on and off for over a year following rises in fuel taxes. Thousands of schools, offices and government departments have been closed for much of the time. At least 42 people have died in the latest round of protests since September 15. Things were especially bad a couple of months ago when even police began demonstrating against low pay.

It is probably understandable that this violence and chaos overseas was not reported much here in Hong Kong. We had major demonstrations during that time – notably on National Day, then following the ban on face masks at gatherings, and in several districts around the city. What is more puzzling is that the rest of the world was also focusing mainly on Hong Kong’s protests.