China urges foreign media to ‘help right public opinion wrongs’ on Hong Kong protests
- Foreign ministry’s information department sends letter and ‘evidence of overseas interference’ to dozens of overseas news outlets
- Letter says foreign media have an important role to play in guiding ‘misled’ public opinion on the city
Beijing has called on foreign media in China for “impartial” and “objective” reporting on the Hong Kong protests, sending letters to dozens of overseas news outlets in its latest effort to sway international opinion.
As Hong Kong enters a third month of unprecedented political and social unrest, Beijing declared that its “most pressing task” is to “end the chaos and violence and to restore order”.
To do that, it has ramped up rhetoric against protesters through state and social media.
While China has effective control over domestic sentiment, it has struggled to sway global opinion, which has been overwhelmingly sympathetic towards the demonstrators in Hong Kong.
Frustrated with what Beijing sees as biased reporting, the foreign ministry sent a letter on Tuesday to more than 30 overseas media outlets in Beijing, calling on them to take their “due social responsibility” to help “protesters ignorant of the truth to get back to the right path”.
The letter, signed by Hua Chunying, the newly promoted head of the foreign ministry’s information department, was accompanied by a 41-page dossier of news clippings to support the central government’s position on Hong Kong affairs, including what Beijing said was evidence of “foreign interference” in the situation.