Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing politicians turn into ‘wolf warriors’ on Twitter, defending China against criticism

Tired of ‘one-sided conversation’ on social media, pro-Beijing camp takes to Twitter to strike back

Sharply worded tweets expand local politicians’ reach overseas, sometimes stirring controversy

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Hong Kong’s pro-establishment politicians have taken to Twitter to counter what they see as opposition voices’ dominance on the platform. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00pm, 6 Mar 2021Updated: 8:18am, 7 Mar 2021

Not long after pro-establishment lawmaker Holden Chow Ho-ding took to Twitter in January, he noticed foreign journalists picking up his comments to quote in their articles.

Keeping to the social media platform’s 280-character limit, he has fired off succinct tweets that sometimes hit hard against what he considers unwarranted attacks on Beijing.

“My supporters consider me a ‘wolf warrior’; I take it as a compliment,” said Chow, referring to a popular term taken from a movie title and used to describe a more aggressive style of diplomacy from Beijing.

“When others accuse China with a series of falsehoods, insult Chinese people and do it on purpose, we have no choice but to hit back.”

Chow, 41, is among a wave of pro-establishment politicians in Hong Kong who have recently taken to Twitter to share their views and counter what they consider “a one-sided conversation” dominated by the city’s liberal, opposition voices.

Twitter was used by journalists and a few demonstrators during the Occupy protests of 2014, which shut down parts of the city for 79 days. It became more popular among activists, protesters and pan-democrat lawmakers during the anti-government protests of 2019, with some tweeting actively to lobby foreign support.