Tens of thousands of citizens take to the street to demand democracy and protest against authoritarian rule. You would think that left-leaning organizations would feel some solidarity with the citizens of Hong Kong. In the case of the German left, you would be wrong. Once again, the prevailing view is that a protest movement of this size must be orchestrated by the United States
Zwischen [HongKong Aktivisten} und westlichen »Thinktanks« und NGOs bestehen enge Bande: Das US-finanzierte »Hong Kong America Center«, dem der hochrangige frühere US-Diplomat Morton Holbrook vorsteht, nimmt beispielsweise Einfluß auf die Lehrpläne an Schulen und Universitäten. Die chinesische Zeitung Wen Wei Po berichtete unlängst über Verbindungen von Joshua Wong, einem der Sprecher der Studentenproteste, zu US-Stellen: Wong, häufig auf Kosten seiner amerikanischen Freunde in Luxushotels in Macao zu Gast, soll gezielt zum »politischen Superstar« aufgebaut werden, so das Blatt. Auch dem Medienmogul Jimmy Lai, der einige regierungskritische Zeitungen herausgibt, werden Kontakte zur CIA nachgesagt.
(There are close ties between the activists and western Think Tanks and NGOs: the "Hong Kong America Center", financed by the US and led by the high-level US diplomat Morton Holbrook, has a strong influence on the lesson plans of schools and universities. The Chinese dally Wen Wei recently reported on the connections of Joshua Wong – a spokesperson for the student protests – to US groups: Wong, who can often be found staying at luxury hotels in Macao at the sot of his American friends, has been groomed to be a "political superstar." Furthermore, the media mogul Jimmy Lai, who publishes several newspapers that are critical of the government, is said to have contacts with the CIA.)
Another left-wing newspapter – Die Linke Zeitung – is more explicit in accusing the US of orchestrating the mass demonstration:
Für eine Protestbewegung, die behauptet für “Demokratie” zu stehen, die impliziert für den Willen der Menschen zu stehen, hat diese Bewegung ein unpopulärer Programm, das von der großen Mehrheit der Hong Konger Bevölkerung klar abgelehnt wird – und bringt jetzt wichtige Teile der Insel zum Erliegen, hält die Bevölkerung und Stabilität der Gesellschaft als Geisel, um die eigene Agenda vorwärts zu bringen. All dies wird orchestriert und unterstützt von den Vereinigten Staaten, dem Außenministerium und seinem Netzwerk des globalen Aufruhrs, das unter dem NED und ihrer Tochtergesellschaft NDI operiert.
(For a protest movement that claims to stand for "Democracy", which supposedly reflects the will of the people, this movement has an unpopular program that is rejected by the majority of people in Hong Kong – and now has paralyzed critical sections of the island, holds hostage the population and social stability, just to advance their own agenda. All this is orchestrated by the United States, its State Department and its networks of global agitation which operates under the NED (Naitonal Endowment for Democracy) and its subsidiary NDI (Non-Violent Initiative for Democracy).)
Why this hostility on the German left for these protestors? It is all tied back to the Ukraine crisis and the German left's adulation of Vladimir Putin. It is an article of faith on the left that the Maidan demonstrations in Kiew had nothing to do with a genuine yearning by the Ukrainians for liberal western values and self-determination. Rather, the hundreds of thousands of protestors were "fascists", manipulated by the CIA, who, furthermore shot down the Malaysian airliner as part of a "false flag" operation to undermine Russia.
What does the Occupy Central in Hong Kong have to do with the Ukraine or Russia? Anne Applebaum explains in the Washington Post:
Curiously (or perhaps not), Russian state television, long accustomed to ascribing Russian and Ukrainian protests to American plots (even to Hillary Clinton personally) — has now settled on the same narrative. There is an additional, self-regarding twist: Russian commentators say Hong Kong protests are American revenge for China’s strong support for Russia in its struggle against Ukraine.
The German left, long aligned with Moscow, can always be counted on to uncritically parrot whatever Putin's propaganda machine disseminates.
