J. Michael Cole
J. Michael Cole is a senior non-resident fellow with the University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute and an associate researcher with the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC).
What you need to know
Shared by the Supreme People’s Court and the Communist Youth League, a video accuses pro-democracy activists of being in the pay of foreign agents and trying to spark a 'color revolution' in China.
The Chinese Supreme People’s Court yesterday released a video on its official weibo micro blogging site calling for a nationwide alert against a foreign-backed “color revolution” that seeks to undermine state stability in China.
Using a collage of images of devastation, dead bodies and refugees in Iraq and Syria, the video, which was also circulated by the ultranationalist Chinese Communist Youth League, argues that the former U.S.S.R., Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Syria and Libya all serve as “painful lessons” to the Chinese.
“Do you want a stable China to turn into this?” it asks.
Implicit in this montage is the idea that "pro-independence" forces in Taiwan and Hong Kong would leave Beijing, and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), no choice but to use force to stabilize the situation and maintain the integrity of the People's Republic of China.
“We must be very confident,” the video says. “China will not be the next U.S.S.R.”
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the CCP sponsored a number of studies to learn from Moscow's "mistakes" and avoid a similar fate in China. It has long justified crackdowns on civil liberties and freedom of expression, which have reached unprecedented heights in recent months, as necessary reactions to efforts by "foreign elements" to undermine China.
Photo: Weibo
Produced by Beijing Du Jia film company, the video claims that the U.S. has been using the promotion of freedom and democracy to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — the self-appointed upholder of state stability — and destroy China. Using various images of Beiijng critics in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, the clip alleges that activists like Hong Kong’s Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), human rights lawyers in China and Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement have all received money from the U.S. and been used as “foreign agents” to spark “color revolutions.”
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have long sought to defame Wong, who spearheaded protests in the city in 2014 and has since founded the Demosistō political party.
Demosistō responsed on its Twitter account, writing, "Chinese court defames Joshua Wong for receiving foreign money for HK independence. We condemn such false statements."
Contacted for comment, Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), one of the leaders of the Sunflower Movement, which occupied Taiwan's legislature in March and April 2014 over a controversial services trade agreement with China, had this to say:
"The supreme people's procuratorate made a huge mistake [because] Taiwan is not part of China. If we were doing a revolution, that is not China's business," he told The News Lens International.
Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), another Sunflower leader, denied any links to the U.S.
"All contributions were from the public and are open to inspection," he told TNLI. "If there had been U.S. support, how come there's only NT$1,200 [US$40] in my bank account?"
"The CCP should face its contradictions," Chen continued. "The real problem has nothing to do with outside forces. The biggest terrorist is the Chinese Communist regime itself."
First Editor: Olivia Yang
Second Editor: Edward White
