Media representations of the Hong Kong police and their mainland counterpart
| Author | Wayne WL Chan,Holly H He |
| Published date | 01 June 2017 |
| Date | 01 June 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X16674369 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Media representations of
the Hong Kong police and
their mainland counterpart
Wayne WL Chan and Holly H He
The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Abstract
Media portrayal of the police constitutes an important aspect of policing in a modern
society. Thanks to freedom of the press, Hong Kong’s media can deliver a variety of
news reports on the performance of police. Under the principle of ‘one country, two
systems’, not only the Hong Kong police but also the police in mainland China are
constantly represented in Hong Kong’s news media. The present study attempts to
examine the media portrayal of the police by investigating how the Hong Kong police
are represented differently from their mainland counterpart during the particular
period of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central movement. A content analysis of three major
newspapers published in Hong Kong reveals that the media image of the Hong Kong
police is not substantially different from that of the mainland police. The findings suggest
that the police image tends to remain positive in terms of crime-fighting duties despite
the fact that they have been the subject of political controversy in carrying out order-
maintenance duties. This article concludes by discussing the theoretical implications for
the media portrayal of the police and proposing strategies for extending the study.
Keywords
Police roles, media representations, police image, Hong Kong, mainland China
Introduction
Hong Kong Police Force acquired a reputation as ‘Asia’s Finest’not long after the
transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. Nonetheless, the image of the Hong
Kong police has appeared to be affected by public order events in recent years. For
instance, the police force was accused of using aggressive and abusive tactics wi th
Corresponding author:
Wayne WL Chan, The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Email: wwlchan@ouhk.edu.hk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2017, Vol. 90(2) 173–188
ªThe Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X16674369
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protesters (SCMP, 2013a). The police were also criticised for putting social activists
under political arrest (SCMP, 2013b). The image of the Hong Kong police was further
challenged when they dealt with Hong Kong’s Occupy Central movement in 2014, also
widely known as ‘Occupy Central’. According to some news reports (Chen et al., 2014;
McKirdy, 2014), their actions against protesters have led to a breakdown of citizens’
trust in the previously respected police force. However, the Hong Kong police denied the
accusations that they used excessive force or failed to act in accordance with the law.
Debates around police activity during Hong Kong’s Occupy Central movement are
largely associated with the complexity of Hong Kong’s political circumstances. Hong
Kong was returned from Britain to the People’s Republic of China in 1997 under the
principle of ‘one country, two systems’. According to the stipulations of Hong Kong
Basic Law, a constitutional document based on the terms enshrined in the Sino-British
Joint Declaration, Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China but maintains its capitalist
system for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover, while mainland China practises a
socialist system. The Basic Law also stipulates the political structure of Hong Kong.
Article 45 of the Basic Law clearly states that: ‘the ultimate aim is the selection of the
Chief Executive by universal su ffrage upon nomination by a broadl y representative
nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures’. Accordingly, a
2007 decision by the Standing Committee of National People’s Congress proposed the
possibility of selecting Hong Kong’s Chief Executive via universal suffrage in 2017. The
details of the arrangement for the 2017 Chief Executive election were formulated in the
tenth session of the Standing Committee in the 12th National People’s Congress held in
August 2014.
Notably, the power of nominating candidates is given to a Nominating Committee,
similar to the current 1200-member Election Committee. Pro-democracy advocates con-
sidered this arrangement a betrayal of the principle of ‘one person, one vote’and
therefore proposed a civil nomination of candidates for the Chief Executive. With the
goal of striving for a civil nomination in the 2017 Chief Executive election, some
suffragist leaders further c alled for an Occupy movement n amed ‘Occupy Central’,
where the ‘Central’refers to the prime sites in the city centre, in an attempt to paralyse
the financial hub of Hong Kong. Occupy Central, also named the ‘Umbrella Revolution’
by some local and overseas media, commenced at the end of September 2014, when a
number of protest activities were undertaken in the heartlands and major business dis-
tricts of Hong Kong (such as Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok), and lasted for a
total of 79 days.
During the Occupy Central movement, there were many clashes and violent con-
frontations between police and demonstrators. The police used tear gas to disperse the
demonstrators who occupied the traffic arteries, and arrested some protesters who were
alleged to be attackers or for possession of offensive weapons. The Occupiers showed
their pursuit of democracy by wearing yellow ribbons, and accused the police of using
excessive force. The police spokesmen argued that the police officers exercised ‘max-
imum tolerance’in maintaining public order and performed their duties strictly accord-
ing to the professional guideline for use of force. In response to the accusations against
the police, members of anti-Occupy groups announced their support for the police by
174 The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 90(2)
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