一文看懂“美式双标”

美国记者RaniaKhalek于11月15日在Twitter平台上传一则视频，探讨了“谁”来定义抗议活动的“好”与“坏”？那些殴打不同意见、放火烧人的香港“暴徒”为何被外媒美化成“和平抗议者”呢？视频中一步步分析了西方媒体对待香港问题的双标立场。

American journalist Rania Khalek tweeted a vlog on November 15, 2019, and pointed out that the difference between a violent mob and a pro-democracy revolution in the eyes of foreign media is only related to the location of the incident. She expressed her opinion on how western mainstream media’s coverage of protests is based solely on whether the protesters agree with U.S. ideology. 

最近这些暴徒放火烧伤李伯伯，又杀害清洁工罗伯伯。然而，西方媒体如何描述这些行为？

“西方主流媒体把这些暴徒形容为“支持民主的”反政府活动人士。”

“和平的示威，这是一次和平的抗议。”

“支持民主的运动人士。”

民主、民主、民主，三句话不离民主。但是这些抗议者真的知道什么是“民主”吗？他们是在诉求和平，人民当家作主，还是在反对中国政府？西方媒体选择性地忽略报道这些抗议者在游行中的暴力行为，把这些抗议者美化成了支持民主的“革命斗士”。

为何在一国被定性为“暴徒”的抗议者，却在另一国被宣扬为支持民主革命的斗士？究竟是“谁”来定义一个抗议活动的“好”与“坏”呢？

Western media depicted the protests in Hong Kong SAR with a narrative that advocates for the protesters. The choice of headlines and subtitles articulate the assumption that the protesters are merely innocent victims, justified in their activities, and the protesters are subject to excessive brutality on behalf of authorities. Moreover, the western media also selectively ignored the violent activities the protesters have made, but glamorized them as “pro-democracy fighters”. 

So who labels the right or wrong of a protest? 

答案是：取决于抗议者所处的地区和国家。

对所有抗议者来说，如果他们想被冠以“和平抗议者”的头衔，让他们能够上各国主流媒体的头条，同时也符合西方媒体的价值观，最重要的是他们所处的国家或地区是否被列入美国国务院的打击名单。在委内瑞拉，尼加拉瓜和中国香港进行反政府抗议能确保你在美国媒体的报道中得到英雄般的待遇，甚至可以获得美国国际开发署（USAID）的大力资助。

香港的司法判决一直有一个特点，哪怕一个人实际采取了暴行，但只要他打着民主和争取人权的旗号，就会被法律所偏袒，而与之相对应的是，香港警察却只能谨小慎微处理问题。

If the violence happened in the country or the region that is on the U.S. State Department's hit list, it would be supported by the USAID, otherwise, it will be described as a riot. One of the reasons which impact the coverage of the western mainstream media is attributed to whether the protesters agree with the ideology defined by the U.S. 

In this context, China is already the party to blame even before it says or does anything. So in the Hong Kong protests, from the very start, protesters and a considerable amount of Western people never shed the conviction that the Chinese government, the Hong Kong SAR government, Chief Executive Carrie Lam as well as the Hong Kong police have been the cause of the massive civil discontent, and naturally they have received the most severe criticisms.

所以当我们谈论一个抗议活动的好坏时，我们应该思考些什么？

一个抗议活动的正义与否，主要在于他们是否符合美国“地缘政治”的利益，以及会产生哪些影响。

什么是地缘政治？

地缘政治是政治地理学说中的一种理论。主要根据地理要素和政治格局来分析经济、社会、军事、外交、历史和政治等。它把地理因素视为影响甚至决定国家政治行为的一个基本因素，因此又被称为“地理政治”。

Geopolitics can be defined as a theory that studies the relations and interactions between economy, societies, territories, military, diplomacy, history and politics. It simply means that geography has an impact on world politics. This can be seen in various forms with a wide range of examples such as focusing on factors of economy, ideology or self-identities, and shape the values of mainstream media. In the era of social media, it is important to think critically about the explosion of information online. 

暴徒们抗议的原因已经不重要，有经济，政治，司法，身份认同等各方面的原因，也可以是为了个人的生活变得更好，又或者是极端的意识形态，甚至因为愤世嫉俗，通过武力发泄对社会的失望情绪。

西方媒体用上文这种选择性忽略报道抗议者游行时诉诸暴力的手段，把暴徒们描绘成“自由斗士”，也许控制得了舆论一时，但控制不了舆论一世。社交媒体时代，民众获得信息的途径更加多样化，人人都是自媒体，也相信民众会有自己的判断能力。

最后奉劝西方媒体一句：不要在什么也不懂的情况下发声，暴露自己的愚昧的同时，也带给他人痛苦。