Some of the protesters in Hong Kong have been flying the American flag and even singing our anthem to make a statement about their desire for freedom from communist China:

Protestors in Hong Kong are using the American flag and anthem as a symbol of freedom to rally.pic.twitter.com/QNyJdQlG1Q

— Melissa_Strategic ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Melis_Strategic) August 11, 2019

This protester (2nd clip below) explained that the American flag represented freedom, human rights, and democracy. He added, “We hope we can be friends with America.”

🇺🇸 Why are you carrying the American flag?

Here's what this Hong Kong protester says #HongKongProtests #香港 #antiELAB pic.twitter.com/FC1yKczBYc

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) August 11, 2019

Yesterday I wrote about the shutdown of the Hong Kong airport and there were protesters there flying the American flag as well:

Protester at Hong Kong airport seen waving an American flag in front of a barricade and riot police. pic.twitter.com/OGJVuu2hNT

— Conor Swanberg 🦛 (@ConSwan527) August 13, 2019

As you might imagine, this plays into the hands of mainland China. A China Daily editorial last month suggested that the use of the flag shows the US is orchestrating a “color revolution” against the mainland. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman also suggested the same:

Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying accused unnamed US officials of stoking violent chaos in Hong Kong: “We can see that US officials are even behind such incidents. So, can the officials tell the world what role did they play and what are their aims?” she asked during a regular press briefing.

This is the oldest play in the tyrant’s playbook. In fact, Venezuela’s dictator is doing the same thing right now and for the same reason. Blaming outsiders for fomenting unrest is an easy way to dismiss your critics at home as traitors.

And the critics aren’t just writing newspaper pieces. Yesterday a reporter captured this incident at the airport. Two men (one of whom is wearing a Chinese flag hat and has a GoPro camera mounted on his chest) started yelling at protesters holding an American flag (top video). In the second clip, the guy in dark clothes gets really worked up. According to the reporter, he’s yelling “DNLM.” I had to look that up in the urban dictionary but it’s Cantonese profanity.

This man tried to connect with the Hongkong protesters with a native Cantonese phrase: “DNLM” pic.twitter.com/yPKyNkV1Gj

— Jeffie Lam (@jeffielam) August 13, 2019

The protesters had an answer. “Democracy is a good thing.”

And Hongkong protesters responded with this: “Hong Kong is not China. Democracy is a good thing (民主是個好東西!)” pic.twitter.com/apUEZej5oE

— Jeffie Lam (@jeffielam) August 13, 2019

The reactions to this thread were very interesting. There are communists using this to trash the protesters:

It is obvious that HK schools do not teach the children the Horrors that the USA have brought upon Asia, the millions killed in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Phillipines, China, Korea. Instead, indoctrinated to believe they are white Europeans and to loathe their Chinese heritage.

— Lenin (@TheLeninOfLove) August 13, 2019

By the way, “The Lenin of Love” has to be the dumbest handle for a communist in the history of Twitter. Twitter is blocked in mainland China so there won’t be a big reaction either way from people there. But there are also people (albeit her in the US) who seem to get it:

Because they value freedom and not submission

— скйлер (@Skyl3r26) August 13, 2019

Ultimately, it’s a small minority of protesters who are carrying US flags but the freedom from tyranny that the protesters are obviously seeking seems like a very American impulse.

Update: Things are getting very dicey at Hong Kong airport with police trying to clear protesters and some protesters are fighting back. From Buzzfeed, this scuffle could easily have resulted in a police shooting:

Police officer had his baton taken from him and was attacked with it. Drew his pistol and aimed at protesters. Astonished nobody killed here tonight. pic.twitter.com/Wox8yziDnz

— Mike Bird (@Birdyword) August 13, 2019

Update: President Trump takes notice of the build-up of Chinese military near Hong Kong. What does “Everyone should be calm and safe!” mean in this situation?

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1161325870516264961