The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s branch in Hong Kong has opened an official Facebook page, leading Hong Kong internet users to flood the page with angry comments.
On Tuesday, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong held a launch ceremony, pressing a button that uploaded its first post onto Facebook. The social network is censored in the mainland.
Deputy commissioner Tong Xiaoling said that the page administrator would actively respond to comments from internet users.
“The opening of this official Facebook account improves our public affairs and diplomatic work,” she added. “It constructs a new platform for communication between the commissioner and the Hong Kong public.”
Mixture of languages and scripts
The posts on the Facebook page so far employ an unpredictable mixture of spoken Cantonese, formal Chinese and the English language. They are written in a mixture of traditional and simplified Chinese script.
Introducing the role of the office, one Cantonese-language post read: “Hong Kong implements ‘One Country Two Systems’ – we believe everyone knows this – and the country has a foreign ministry to take care of state-to-state relations.”
“Well, Hong Kong is not a country, so we take care of Hong Kong-related diplomatic matters.”
“That’s why we exist,” it added – in English.
Some also mocked the page rendering the Cantonese possessive particle geh (嘅) as gaa (噶). “Why don’t you hire a Hongkonger as an editor?” asked one commenter.
Internet uproar
Despite receiving fewer than 1,000 likes within a day of its launch, the page has received hundreds of comments, mostly in protest. Some commenters called on Beijing to cease its rumoured support for chief executive candidate Carrie Lam, or to prosecute incumbent leader Leung Chun-ying and his alleged Chinese government backers.
Others told the ministry to “go back to Weibo,” given that Facebook is blocked in the mainland.
“Rescind the decision of the National People’s Congress, implement democratic universal suffrage, the Chinese Communist Party must stop its oppression!” wrote student leader Joshua Wong.
Other Facebook users were more welcoming: “Please diligently observe public opinion in Hong Kong, and truthfully report it to the Central Government, thank you.”
It is not the first time the Chinese government has set up an official page on Facebook.
In September 2015, the government set up a Facebook page for President Xi Jinping to coincide with his visit to the United States. The page – named “Xi’s Visit” – has documented his activities in English ever since.
