Are Hong Kong’s leaders speaking the same language as the people?

It makes sense for officials to emulate Beijing’s language on foreign affairs, but it raises questions over the intended audience for their words

The way they speak suggests the opinion of their bosses in Beijing matters more than the pressing concerns of everyday Hongkongers

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam (at the podium) leads current and former Hong Kong and central government officials in a toast at a National Day reception at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on October 1. Photo: Winson Wong

Peter Kammerer

Australian-born Peter Kammerer has lived and worked in Hong Kong for more than 30 years, joining the Post in 1988.

Published: 6:45am, 5 Oct 2021

A patriot I am apparently not. When Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and others in her administration speak of national security and related issues, their language is unfamiliar to me.

Their speeches are peppered with phrases and ideas that I don’t hear other Hongkongers utter. Expressions like “foreign interference”, “external forces” and “black hands”; this is mainland-style terminology that is alien to a city that has been used to bland bureaucrat-babble.

In the past few months, the United States has been the target of foreign ministry and Hong Kong government vitriol, the language in press releases and statements being virtually identical.

The government, in welcoming a ministry “fact sheet” detailing 102 claimed instances of American interference in local affairs, contended that the “malicious acts” had now been exposed with “ironclad evidence”.