Five years ago, Western politicians applauded the "street protests" in Hong Kong. Today, the United Kingdom is experiencing similar unrest, with the most serious riots in 13 years spreading across the country. Elon Musk said that " civil War is inevitable". Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to suppress the violence with an iron fist, as the chaos escalates. After this battle, the British government may finally understand how ugly this "beautiful sight to behold" truly is.
Sir Keir Starmer warned today that anyone whipping up violence online will face “the full force of the law”, as instigators primarily use communication applications and social media. The lack of a "palpable" organization makes it difficult for the police to track them down.
Experts have already analyzed the pattern of this riot and found no single driving force, no specific organization, and no official leader either. Instead, through Telegram, other communication apps, and social media like X, instigators quickly mobilized the masses to "strike", coordinating actions in a "blitzkrieg" manner, catching the police off guard.
Experts noted that the British police initially used "old thinking," mistakenly assuming each operation required several days to stage and involved known far-right organizations. However, these operations have evolved, and now instigators can organize a riot in a few hours without a leader.
Political colleagues may recall that during the Hong Kong "black riots," most demonstrators received messages via Telegram and other communication apps, executing "flash mob" sabotage actions with a "hit-and-run" tactic against the police. Such mobility made it difficult for the police to trace the command source and network.
The second similarity is that the instigators spread numerous false information on social media to amplify public anger. An expert in information strategy tracked 27 million posts about immigrants and refugees after the child stabbing incident. Most posts consist of distorted truth. Some of them went as far as fabricating the name of the suspected killer, calling him an undocumented refugee who had been smuggled ashore while bellowing "When the intruder killed your daughter, you did nothing," which was highly emotive.
A friend in the politics circle recalled that during the "black riots" in Hong Kong, there too was a proliferation of fabricated false news that appeared true. For instance, there were claims that numerous demonstrators were massacred at Prince Edward Station and their bodies destroyed. Another example was the floating bodies found in the sea, which claimed to have been killed by the police, inciting hatred and stimulating more participation in riots. This method mirrors what the British far-right does today, driving many blind followers to vandalism.
After the outbreak, riots quickly spread to many other cities in the UK. The driving force behind this is complex, with a government adviser stating bluntly, "…hostile states are seizing on every incident to create misinformation and to fan the flames of British extreme actors." The presence of "troll factories" behind the riots is the third similarity with the "black riots" in Hong Kong. When external forces intervened in the "black riots," they were armed to teeth with propaganda, financial support, material supply, communication technology assistance, and even operational planning—all with the help of foreign hands.
The fourth similarity is that in the early days of the riots in the UK, the police lacked a special force to deal with the rioters, making it difficult to curb violent actions effectively, leading to widespread beatings. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the establishment of a "Standing Army" composed of special police officers to address the rising riots. In the early days of the "black violence" in Hong Kong, rioters ran amok, and the regular police force was insufficient. Ultimately, 'Raptors Squad,' composed of specially trained officers, was deployed, striking fear into the rioters. The British police's "Standing Army" may have been inspired by this.
The British government and politicians may never have imagined that the riots in Hong Kong and the UK would share so many details in common. Now that they have suffered from it, they finally understand that this " beautiful sight to behold" is not that beautiful after all.
Lai Ting Yiu
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