Let's talk about how these so-called "Yellow Media", or as they say: pro-liberal media, outfits from Hong Kong's chaotic anti-extradition days are making a comeback. You know, outlets like Apple Daily and Stand News were the big agitators back then, stirring up trouble with US-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) jumping in to amp up the momentum. It all peaked until the Hong Kong National Security Law kicked in and Trump yanked RFA's funding, scattering everyone. But these guys didn't just fade away—some fled overseas, set up their little operations, and kept at it.
Now, word is, UK-based "The Chaser News" and Taiwan's "Photon Media"—both launched in recent years—are merging into this new set-up called "Chase The Light PULSE HK." They're bringing in teams from both, plus former RFA Cantonese head Wu Lik-han. It's pretty obvious they're trying to repackage and resurrect those fractured "yellow media" brands under a fresh name. The real question? How will this stir things up in Hong Kong? Authorities better keep their eyes peeled.
The three "yellow media" factions exiled overseas are merging to launch a new platform. One of the masterminds is former Apple Daily Motion News chief Edward Lee, partnering with the teams of Photon Media and The Chaser News—looks like they're not done causing headaches yet.
This merger drops officially on Friday at a press conference in Taipei—yeah, that tells you they're having their base in Taiwan while linking up with the UK crew for editing and reporting. Key players include Wu Lik-han, ex-Apple Daily Motion News boss Edward Lee, and Photon Media founder Shirley Leung, a former Apple Daily reporter.
Digging into the Backgrounds
I've got industry pals who dug into Photon Media and The Chaser News, and surprise, surprise—they're stuffed with former Apple Daily and Stand News staff, plus some folks wanted by Hong Kong Police's National Security Department and shady foreign anti-China types. These aren't your everyday news ops, that's for sure. Let's face it, this smells like more than just journalism.
Photon Media kicked off in Taipei back in April 2023, led by Shirley Leung and a bunch of Hong Kong journalists. In her opening piece, she talked about feeling "chilled" in Hong Kong and needing to start fresh in a "free" overseas spot—the subtext is loud and clear. Their advisory board? Super political. Take Joseph Lian, ex-Stand News director, who was in Japan when cops raided the outlet and slapped him with a warrant.
The foreign advisors are no slouches either. Mark Clifford, once on Next Media's board, now runs the US-based "Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation" (CFHK), chaired by James B. Cunningham—a US politico cozy with Jimmy Lai. Then there's Steve Vines, a longtime anti-China British journo whose new book, Defying the Dragon: Hong Kong and the World's Largest Dictatorship, hails the 2019 mess as a "revolution" and goes full throttle on the glorification.
The Chaser News Crew and Their Troublemakers
Now, merging with them is The Chaser News, launched in the UK in March 2022 by a crew of "yellow-leaning" media folks who bailed from Hong Kong. Their board features two real stirrers: Yang Yingyu, the guy who set that infamous DSE history exam question pushing kids to argue Japan's invasion of China did more good than harm. He left under heat, started "Education Needle" in the UK to bash education policies, and got called out by Security Secretary Chris Tang for "soft resistance." The other? Huang Weiguo, a chronic rabble-rouser at Hong Kong Baptist University who lost his contract over radical views, fled to the UK in 2021, and kept the activism going as a director there.
They've also pulled in "problem scholars" who escaped to the UK for commentaries, like Chung Kim-wah, former VP of the defunct Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute—he's on the police wanted list too.
RFA's Fallout and the Big Reunion
As for the latest joiner, it's from the now-suspended RFA, run by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM)—you know, the outfit pushing "color revolutions." Seen as foreign meddlers, they ditched Hong Kong for Taiwan in 2024. Then in March this year, Trump slashed USAGM funding, shutting off RFA's tap and leaving director Wu Lik-han, a former Hong Kong media guy, high and dry.
Former Cable TV reporter and ex-RFA Cantonese director Wu Lik-han is jumping in too. RFA, bankrolled by the US government, folded after Trump cut the cord—talk about a plot twist.
With their backing gone, these folks needed a new spot, which is probably why they're hopping on this Chase The Light PULSE HK bandwagon—gearing up for round two. It's a bit worrying how these ex-"yellow media" types are regrouping with unapologetic Hong Kong disruptors, clearly aiming to bring back Apple Daily, Stand News, and RFA in disguise.
All this points to one thing: these former agitators are reassembling to resurrect their old brands under a new banner. Moves are coming, no doubt, and authorities need to stay on guard.
Lai Ting-yiu
What Say You?
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France this year seems to have run straight into the calamity of the 'Crimson Horse and Red Goat,' with misfortunes arriving one after another. On the economy, its debt has worsened and is on the verge of blowing up. Economist Paul Krugman says France may have reached the point of being 'too big to save.'
Debt, Chaos, and a Warning for Hong Kong
Politically, the country is in utter chaos. The largest student unrest in recent years has erupted, and the flames keep spreading. It’s hitting hard across the country.
A friend who lived through the 2019 Hong Kong Black Riots finds France's turmoil familiar. He points out five major similarities between the two, though the outcomes are very different.
The Macron government, constrained by far-left and far-right forces, cannot and is powerless to quell the chaos. The 'political terminal illness' it suffers from is beyond cure.
Hong Kong, by contrast, is fortunate to have successfully stopped the violence and rebuilt effective governance, ultimately avoiding a great calamity. Why France has fallen ill to this extent is worth taking as a warning.
From School Funding Protest to Nationwide Inferno
France is a century-old brand of "democracy and freedom." Yet political turmoil is continuous: a small disturbance every year, a major one every three years, endlessly.
The latest unrest was triggered in September by middle school students. At first, they only protested insufficient education funding, teacher shortages, and dilapidated school buildings.
The fire then burned ever fiercer. It erupted in multiple cities and is now spiraling out of control.
Yesterday the situation deteriorated further. Nationwide, 550,000 people took to the streets, and violence escalated across the board.
France burns: 550,000 people rioting, violence escalates.
"Rioters" set fires, looted, and attacked police officers in many places. Bustling districts became battlefields.
Some precious historic buildings, such as the Lyon tourism bureau and the Limoges city hall, were tragically burned down. It’s heartbreaking.
More than 1,200 people were arrested in the unrest and 150 police officers were injured. The flames have still not weakened.
Five Parallels: Youthful Rioters and the Hong Kong Déjà Vu
A friend watched France's student unrest and spotted five similarities with Hong Kong's 2019 Black Riots. The sense of déjà vu hit hard.
First, France's current unrest began in middle schools, and the demonstrators are defined by their youth. In the past they were adults or university students; now they are barely teenagers.
Among those arrested in clashes with police, most are minors. Yet their ferocity and brutality match adults, and often exceed them.
When the Black Riots erupted in Hong Kong back then, large numbers of secondary school students likewise took to the streets as a battlefield. Their radicalism was in no way inferior to that of their older brothers and sisters.
A friend once witnessed a group of secondary school students in a certain district violently taunting police officers, then scattering and running off, excited as if it were all a game. Some students were even rehearsing on building rooftops how to fight police officers, preparing to join the ranks of the "valiant."
Violent Elements Hijack the Movement
Second, violent elements who were not students joined in large numbers shortly after the French secondary school student protests broke out. From that point on, the actions were no longer peaceful. Demonstrators blocked roads everywhere, set fires, and attacked public facilities, especially landmark buildings, including a city hall with a hundred-year history.
Hong Kong's Black Riots had the same pattern. Multiple groups of "black-clads" mixed into the demonstrator ranks and launched "fire attacks" across busy districts. They damaged public facilities such as MTR stations, and even targeted the Government Headquarters, the Legislative Council Complex, and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government.
Social Media as a Weapon of Mobilization
Third, French secondary school students used social platforms and messaging apps to mobilize the masses and paralyzed the schools' servers. Later, when more people joined the unrest, the destructive power of these systems became even greater.
The masterminds of Hong Kong's Black Riots likewise used social media and messaging apps (such as Telegram) for communication, incitement, command, and mobilization. They controlled and issued orders from behind the scenes.
At the time, the use of mobile phones among secondary school students was already very widespread. Mobile phones had become an important tool for organizing actions.
Political Parties Exploit the Chaos
Fourth, the French secondary school students' "rebellion" was exploited by political parties and political organizations almost as soon as it began. It became a bargaining chip in their contest with the government.
President Macron pointed out that the movement was clearly manipulated by political forces. Prime Minister Lecornu was even more blunt, saying the far-left party leader Mélenchon was fanning the flames behind the scenes, using the unrest to attack the ruling party and create advantages for his own bid for the presidency next year.
This shows that the secondary school students who took to the streets were merely pawns in the contest between political forces.
During the Black Riots of those years, Hong Kong's radical organizations, the opposition camp, and the anti-China media tycoon Jimmy Lai and others likewise used street riots to attack the government. Their goal was to seize governing power, exactly the same calculation as that of France's far-left parties at present.
Musk, Trump, and the Shadow of Intervention
Fifth, beyond internal political forces, this unrest in France also carries the shadow of foreign intervention. French Foreign Minister Barrot earlier said directly at an international conference that US tech giant Musk used his social media platform to wildly badmouth Macron in order to destabilize France and thereby influence next year's presidential election. Barrot also said that the MAGA movement led by Trump is likewise pushing French society toward polarization, with the ultimate goal of seizing political power.
Trump and Musk are indeed working hard to boost France's far-right leader Le Pen into the presidency. For this purpose, the more chaotic France is, the better. The possibility that they had a hand in this unrest is therefore extremely high.
That there were foreign black hands behind Hong Kong's Black Riots is now conclusively proven. The clearest example is media boss Jimmy Lai playing the role of a US agent, instigating a color revolution to subvert Hong Kong's regime.
Hong Kong riots drew many students, backed by political forces.
Divergent Outcomes: Hong Kong Recovers, France Spirals
The two riots share five similarities, yet the outcomes are vastly different. Hong Kong stopped the violence, restored order, and internal strife gradually subsided. The city is returning to the track of stable governance.
France, by contrast, is mired in endless political chaos. France holds its presidential election next April. The far right has the greatest chance of winning, the far left comes second, and the ruling centrists are the weakest.
At this stage, the ruling party simply cannot govern effectively. Social contradictions will only continue to intensify, and peaceful days will be hard to come by.
Misfortunes never come singly: France is deeply mired in a debt crisis. Liabilities reach 3.6 trillion euros (4 trillion US dollars), equivalent to 119% of GDP. To refinance, France would have to implement severe fiscal austerity amounting to 4% of GDP.
If the government resorts to such harsh measures, society will become even more turbulent. The economy will slide further, and the country will ultimately head down a dead end.
A friend sees France stricken with a "terminal illness" while Hong Kong has dodged the calamity. The relief runs deep, and the friend is all the more convinced that Hong Kong is a "blessed land."
Lai Ting-yiu
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