Beijing is ramping up its propaganda efforts against Hong Kong protesters

Chinese officials and state media have begun to tighten their grip on the narrative surrounding Hong Kong's anti-government, pro-democracy protests.

Beijing has claimed protesters have committed "deranged acts," including throwing gasoline bombs. "Radical Hong Kong protesters have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers," Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said in a news briefing on Monday, per Chinese state media. "The first signs of terrorism are starting to appear." He added that such purported violence must be punished "without lenience, without mercy." The Daily Beast, however, reports that Beijing's depiction of the events is a "disinformation campaign" which could be a sign that China is "preparing for harsher crackdowns."

While Beijing stopped short of explicitly labeling the protests as acts of terrorism, the hardening rhetoric appears to represent escalating tensions.

China’s use of the term “terrorism” to describe the Hong Kong protests, even in a somewhat backhanded way, is a major escalation. Comes amid increasingly heated propaganda against the protests portraying them as extremely violent https://t.co/kKvIDRAp2A

— (@jgriffiths) August 12, 2019

Hong Kong's opposition has a different story to tell. From their viewpoint, Hong Kong police have grown increasingly violent, culminating in acts such as shooting a protester in the face with an apparent bean bag round, injuring first aid responders, and allowing non-police to attack protesters "indiscriminately."

12. These are all crimes against humanity. None are normal. More protocols have been broken than I could count. The international community must pay attention to this kind of police brutality in Hong Kong. THREAD ENDS.

— Nathan Law 羅冠聰 (@nathanlawkc) August 11, 2019

Beijing's depiction of the events will almost certainly have a greater reach on the mainland thanks to China's internet regulatory system known as the Great Firewall, The Daily Beast reports.