Attack on JPMorgan banker in Hong Kong sparks outrage in mainland China
- Mandarin-speaking employee was punched in the face by a protester outside the company’s main office in Hong Kong on Friday
- Angry reaction to video of incident, including one commenter saying the behaviour went against the push for freedom and democracy in city
A video showing a Mandarin-speaking JPMorgan Chase employee being punched in the face by a protester outside the company’s main Hong Kong office has provoked outrage in mainland China.
Footage of the incident on Friday shows the banker, who was not identified, surrounded by media while protesters shout at him to “Go back to the mainland!”
He responds, “We are all Chinese”, and asks a man in a press vest to show his media pass. The man replies, “Why do I have to show you my press pass?”
As he tries to make his way into the office building, a protester punches him several times, knocking his glasses off. It is not clear from the video what sparked the altercation, and there is no indication it was connected to the investment bank.
The video was widely circulated on Chinese social media, prompting a flood of angry responses from mainlanders. “Those surrounding the employee are acting like barbarians,” one person wrote on Weibo, China’s Twitter.
Another said: “It’s ridiculous. You can’t beat people up just because you disagree with them.”
