China has its own Hong Kong protest game that lets you beat up activists

Remember the game Liberate Hong Kong? That’s the one that lets you play as a Hong Kong protester dodging rubber bullets. Now there’s a game for the other side.

A new anti-protest propaganda game in China called “Everyone Hit the Traitors” lets players smash black-clad, bleary-eyed Hong Kong protesters and prominent pro-democracy activists. And just so you know where the game stands on Chinese sovereignty, the title screen includes in bold letters, "Hong Kong is part of China, and this can't be meddled with by outside powers."

The game is free to play on the web at dalaoshu.net, using the Chinese word for rat. When you fire it up, the game tells you there are a number of “traitors” who are instigating protests in Hong Kong and colluding with Western powers, a common allegation from the Chinese government.

The people labeled traitors in the game are depicted by crude caricatures of themselves. Martin Lee, considered by some as Hong Kong’s “father of democracy,” is depicted as a rat crawling through the streets with his tail painted red, white and blue. The game also includes activist Joshua Wong, media tycoon Jimmy Lai and former government official Anson Chan. Some of these figures are pictured in a huddle with US diplomat Julie Eadeh.