My Take | Yes to free speech, no to hate speech
- For university students who are serious about political activism, it’s especially important to draw a line clearly separating themselves from offensive and discreditable acts
In Hong Kong, university student activism is here to stay. But if our young activists want to be taken seriously, they need to exercise more “message discipline”. While no one doubts their right to free speech, they may not want to take it so literally. At least, they need to learn to criticise and not be seen to tolerate or even encourage offensive and puerile messages posted on campuses.
A sign celebrating the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Serbia by Nato forces has been posted for almost a week on the so-called democracy wall on the campus of the University of Hong Kong.
During the Nato bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, five US guided bombs were dropped on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three Chinese journalists and injuring about 20 others.
But what exactly was being celebrated – that Chinese nationals were killed; or that Western forces bombed a Chinese embassy? If it was the latter, did those who posted the message think Nato did the right thing?
Nato commanders later claimed it was a mistake, while then US president Bill Clinton apologised for the incident. So even those who carried out the bombing, whether by design or accident, didn’t think it was a good idea afterwards.
