Strange coincidence of matching designs

The recent US Capitol Hill protesters and 2019's Hong Kong civil unrest protesters used identical banners.

The main ones used in the storming of the Capitol Building in Washington DC last week featured bold white print on a dark blue background, with some having a fine line in white or red around the outside.

The exact same design was used on many of the banners and placards in Hong Kong's 2019 protests. Many even had the same message, positioning Trump as the liberator.

What a remarkable coincidence!

"Also, take a look images from the pro-US demonstration in Japan last week," said a reader who did not want his name printed. "They used the same design there too."

Not that this suggests the existence of "black hands" or anything.

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O the irony. Josh Hawley, the US politician who visited Hong Kong and falsely told the world that dissent had been silenced here, was yesterday complaining that his new book had been suddenly cancelled. Hey, Josh, now you know what "silenced" really means!

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Why is Hawley in trouble? In 2019, he flew to Hong Kong to encourage protesters and was lauded by the Western media. On Wednesday last week he went to Capitol Hill and encouraged protesters there - but the media reaction was the opposite.

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Is this hut a humbler-than-usual branch of 7-Eleven? No, close examination reveals it to be 7-EVELYN, run by a retailer of that name in the Philippines. (Spotter: Anton Sysiaco.)

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Moving from banners to flags, Hong Kong's black "revolution of our time" flag was clearly visible at the Capitol Hill protests. As mass arrests of participants take place in America, media like the Financial Times and BBC could have an embarrassing problem. What they describe as "crushing dissent" here would have to be "rightful arrests of domestic terrorists" there.

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The UK right wing's grim "anti-Hong Kong club" will launch a report on Wednesday.

The Conservative Party Human Rights Commission includes UK citizen Simon Cheng, who was discredited for falsely claiming that kidnapped Hong Kong protesters were being tortured in jails in China. [Video evidence later showed that the only atrocities going on was whatever he was doing to the unfortunate young women he hired.]

Another co-author is Benedict Rogers, caught for his deceptive use of a photograph of Hong Kong police, among other things.

And there's Nathan Law, falsely described in the material as "exiled" - which is a funny way to spell "absconder from justice."

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How come Nespresso staff in Hong Kong never open up their shops until 11.30am? Surely they are the last people on Earth with any excuse to wake up late?

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Comment from businessman Shaun Rein: "Imagine if China now changed immigration laws to let 'Make America Great Again' terrorists move there. Imagine Xinhua portraying MAGA rioters as peaceful. That's what US and UK media and governments did to Hong Kong."

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One Twitter comedian found a good way to point out that the Republicans and Democrats have almost identically hostile positions against perceived enemies such as China. During the Obama era, the comedian [real name unknown] used the name "George W Obama" but then changed it in 2016 to "Donald W Obama." This weekend, he announced that his new name will be "Joebama W Trump."

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