HONG KONG PROTEST EBBS
by Patrick Chappatte (6 Oct 2014)
by Patrick Chappatte (6 Oct 2014)
Author
This cartoon was drawn by Patrick Chappatte who is a Lebanese-Swiss cartoonist who draws for Le Temps, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the International Herald Tribune. Most of his cartoons reflect critical news and events in Swiss and International. In 2011, he won the Overseas Press Club of America’s Thomas Nast Award for best cartoons on international affairs, becoming the first non-American to win this prize.
Historical Event in cartoon
The cartoon is a single frame which describes the ‘Occupy Central Movement’ happened in Hong Kong that began in September 28, 2014. ‘Occupy Central’ was a non-violent civil disobedience movement that fight for universal suffrage in Hong Kong. Protesters paralyzed Hong Kong's financial district, Central, in order to force the g overnment to implement universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legislative Council elections in 2020 according to "international standards.
Artistic technique used in cartoon – Symbolism, Labeling, Exaggeration
The cartoonist uses few words and mainly symbolic images to describe the event and express his view.
The labeling word “Hong Kong” and the images of landmarks in Central, tell the audience the place where the event happened.
The guy who holds an “umbrella” represents the protesters in occupying central who are pro-democracy; the word “democracy” makes the stance of the man more clearly.
While the hand with five stars (political symbolic image of China National Flag) represents the Chinese government.
The scale difference of the “man” and the “hand” implies that there is power difference between them. The man was drawn to be weak and small, while the size of the hand is exaggerated and is larger than the man. From the cartoon, the big hand is squeezing the umbrella and the man.
Argument of the cartoon
The cartoon title is “Hong Kong Protests Ebbs”, the images and words used in the cartoon explain why the protest was declining. After previous explanation, we know that the big hand is Chinese government, and the man represents protesters. By drawing hand to squeeze the man, it is clear that the cartoonist thinks that the Chinese government has great power and was suppressing the protesters. His point of view is not rare to see in Hong Kong society as Beijing is generally reported as being concerned about similar demands for political reform on the mainland that would erode the Communist Party’s power. The Chinese officials also repeated that the foreign forces helped the protests. Xi Jinping, the President of the People's Republic of China even stated his support for CY Leung, Chief Executive of the HKSAR during the occupation period, saying that the movement was a “direct challenge not just to the SAR and is governance but also to Beijing”.
Reference:
Luk, Eddie; Wong, Hilary (10 November 2014). "Occupy Central 'is challenging Beijing'".The Standard.
The Cagel Post, http://www.cagle.com/2014/10/hong-kong-protest-ebbs/
This cartoon was drawn by Patrick Chappatte who is a Lebanese-Swiss cartoonist who draws for Le Temps, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the International Herald Tribune. Most of his cartoons reflect critical news and events in Swiss and International. In 2011, he won the Overseas Press Club of America’s Thomas Nast Award for best cartoons on international affairs, becoming the first non-American to win this prize.
Historical Event in cartoon
The cartoon is a single frame which describes the ‘Occupy Central Movement’ happened in Hong Kong that began in September 28, 2014. ‘Occupy Central’ was a non-violent civil disobedience movement that fight for universal suffrage in Hong Kong. Protesters paralyzed Hong Kong's financial district, Central, in order to force the g overnment to implement universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legislative Council elections in 2020 according to "international standards.
Artistic technique used in cartoon – Symbolism, Labeling, Exaggeration
The cartoonist uses few words and mainly symbolic images to describe the event and express his view.
The labeling word “Hong Kong” and the images of landmarks in Central, tell the audience the place where the event happened.
The guy who holds an “umbrella” represents the protesters in occupying central who are pro-democracy; the word “democracy” makes the stance of the man more clearly.
While the hand with five stars (political symbolic image of China National Flag) represents the Chinese government.
The scale difference of the “man” and the “hand” implies that there is power difference between them. The man was drawn to be weak and small, while the size of the hand is exaggerated and is larger than the man. From the cartoon, the big hand is squeezing the umbrella and the man.
Argument of the cartoon
The cartoon title is “Hong Kong Protests Ebbs”, the images and words used in the cartoon explain why the protest was declining. After previous explanation, we know that the big hand is Chinese government, and the man represents protesters. By drawing hand to squeeze the man, it is clear that the cartoonist thinks that the Chinese government has great power and was suppressing the protesters. His point of view is not rare to see in Hong Kong society as Beijing is generally reported as being concerned about similar demands for political reform on the mainland that would erode the Communist Party’s power. The Chinese officials also repeated that the foreign forces helped the protests. Xi Jinping, the President of the People's Republic of China even stated his support for CY Leung, Chief Executive of the HKSAR during the occupation period, saying that the movement was a “direct challenge not just to the SAR and is governance but also to Beijing”.
Reference:
Luk, Eddie; Wong, Hilary (10 November 2014). "Occupy Central 'is challenging Beijing'".The Standard.
The Cagel Post, http://www.cagle.com/2014/10/hong-kong-protest-ebbs/