Hong Kong warns people over mobile game 'advocating armed revolution'

Euronews

a day ago

Police in Hong Kong have warned citizens against downloading or sharing a mobile game that allows players to "overthrow the communist regime", saying that they could be punished under national security laws.
Authorities said that those who download the game Reversed Front: Bonfire "may be regarded as in possession of a publication that has a seditious intention".
Police have also warned people against providing funding to the developer of the mobile app.
"Reversed Front: Bonfire was released under the guise of a game with the aim of promoting secessionist agendas such as 'Taiwan independence' and 'Hong Kong independence,' advocating armed revolution and the overthrow of the fundamental system of the People's Republic of China," police said.
The warning, the first to denounce a video game, suggests that law enforcement is widening the crackdown that has followed anti-government protests in 2019.
Authorities have silenced many dissenting voices through prosecutions under the 2020 national security law imposed by Beijing and similar, homegrown legislation enacted last year.
The Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist the city's national security laws were necessary to return stability to the city following the protests.
Reversed Front: Bonfire was developed by ESC Taiwan, which has not directly commented on the police's warning. However, on the application's Facebook page, the developer posted about an increase in Google searches for the game's name and a Hong Kong broadcaster's news report about Tuesday's development.
According to the game's website, players can assume the role of Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghur, Taiwan or Cathaysian Rebel factions, among others, to "overthrow the communist regime". They may also choose to lead the communists to defeat all enemies.
The website says the game "is a work of non-fiction. Any similarity to actual agencies, policies or ethnic groups of the PRC [People's Republic of China] in this game is intentional".
As of Wednesday, the game — which was released in April — could no longer be found on Apple's App Store from Hong Kong.
The developer last month said Google Play had taken the app down because it did not prohibit users from adopting hateful language in naming.
Apple, Google and Meta have not immediately commented.
A ten-hour curfew for downtown Los Angeles took effect on Tuesday as officials attempted to stop vandalism and looting during protests over US President Donald Trump's immigration raids.
The city's mayor Karen Bass said the curfew would run from 8 pm on Tuesday to 6 am on Wednesday local time, as she declared a local emergency. 'We reached a tipping point' after 23 businesses were looted, Bass said.
The curfew will be in place in an area covering a just over 2.5 square kilometre section of downtown, including the area where protests have been raging since Friday. The city of Los Angeles encompasses roughly 2,295 square kilometres.
The curfew doesn't apply to residents who live in the designated area, those who are homeless, credentialed media or public safety and emergency officials, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell.
McDonnell said 'unlawful and dangerous behaviour' has been escalating since Saturday, prompting the need to impose the curfew.
'The curfew is a necessary measure to protect lives and safeguard property following several consecutive days of growing unrest throughout the city,' said McDonnell.
Meanwhile, California's Governor Gavin Newsom accused Trump of 'pulling a military dragnet' across Los Angeles, after the leader ordered the deployment of 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines despite Newsom's objections.
Troops were deployed to protect federal buildings but are now also protecting immigration agents as they carry out arrests.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement that the troops were providing security at federal facilities and protecting federal officers 'who are out on daily enforcement operations.'
Newsom says Trump's immigration crackdown has gone far beyond simply arresting criminals and that 'dishwashers, gardeners, day labourers and seamstresses" are among those being detained.
He said Trump's decision to deploy the California National Guard without his support should serve as a warning to other states as to the kind of disregard to federal laws the incumbent administration is willing to engage in.
'California may be first — but it clearly won't end here,' warned Newsom.
Earlier on Tuesday, Newsom had asked a federal court to block the Trump administration from using the National Guard and Marines to assist in ICE raids across Los Angeles.
The California Governor argued that this would only cause tensions to soar further and trigger further civil unrest.
The Trump administration said Newsom was seeking an unprecedented and dangerous order that would interfere with its ability to carry out enforcement operations. A judge set a hearing for Thursday.
Trump left open the possibility of utilising the Insurrection Act, which authorises the president to deploy military forces inside the US to suppress rebellion and domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations.
It's one of the most extreme emergency powers available to a US president.
'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see,' Trump told reporters at the Oval Office.
He later called protesters 'animals' and 'a foreign enemy' in a speech at the Fort Bragg army installation in North Carolina, where he marked the 250th anniversary of the US Army.
Trump has described the unfolding chaos in Los Angeles in dire terms that Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. The US president has also pledged to 'liberate' the city.
'We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean and safe again,' Trump said.
Trump has been under fire after the Pentagon revealed that his National Guard and Marine deployment cost $134 million (€117.4 million).
Critics have slammed him for reckless government spending, after his administration had vowed to eliminate wasteful expenditure with the creation of agencies such as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
But, the 47th US president argues that the deployment was absolutely necessary, saying that Los Angeles would have been 'completely obliterated' had he not ordered the deployment.
Democratic members of California's congressional delegation accused Trump of creating a 'manufactured crisis' to advance his personal agenda.