Editor's note: The video column does what the name says – take note of ideas that may make people uncomfortable. By taking notes and breaking down various opinions, we try to provide an alternative line of thinking that will hopefully generate deeper discussions.

Question: When we talk about "patriots," are we all talking about the same thing?

The word has a pretty intuitive definition: "One who loves and supports his or her country." That's it. But when discussing "patriots governing Hong Kong," the differences can be quite extreme. We've got Chinese Weibo users saying this is basic, it's a no-brainer that only patriots should be allowed to govern. Then we have foreigners describing it as suppression, tyrannical, bordering on inhuman.

These opinions aren't even remotely close. They are extremes, at opposite ends of the spectrum. So I went searching, trying to find if there's something more to explain this than the usual "political differences" argument.

NPR published this interesting article in 2008 asking the question "What exactly is a 'Patriot'?" In it, Time columnist Peter Beinart talked about how there's liberal and conservative versions of the word. "Liberal patriotism" often sees criticism/dissent as the highest form of patriotism. The conservative ones have, in his words, "right or wrong, a sense of – a kind of blind obedience to authority."

If this is representative of American psyche, then it means patriotism, in the eyes of Americans, is about what somebody does and doesn't do. No government is perfect, there are always areas to disagree with. If you voice or act on your disagreement and sometimes even go beyond the usual channels to express them, then you'd be considered as a liberal patriot. But if you are more likely to resign to the government's decisions, you'd be in the conservative bracket.

It's about actions.

Now, if you think about Americans, they are generally more liberal patriots than conservative. In 2020, during the racial protests, even with COVID-19 as the backdrop, somewhere between 15 million and 26 million people took to the streets at some point.

China's image in Western discourse is quite conservative. There isn't a lot of "liberal patriotism" on the surface. They don't see Chinese people taking to the streets often.

Perhaps except what happened in Hong Kong. It's easy to see how this could be seen as a sort of "liberal patriotism." People are on the streets, young people especially, having some kind of political demands and doing things that are definitely not usual.

So looking at it, it fits an American form of patriotism. And given their sense of comradery with protesters against state authority, it's not surprising that they feel a need to support them. 

But, back to the definition of the word. Patriotism is about loving and supporting the country. The country – that's the ultimate objective. Whether it is going on the streets or being resigned to government decisions, this spectrum of patriotism is only valid when the endgame is about making the country better. Trying to split the country up is not.

Chinese aren't usually in the habit of taking to the streets. This kind of absence could be interpreted as more conservative. And in the eyes of liberal patriots, the conservatism could automatically trigger an overblown sense of obedience and submission. And it became even more natural to jump to that conclusion given what happened in Hong Kong over the past couple of years. Security and stability need to be restored, that's unquestionable. And what does security and stability involve? People following the law and a set of rules.

China isn't promoting one set of actions or the other. The idea of "patriots governing Hong Kong," boils down to the essence, is making sure elected officials work their disagreements through within the system. Whether they are in the habit of being more active in their dissents or more conservative, the idea doesn't dictate a certain form. What it does say is that the ultimate objective is about "the country."

This is not saying one form of patriotism is more legitimate than the other. But this could be how foreigners are seeing China.

Scriptwriter: Huang Jiyuan

Cameraman: Zhao Jing

Video Editor: Feng Ran, Zhang Wenlong

Managing Editor: Huang Jiyuan

Senior Producer: Bi Jianlu

Supervisor: Mei Yan

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)