Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific airline has apologized for offering its passengers an episode of the US show “Family Guy” that included a scene and joke referencing the infamous 1989 crackdown on protesters on Tiananmen Square in the Chinese capital.
The episode, from the first season of the American animated series, shows father figure Peter Griffin standing next to the “Tank Man” in a recreation of a famous photograph depicting a lone resister against Chinese military forces as they moved to disperse for a few days. long demonstration in favor of democracy. As the tanks approach, the cartoon dad says, “Ah shit, I just came to buy some fireworks,” before running off.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s flagship airline told the South China Morning Post on Tuesday that it had apologized to its customers after someone complained on social media about the proposed episode on board.
Jeff Widener/AP
“We emphasize that the content of the program does not represent the views of Cathay Pacific and have immediately made arrangements to have the program removed as quickly as possible,” the newspaper quoted the airline as saying.
On June 4, 1989, Chinese soldiers ordered by Communist Party hardliners opened fire on thousands of protesters occupying Tiananmen Square in central Beijing.
The enduring image of “Tank Man” has become a symbol of the bloody repression, which Chinese authorities have worked to erase from history since it took place. Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News correspondent visited the square 30 years after the repressionin 2019, and found nothing there to commemorate the events, and when she showed photos of the repression, including that of “Tank Man”, to young Chinese passers-by, none of them recognized the pictures.
After unprecedented pro-democracy protests swept Hong Kong in 2019, authorities in the semi-autonomous Chinese region suppressed dissentbringing together hundreds of opposition and civil society figures and quickly passing new national security legislation strengthening Beijing’s control.
In November, a Hong Kong court indicts 47 peopleincluding prominent pro-democracy activists, for their participation in an unofficial primary aimed at selecting opposition candidates.
Cathay Pacific said it regularly briefs the third-party company responsible for its in-flight entertainment to ensure the content offered meets airline standards, according to the South China Morning Post.
