On June 10th, the Hong Kong Police National Security Department issued a statement naming a mobile game called “Counter-Unification War: Flames,” developed by a Taiwanese team. The statement accused the game of promoting “Hong Kong independence,” “Taiwan independence,” advocating armed revolution, and inciting subversion of the government. Citizens were warned not to download or share the game, as it may violate the Hong Kong National Security Law.
This marks the first time the Hong Kong Police publicly addressed a mobile game in relation to national security law enforcement, raising concerns from the public about further suppression of creative freedom by the Hong Kong government.
Following the release of the statement, “Counter-Unification War: Flames” immediately garnered attention, becoming a popular search term on Google in the Hong Kong region, with its download volume on the App Store skyrocketing and ranking fourth among free adventure games.
On Tuesday night, the game development team ESC Taiwan posted on social media with just five words: “Thank you for the arrows, Your Excellency.” This phrase, derived from the story of “Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats” in the historical novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” is often used to imply indirect assistance in promoting or attacking an opponent.
The Hong Kong Police stated in the announcement that “Counter-Unification War: Flames,” despite being packaged as a game, actually promotes ideas of “Taiwan independence,” “Hong Kong independence,” and advocates armed revolution, with the intention of inciting hatred towards the central and special administrative region governments.
The police warned that anyone knowingly forwarding or recommending the app may violate the Hong Kong National Security Law’s Article 21 on “inciting secession,” Article 23 on “inciting subversion of state power,” and Article 24 of the “relevant crimes of incitement.”
The statement also pointed out that even downloading the game could be considered as possessing “publications with inciting intent,” constituting a criminal offense. Providing financial support to the developers, including in-game purchases (known as “in-app purchases”), could also be considered as intent to fund “acts of splitting the country or subverting state power.”
The police indicated that with the approval of the Security Bureau, they would take restrictive actions against the app based on the Hong Kong National Security Law.
“Counter-Unification War: Flames” was developed by the independent Taiwanese team ESC Taiwan. According to the game’s official website and application description, players can take on the roles of factions such as Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghur, and Taiwan, to resist the united front and aggression from the Chinese Communist Party. The game includes various United Front activities and influence operations by the CCP, highly mirroring real-life situations.
The official website of the game emphasized that “Counter-Unification War: Flames” is a work of “non-fiction,” with any similarities to the actual institutions, policies, or ethnic groups of the People’s Republic of China being deliberate.
While the development team has not issued a formal statement regarding the police accusations, apart from indirectly responding through social media and media reports, their use of the phrase “Thank you for the arrows, Your Excellency” sarcastically hints at the government’s oppression under the National Security Law, inadvertently increasing people’s attention to anti-unification messages.
As of the deadline for this report, “Counter-Unification War: Flames” is still available for download on the Apple App Store, but it no longer appears in searches on Google Play Store.
According to an earlier statement released by the game development team, Google removed the game in May, citing reasons unrelated to political content, but due to users naming their characters with hateful language.
The incident involving “Counter-Unification War: Flames” has sparked heated discussions in the public opinion in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Taiwanese player Kuo Hao Fu, interviewed by the Associated Press, mentioned that the game humorously tackles serious political issues, and players can even choose to play on the side of the CCP regime. As such, he disagreed with the police labeling it as incitement.
“The actions of the Hong Kong Police show how democracy and freedom in Hong Kong are being controlled by the CCP,” Kuo Hao Fu expressed. “Being unable to tolerate even this degree reflects the destruction of creative freedom in game development.”
The CCP views Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to unify it by force if necessary. Many Taiwanese people are concerned about Hong Kong’s shrinking freedoms under Beijing’s control.