The situation in Hong Kong is much more than what the media allow you to see. Hong Kong's police force is fighting rioters as well as a complex international network aimed at destabilizing the People's Republic of China.

I've never seen such a media setup as in Hong Kong. I'm talking in general, and about what happened on Dec 22. Rioters, waving British, United States and other flags, were shouting such slogans as "independence" and "China is terrorist" at the center of the city, while the police stood by in full protective gear.

Journalists, real and fake, foreign and local, were there in full force, setting the stage for the ugly confrontations ahead. I observed some "media outlets" working, and I filmed their behavior.

The truth is that they were not reporting. They were participating in, provoking and manipulating the action.

All camera lenses, and lenses of mobile phones, were pointed at the police, not at the rioters. Meanwhile, the rioters were shouting at the police, insulting the men and women in uniform. This part, of course, was never shown in New York, Paris, Berlin or London.

Some "media" people were clearly advising the rioters on what action to take. At one point, rioters started charging, throwing bottles and other objects at the police officers.

Eventually, the police had little choice but to react. They began moving against the rioters. That is when all cameras began to roll. That was the moment when many started "reporting".

Next to me, just 2 meters away, several members of the "press corps" were supposedly helping each other after being affected by tear gas. They were frantically washing their faces with water, kneeling in the middle of the street, pretending they were sick. I felt no tear gas effects at first. Only after a few minutes did I detect something very mild in the air. I photographed journalists, and then my own face, to show that my eyes were not affected.

It was all a setup, designed to manipulate public opinion in the West, and in Hong Kong itself.

I have recently felt real tear gas in places like France, Chile, Bolivia and Colombia. It makes you fall to your knees, shout and feel as if you're fighting for your life. In Hong Kong, the police force has been using the mildest tear gas I have ever experienced anywhere in the world.

But police actions here have been described as "outrageous" by individuals such as Benedict Rogers, a human rights activist and chairman of the United Kingdom-based NGO Hong Kong Watch.

Rogers has been calling the actions of the Hong Kong Police Force "police brutality". Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor fired back, declaring that "Christmas in Hong Kong was ruined by protesters".

During my recent work in Hong Kong, I realized the situation has been deteriorating, and the police force is now facing much greater challenges than it did in September and October.

For Hong Kong and its police force, the situation is increasingly dangerous.

The external forces believed to be operating in Hong Kong are diverse, including Taiwan right-wing organizations, Japanese religious sects, Western-backed Uygurs and Ukrainian militant groups, as well as European and North American propagandists posing as journalists. Western anti-China NGOs are suspected of stirring hatred toward Beijing, around Hong Kong and the region.

In addition, the rioters themselves are more radicalized.

It is obvious that the desire of Washington and others to harm China is great and will not stop, no matter the price.

The truth is that the Hong Kong police are facing an extremely dangerous group of adversaries. It is not just a bunch of hooligans with black scarves covering their faces that are threatening the safety of the city and China. Those are only the vanguard — what you are allowed to see. Behind them are complex and diverse international forces.

At this moment, the Hong Kong police are the thin blue line that separates the city from anarchy and, possibly, imminent collapse.

The author is a novelist, filmmaker and journalist. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.