A mainland Chinese journalist who was assaulted by anti-government protesters in Hong Kong last month has been rewarded with 100,000 yuan ($14,000) in cash by his employer, the Chinese nationalist newspaper Global Times.
The reporter, Fu Guohao, received a hero's welcome at home in the mainland after he was beaten by a mob of masked demonstrators at Hong Kong airport in August.
Chinese state-run media outlets have seized on the attack to condemn the months-long pro-democracy protest movement in Hong Kong, which has increasingly ended in clashes between demonstrators and riot police and, in several instances, between demonstrators and their opponents.
Fu became a target of the protesters' wrath after he refused to show his press credentials and was found with a T-shirt in his backpack featuring the slogan "I love HK police."
Despite the assault, the protests have continued to receive substantial popular support in Hong Kong, underscoring the deep political divide between people on the mainland and in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
39.4% of people in September said protesters used "excessive" force, little changed from the 39.5% of people who did before the August beating, according to surveys conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Fu was one of two men seized by protesters at the airport. The other man was suspected of being an undercover agent after wooden sticks were found in his backpack.
"Fu Guohao and our other colleagues who have shown outstanding performance in the reporting of Hong Kong (protests) have been awarded. Fu has received the highest award of 100,000 yuan," Hu Xijin, theeditor-in-chief of Global Times, said on Weibo, China's microblogging website.
Hong Kong has been embroiled in political unrest since early June, with anti-government protests triggered by a now-shelved extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to the mainland for trial.
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