One Fire, Two Narratives: The Deadly Wang Fuk Court Fire Reveals a Divided Media Landscape in Hong Kong
- Ernest Fung
- Dec 23
- 8 min read
On 26 November 2025, a fire broke out in Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong. The fire killed at least 160 people, while thousands lost their homes. The tragedy was one of the worst incidents in the city's history and drew international attention. One of the spheres of scrutiny came from the international media industry, providing a stark contrast with the reporting of the incident from local news outlets, thereby illustrating two distinct narratives branching out from divergent media ecosystems and audience expectations.
The blaze at Wang Fuk Court did not discriminate. But in local and Western media reporting, it did.
Where the Reporting Diverged
In the immediate coverage of the fire, both local and Western media covered official press releases and statements in relation to rescue logistics, casualties and causes. Materials from the Fire Service, Police Force, and Chief Executive press conference were largely cited across news articles. Reports attributed the spread of fire to the styrofoam and mesh material outside the apartment block, and the casualties to the malfunctioning fire alarms. Another common source of information is interviews with survivors and residents. Interviews were not only used to reconstruct how residents escaped but also to recreate the sense of grief and loss that they experienced. The focus also shifted to the community effort in relief work. There is also a shared focus on the ensuing investigation, covering the creation of an independent committee and the arrest of at least 13 people for suspected manslaughter. These are the baseline facts: fire, death, mourning, investigation, and arrests. However, what differs in the coverage of both is not that of the fire itself, but how they extended and framed the crisis in different contexts.
Hong Kong’s mainstream outlets, including Sing Tao Daily, HK01, Ming Pao and South China Morning Post, framed the fire as a tragic accident compounded by substandard construction materials and failure to comply with fire safety codes. The dominant tone was that of sorrow mixed with an emphasis on community solidarity. Large accounts were given on how it was a devastating moment of loss. Local coverage further reported on how different stakeholders — including the government, businesses, volunteers and celebrities — came together to support the rescue and recovery effort. There was a sense of collective action and unity in supporting the rescue and relief work. Editorials projected the conception of resilience into the future, stressing the need to learn from and prevent another disaster. Sentiment for concrete reform and hope for a better future were mobilised to encourage voting in the Legislative Council election. In terms of attributing responsibility, local media generally cited official press conferences to point out alleged negligence by the construction and property management company.
While criticism of individual contractors was sharp, there was seemingly a conscious avoidance of linking the disaster to broader governance failures. The establishment of an independent commission inquiry was presented as an effective and legitimate mechanism of investigation. Indeed, local commentary limited their calls to faster removal of cladding and better enforcement of fire codes, rarely venturing into questions of democratic oversight. Insofar as the media politicised the fire, they only did it in terms of reporting the Office for Safeguarding National Security’s condemnation and arrest of those allegedly exploiting the tragedy in an attempt to disrupt the city. Local media also covered the Office for Safeguarding National Security’s condemnation and arrest of those allegedly exploiting the tragedy in an attempt to disrupt the city. News reports extensively cited official press releases to warn against sedition and drew parallels to the 2019 protests. No comment was made on freedom of speech and civil liberties. In this framing, the fire is a tragic humanitarian disaster that nonetheless reflects the resilience of Hong Kongers with the hope for reform soon. The narrative is grounded and does not draw sweeping conclusions about systematic failures or political accountability. Speculations are rare, and attribution of blame is often in line with official press conferences and police arrests.
On the other hand, Western outlets such as the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, The New York Times, Associated Press and ABC News emphasised the bamboo scaffolding, the anger of citizens, and the wider political context of Hong Kong after the imposition of the controversial National Security Law. A noticeable pattern here is how many coincidentally shed a spotlight on the risk of bamboo scaffolding. Outlets such as NBC, CNN and The Guardian utilised the striking visual trope of bamboo poles dangling from the façade, often accompanied by headlines describing bamboo scaffolding as at fault and under “scrutiny.” These early reports frequently described the construction technique as “century-old” and “ancient”, reinforcing the impression that the fire’s ferocity was primarily due to an almost exotic building practice.
Journalists, thus, presented an outdated narrative that easily fits into the stereotype that Asian tradition is counterproductive to modern safety. Indeed, bamboo scaffolding, despite being a well-established practice in Hong Kong, could immediately be recognised as unsafe by the Western audience because it departs from the steel framing commonly used in their countries. By November 29 and 30, however, the framing of bamboo scaffolding largely evaporated from Western reporting after preliminary Fire Services briefings and police investigation revealed that inflammable polystyrene boards and protective nets failed to meet safety standards. Most Western outlets quietly dropped the scaffolding angle without explicit correction, shifting their focus to systematic failures in oversight and enforcement of safety codes.
A few, including Associated Press and ABC, later published follow-up pieces acknowledging that locals and experts are defending bamboo scaffolding. The implications of the bamboo misstep are threefold.
First, it reflects visual priming and cultural unfamiliarity, which could temporarily feed into misinformed speculations. Second, the rapid pivot away from bamboo without prominent correction discredits Western media among local readers, resulting in accusations of how Asian stereotypes are entrenched and exacerbate the East-West divide. Third, and probably the most significant, it impacted meaningful conversation about the real policy failure. The ongoing use of inferior materials in public housing maintenance. Before the international gaze had adjusted, the misfocus allowed the Hong Kong authorities to mould the story into an unfortunate but intricate technical issue.
The Politicisation of the Fire
In later stages of reporting, Western media turned their focus on structural problems in a city under tightening political and regulatory control. Across headlines of The Guardian, BBC and ABC, the “anger” of Hong Kongers about the cause of the fire is consistently highlighted. Articles often include interviews that express their disappointment towards the bureaucracy and call it a “man-made disaster” due to corruption in the renovation process. This provided an entry point into connecting the fire to prior controversies over building safety, social inequality, and the consequences of sweeping political changes after 2019.
Public expressions of frustration and fury were also seen as a test of China’s grip on Hong Kong, as reflected in articles published by Reuters, The New York Times and The Washington Post. The international media also highlighted how the fire was politicised by critiquing the local governance and framing it in the wider geopolitical context. The politicisation is made explicit after the national security police arrested Hong Kong university student Miles Kwanon on suspicion of sedition due to his petition for an independent investigation committee and reviewing construction supervision procedures. News reports and analysis from The Guardian, The New York Times, BBC and ABC shifted their focus to the suppression of dissent by the Office for Safeguarding National Security. Critics sharply pointed out the shrinking space of civil liberties and accountability after the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong. This framing turned the local fire into an internationally relevant example of how an autocratic government undermines openness and public confidence. The tragedy became a part of the bigger picture of post-2019 changes in Hong Kong. In fact, the Beijing security agency's summons of foreign journalists merely demonstrates how Western media framed the incident within issues of human rights and liberties. It was evident that the way the fire was framed by Western media placed a strong emphasis on narrative continuity.
The fire in Hong Kong is gradually turning into a tragedy that has been absorbed in the reforms that have been put in place since 2019. Outside, it is becoming incontrovertible evidence of irreparable deterioration. There are two plausible explanations for the disparate framing of the same fire.
First, the political and media ecosystems in which local and Western media operate are different. Given Hong Kong's political climate following the National Security Law's enactment in 2020, local media have become cautious and toe the line. With the definition and scope of some offences in the law broadly defined, journalists worried that they could inadvertently transgress in their practice. A survey in 2023 by the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club found that about 70 percent of journalists in Hong Kong claimed they had self-censored in their articles. With restricted press freedom, the local media largely supported the official narrative, which concentrated on technocratic demands that the established institutions could handle. International newsrooms, on the other hand, can afford to use the fire as a lens to examine systemic problems like corruption, bureaucratic bottlenecks or accountability deficiencies since they are not subject to the same restrictions as local media. This framing aligns with Western ideals of democracy and civil liberties.
Second, the social functions and audience expectations of local and Western outlets are different. The goal of local reporting is to highlight humanitarian efforts and strengthen internal unity. In addition to depoliticising structural concerns and limiting the acceptable space for challenging ingrained bureaucratic norms or governance failures, this helps sustain public trust during an intense period of crisis.
The Politics of Framing
Western media often domesticate the foreign in their news reports. Research has shown that news programs cast far-away events in frameworks that render them comprehensible, appealing and relevant to domestic audiences. This is achieved by constructing the meaning of these events in ways that are compatible with the culture and the ‘dominant ideology’ of the societies they serve. Presenting the situation as a tragedy brought on by the breakdown of accountability provides the moral clarity and indignation that encourage clicks. It also aligns with the democratic values prevalent in the West. It may be useful, geopolitically, to consider it in the larger perspective of Hong Kong's downfall. Such reporting contributes to discussions about international investment, talent acquisition, sanctions, and visa rules among foreign policymakers.
The deepest implication might be found in the growing difference in perception between those who stayed and those who left. The fire has become a source of moral clarity for the diaspora groups. It resembled the Grenfell Tower fire, where combustible cladding, failed evacuation, and inadequate building management exacerbated the casualties, marked as a symbol of corruption and insufficient government oversight. For those who stayed, the same incident is already being incorporated into a larger history of overcoming hardships, serving as further evidence that Hong Kong can persevere despite the world's insistence that it cannot. This discrepancy leads to conflict: Western readers may perceive local news as limited or insufficient, while Hong Kong readers may perceive Western coverage as sensational or politically biased. Each party feels that the other has misinterpreted the problem, which leads to a mutually reinforcing cycle of mistrust.
In the end, Wang Fuk Court's flames not only took lives and destroyed homes, but they also demonstrated how much a single city can now exist in two distinct realities. One reality grieves, reconstructs, and proceeds within familiar but limited boundaries. From a distance, the other mourns and perceives each spark as proof that the city it once knew has already burned to the ground. The same fire created two tales in this divided media landscape, each influenced by its own ecosystem, expectations, and political direction.
Written by Ernest Fung
Edited by Pallavi Pundir
