Cathay Pacific apologises over inflight Family Guy episode with Tiananmen Square scene | Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s flagship airline, Cathay Pacific, has apologised over the inclusion of a Family Guy episode in its inflight entertainment system that features a scene depicting Tiananmen Square.

The airline told the South China Morning Post it had apologised to customers after a complaint was raised on social media that the episode might breach Hong Kong’s national security laws.

“We emphasise that the programme’s content does not represent Cathay Pacific’s standpoint and have immediately arranged to have the programme removed as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for the carrier told the outlet.

The US animated comedy series is known for pushing boundaries and sensitivities. In the seven-second scene, main character Peter Griffin is depicted standing next to a protester in front of a line of Chinese tanks – mirroring famous scenes of an unknown individual now known as “Tank Man” that were captured during the Chinese military massacre of student protesters on 4 June 1989 in Beijing.

Cathay Pacific told SCMP it had ordered its third-party provider to thoroughly investigate and strengthen oversight.

The Tiananmen massacre is one of the most sensitive topics inside China and is strictly censored. For three decades Hong Kong hosted an annual vigil, with sometimes hundreds of thousands attending to mourn the victims by candlelight.

However in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests in 2019, Hong Kong and Chinese authorities launched a sweeping crackdown on opposition and dissent, and introduced draconian national security legislation. People attempting to organise or attend Tiananmen vigils of any size since 2020 have been prosecuted, although some government officials say private markings of the date are acceptable.

The crackdown has targeted activism and politics, as well as academia and culture in Hong Kong. Any depiction or reference to the protests or related subjects are considered highly sensitive.

In January, Amazon Prime’s blockbuster TV series – Expats – was released everywhere except in the city it was set, Hong Kong. The series featured scenes from the 2014 protest movement.

And in 2021, Disney+ launched in Hong Kong, but with a missing episode from The Simpsons. The missing episode depicted Tiananmen Square, and a plaque that reads “On this site, in 1989, nothing happened”.