We have been observing the protests in Hong Kong for many weeks as it evolves further into anarchy. With every subsequent protest, things are getting from bad to worse. Both sides have refused to blink or come to the negotiation table at all.
Let me provide an outsider’s viewpoint on this first, then I will try to put myself in their shoes to try to understand their side of the story. While I may be biased, I will nevertheless try to lay out the facts for discussion.
In a recent study, it was found that most of the protestors were young Millenials. Most are protecting for the first time. The movement has grown in size as more students come into the picture. This seems to be a well-organized operation as they use social media and Telegram in particular to mobilize the troops. The yellow hard hat/mask and a black T-shirt is the common identifier for them. One wonders who is supplying this equipment as they cost a few hundred HKD each. The core team seems to have shadowy sources currently providing them with financial support.
The protests are getting more violent and rowdy but thankfully, there are no fatalities yet. The aim so far has been to disrupt and then disperse. The damage to the financial centre status of HK is becoming severe and the business slowdown is hitting the tourism industry hard.
What do they want? They want China to give them full democracy and the opportunity to elect HK officials. Yet they are not willing to come to the negotiating table to discuss.
Are their demands reasonable? The British who have ruled HK for over 156 years have never given them democracy. HK was the prize for them after the opium wars. When they handed HK back to China in 1997, they tried to negotiate a treaty on the behalf of the HK people, promising future democracy which China had never agreed to. A 50 years period of one country, 2 systems rule was agreed upon and now 22 years have passed as we reach the midpoint.
The younger generation, feeling a sense of hopelessness, now wants to aggressively push the democracy agenda. China will never allow this to happen as the consequence of this will have a ripple effect on its 1 billion population and the Taiwan issue. It is too idealistic to want full-on democracy if your country has never had it before in its history of existence. Neither will your new parent allow it, because it will not.
Where does this leave us? The protestors have to dig deep into themselves and understand what they are fighting for. Is it for the future of HK? Is it to fight the inequality the common people are experiencing, versus the rich elite? Is it to have more public housing? With a more realistic set of demands, they should engage the HK government to negotiate. One should take baby steps and learn to crawl before you run.
Until this happens, HK is spiralling into a deep hole where there will be no winners. The confrontation will just get more violent. Eventually, deaths will occur and China will say “enough is enough” and bring in the big guns.
While I sympathize with the HK youth on their sense of hopelessness, they have to take control of the situation. Unknown forces are manoeuvring them to their own selfish goals. HK has now become a safe haven of criminals around the world as it is virtually impossible to extradite anyone from HK to another country to face criminal punishment. There are areas in HK that the locals have told me that we should not go at night for personal safety reasons. The law the Carrie Lam wanted to push through was to address this. They even had a set of rules to prevent it from being abused. Yet it was rejected as the protestors believe that there is always a possibility that an innocent person can land back in China.
By the way, China doesn’t need this law. They have already been “persuading” individuals to return back to China to face corruption charges for years. People have suddenly disappeared from around the world and reappeared in China “singing” confessions. So why is there resistance to the new law? It is for the safety of all citizens and could have been further tightened to ensure that it will not be abused. Yet it was firmly rejected by the protestors without exploring possible options to further tighten it.
I fear for HK as a country. Its success for the last 40 years was solely due to that fact that it became a gateway to and from China. As Deng Xiaoping opened China to the world, it needed a conduit. HK fitted that bill and had enjoyed the prosperity ever since, as a global financial centre for anyone that wanted access to the China motherland. It was a necessary evil for communist China then. Since then, HK has lost its prominence as China develops. Cities like Shanghai are slowly taking over HK’s role. This protest anarchy saga has just accelerated its decline.
Leave a Reply