Beware of China, they are just biding their time and accumulating power. They have no respect for democracy or human rights (much less free speech). They are building up their military power in the South China Sea and are meticulously eliminating any opposition and/or criticism of the ruling class. These people have no qualms of killing millions of their own (life is cheap there), remember the body count of the Great Leap Forward, the unnecessary bloodshed at Tiananmen Square. There is no hesitation of resorting to deadly force if they feel their regime threatened. Things will only get worse for the opposition.
The root cause of all of these is the lacking in the Marxist Leninist Maoist political and economic theories which believes in the means justifying the ends but not the free will of man. What happens in HK is a disproving of that theory 30 years later than the rest of the world. But it would not be possible without the love in the hearts of HK for their young people under persecution in 2014 and the many sacrifices many people have made since. Love never fails. It endures forever. Least the we forget. This contrasts with the hatred and class struggles in these other passe theories. 27 years after the regime send in their tanks to kill the best of their next generation in Tennamen Square, the same one-party dictatorship in all righteousness comes to interpret the law in HK in relation to matters related to democratically elected MP of the next generation spearheaded by a North Korean educated economist 'in charge' of HK in the politburo responsible for the SARS crisis 13 years ago. A guy who lives in his own world. Does this fulfill the international treaties signed on HK and the PRC? All Nations have to decide. HK is a city of All Nations with ramifications on All Nations. This is free will versus political and economic dictatorship. Let us not sit and make this a political SARs, or an economic SARs. PRC reverred leader, Chairman Mao, publicly thanked visiting Japanese politicians for their role in WWII for the rise of the PRC. Nobody could done more than he did.
This article is written from a one-sided, if not plainly erroneous, perspective.
-Treason is not covered under autonomy.
-Autonomy itself is a luxury that Beijing does not have to extend to Hong Kong.
-Hong Kong is within Chinese borders.
China, and much of the emerging world, rejects western notions of "open societies" in favor of forging nationalistic societies that remain unified and aggressive in pursuit of national and ethnic interests. This is the right thing to do.
The West itself got ahead using methods of colonization, exploitation, and systemic inequity. If early modern Europe and America enacted the same level of liberal egalitarianism it does today, both would be backwaters (and deservedly so).
In comparison, the suppression of opinion in China and other places are mild -- and necessary for a nation's development. Like the West, Hong Kong has lived in comfort for much too long, and no longer understands the sacrifices it takes to ensure social stability. With the decline of the West relative to the rest, and the dawn of global nationalism, they will find themselves on the wrong side of history, soon to be forgotten.
-Treason is not covered under autonomy.
-Autonomy itself is a luxury that Beijing does not have to extend to Hong Kong.
-Hong Kong is within Chinese borders.
China, and much of the emerging world, rejects western notions of "open societies" in favor of forging nationalistic societies that remain unified and aggressive in pursuit of national and ethnic interests. This is the right thing to do.
The West itself got ahead using methods of colonization, exploitation, and systemic inequity. If early modern Europe and America enacted the same level of liberal egalitarianism it does today, both would be backwaters (and deservedly so).
In comparison, the suppression of opinion in China and other places are mild -- and necessary for a nation's development. Like the West, Hong Kong has lived in comfort for much too long, and no longer understands the sacrifices it takes to ensure social stability. With the decline of the West relative to the rest, and the dawn of global nationalism, they will find themselves on the wrong side of history, soon to be forgotten.
China's increasing domestic and intl. belligerence is perhaps the most serious threat to the world. But not worry, Trump says he'll negotiate a deal with China. Yes, of course he will... to increase production and margins on his overprices, poor quality chinese imported tchotchke.
In HK where civil servants paid directly or indirectly by taxpayers are used to make decisions and govern them, where a dictatorship who is out of touch with reality calls the shot and consistently and persistently trys to deprive the next generation for their civil and political rights. The young people of HK are one of the smartest and most educated in the world because of their culture and the freedom they enjoy. Their righteous anger and sacrifices speak of the gravity of the whole situation. They fight for themselves and the next generation of the whole free world. History will tell us that. The civil service paid by them and their parents and grandparents are supposed to be used to protect the people of HK, not to message the ego of a dictatorship who is out of touch with reality. They are supposed to be protected by an international treaty but are left to defend their rights against the civil service they paid for and a world that stand idly. In HK, an oligarchy can pay peanuts to groom lawmakers loyal to them to attain majority in the Parliament and make use of the city's resources in every way benefical to them even if it means everthing the people don't want, and leave the people with peanuts. That is sure win and good business. It happens in communications, in the press, in politics... The protesters in HK are trying to break that vicious cycle with their righteous anger and their sacrifices for years now. Where there is no justice, there is no peace.
China has the right but not the ability to interpret the Basic Law. Hence it's interpretation in not binding. By consistently depriving the next generation of their right to freedom of speech, freedom to stand for election and to take office, it amounts to modern day slavery in a one-party dictatorship for all eternity. HK voters have spoken and must be honored by the Basic Law.
PRC has the right but not the ability to interpret the Basic Law that governs HK. And that is precisely where the problem is. The North Korean-educated economist in the politburo who is spearheading the interpretation of the electoral law in HK, one of the largest financial Centre in the free world, was widely believed in HK to be responsible for the SARs outbreak in China under his watch, and its subsequent spread into HK and around the world. The decease turned HK into a ghost town and almost compromised the largest health care system in Canada and many around the world. SARs were eventually contained in HK over the dead bodies of many heroic health care professionals and researchers cooperating and racing around the clock in HK and around the world to know and treat the decease. 13 years later, HK is in a political SARs again, this time with judicial and financial ramifications. Would it trigger a 'Chee-implode'? Please note this is a generally accepted financial terms used in 21st Century HK for financial discussions, not a derogatory term used by warlords in China who are long gone. Most likely. Would persecuting the 2 young legislators and their cause save China? No, because it is against human nature. There are already angry protests by student representatives from all higher education institutions in HK. They're the next generation from a world financial centre. They told the city, China and the world they have nowhere to turn anymore.
There is no question that the harsh reprisals had a chiing effect on book publishers. But hey, business is business. The print media, whether pro or against the mainland government, are experiencing declining readership. Which explains why so many print publishers are going out of business, and online bloggers are still thriving - the law of supply and demand.
Hong Kong's autonomy has always been under threat.
As long as it makes economic sense for China to maintain HK as it is, they will do so. When China decides it no longer makes sense to maintain HK, they'll shut the place down just as quickly as an unlicensed noodle vendor.
Eventually they'll have the Spratly's built up to where they want it. Then they'll start to swing the gate shut. Probably around the same time they inform Taiwan their day is done.
I also suspect China thinks of the Spratly's as a futuristic Guangzhou for a Canton System. Control the trade from the south.
Taiwan will gate the north.
Does anyone here really want to get into a shooting war with China?
As long as it makes economic sense for China to maintain HK as it is, they will do so. When China decides it no longer makes sense to maintain HK, they'll shut the place down just as quickly as an unlicensed noodle vendor.
Eventually they'll have the Spratly's built up to where they want it. Then they'll start to swing the gate shut. Probably around the same time they inform Taiwan their day is done.
I also suspect China thinks of the Spratly's as a futuristic Guangzhou for a Canton System. Control the trade from the south.
Taiwan will gate the north.
Does anyone here really want to get into a shooting war with China?
If PRC tried to stop booksellers from publishing books of political entertainment for the citizens of their own country by kidnapping them from HK, it is not stopping itself or its many fractions to buy up newspapers in HK and publish dailies of Cultural Revolution style reporting on political intrigues, innuendos and Marxist style purges and infighting in the CCP oligarchy for the entertainment of HK readers. But they are seen as just that, entertainment, Soviet style. Nobody in their right mind in HK or anywhere else, barred one, would think of kidnapping them. HK is not China. That is what it means. If it were, HK people would be going around the world kidnapping the equivalents of the publishers of Vanity Fair, George magazine, National Enquirer, News of the World ... to achieve the Brave New World. And that is only politically. That is why the city of All Nations were on the street for 79 days 2 years ago and in the Parliament now. If that voice is silenced, it would be injustice. The rest of the world would have to carry on their own and make the sacrifices these people make with their conscience.
Lee Bo, a British citizen, disappeared in HK only to show up in China; and have since returned to HK to give up his British citizenship. Most believed it is probably out of duress and legally not binding. Same with the chairperson of the Parliament who has much closer ties and history with Britain. All Hong Kongers are victims. But God gave man free will and made us in His image and likeness, that is our saving grace. We see that in the bookseller who speaks out in hiding; and in the young Legislators who run on empty to speak out for their constituents, and by extension, the good of the world. Pray for the Communists who most in need of God's mercy.