Hong Kong’s Retreat Chips Away at Xi Jinping’s Iron Image

I wonder how long it will be before Carrie Lam joins her husband in England. She was going to do it on retirement but it might be time for her to get out now.

China is essentially making the same mistakes made 600 years ago when it burned the grand fleet. Because China was developing from such a low base and because its stole so much intellectual property and because the United States was so accommodating in terms of allowing it to do all this it has so far had good growth, although most economists will tell you they think that the Chinese growth numbers are false and that really there has been little real growth since 2009. Essentially, China is like an old man who got a bottle of Viagra. He feels young... at least in his self image. But the reality is, he's still an old man with concreted positions and out-of-date worldview.

Surely, China is not finished with this the Hong Kong revolution about extradition to Mainland China for trial. After the last Hong Kong revolution, its leaders were arrested and jailed some what later. And, the outcome is like to have some kind of harsh extradition component.

Every western company should make clear that they will cease operations in Hong Kong if it is absorbed by mainland China. Anyone enjoying living in a democratic country should inform these companies that if they stay after mainland China enforces it’s will, they will be boycotted

Xi, as Putin, are correct in fearing foreign ideas: communist revolutions in both happened because of them.

Carrie Lam is Hong Kong's version of Mitch McConnell. And, Xi Jinping is China's version of Donald Trump.

When we hear phrases like Xi as "China's all-powerful leader" we need to translate that into simple social and political terms: a regime that is deeply fearful of its people, knowing that if they have unfettered access to the larger world of dialogue, they will see backwardness of a society holding on to a history of "dynasty" rule -- even if sugar coated with the modernity of having assimilated Marx's extension of the Western Enlightenment. The wheels of Party power greased and princeling status return China to is old-world dynastic mode of rule. This cannot be the future... for any society.. has politically regressive as the "Kingdom" of the Saudi's or as demographically huge as China.

My question is if the NYT China desk has been watching the mainland to see if China is mobilizing any PLA divisions to march on Hong Kong and restore order, or moving any naval assets into the region. Personally, i am suprised this has gone on this long, i expected Xi to order some air force flybys and a show of military might right outside of hong kong, but that may be a western viewpoint. I hope the NYT desk keeps in contact with the leaders of this movement to see if in the next 6 months to a year, to report on any disappearances that this movement experiences, china may be letting people speak up, to then conduct irregular rendition to the mainland to snuff out all opposition in the island.

It will be great to see China liberated from the stranglehold of the communist party. Who knows what kind of prosperity and peace China can spread around the world once the communist party is extinguished for all the pain it has caused.

Xi is a board chairman, nothing more. He can do what all chairmen do, set agenda and call for votes, but that's it. As an individual official, he has less than 10% of President Trump's (or any US president's) monarchical power. The idea that Hong Kong, which endured a century of brainwashing by an unscrupulous international drug cartel and whose population ranks it as a Third Tier Chinese city, will bother him is nonsense. So is the idea that Hong Kong should not extradite criminals–especially to mainland China, which has one of the best criminal justice systems on earth. Instead of our system, which executes 1,000 of us each year without trial and imprisons 2,000,000–also without trial–China provides trials for all accused, its unarmed cops don't kill people, its jails are comparatively empty and its streets far safer than ours. This is just silly, futile propaganda, doomed to fail like all our efforts to badmouth China.

The Chinese government , if anything, is patient. That is not good for Hong Kong. Xi will have any kind of unrest suffocated in due time.

"“This further chips away at the image of Xi as an all-powerful, omnicompetent and visionary leader,” Mr. Blanchette added." Strongmen like Xi, and to a certain extent our "dear leader" here, usually cede to public opinion for a short time until lowering the boom. Strongmen may give the impression they are for the people, when their policies decidedly aren't. I don't believe the Chinese leader will tolerate it for long. There will be a day of reckoning for Hong Kong despite the promise of 50 years of relative autonomy, because Xi sees the former protectorate has his, and his alone. Hong Kong's worst days lie ahead, when the extradition bill will be reactivated. Postponement isn't concession or a strategy. The strategy is to get Hong Kong into the Chinese fold of misinformation, alternative reality, and political control in order to stifle all dissent. All this gives me a sense of dread, as the desire for democracy seems more impotent every day.

Hopefully Xi will learn the right lessons from this - that the will of HK's people be respected and the handover terms respected, and that he practice patience and respect in other related matters such as with the relationship with Taiwan. Unlikely though still hoped for that he will learn to respect and treasure all the people of China including those in in Xin Jiang and Tibet.