From the Shadows, China’s Communist Party Mobilizes Against Hong Kong Protests

The government supporters all showing their face without any obstacle. Most violent protesters all wear mask or gas mask. From this viewpoint, It is quite clear who is/are doing the bad things.

The Chinese Communist Party is the world's most powerful oligarchy and as such it will do as any oligarch will do; it will insure its power and do all that it can to increase it. This is as it is in America or in Russia. The only way to approach the Communist Party in China is to show it the value of increasing the rights and strength of its people as the people will then know that their lives will improve. But, the 1% who control the Communist Party of China will not seed their power to Chinese working and middle class people. The only true course is to have the workers unite in both countries in as much as they see and agree on the ways that they are exploited. This is a brand new paradigm and it transcends national borders. This is something Bernie will have to embrace when he works on the "problem" with China.

China has a one-party political system, that was established when Mao’s peasant army defeated the US- supported ‘nationalists’. That party is the Chinese Communist party and since Hong Kong is part of China, its influence is obviously felt there. That’s not even news.

A lot of complex history here and no simple answers. The issue remains Hong Kong's special status and conviction of the rest of China that Hong Kong was a part of China that the Brits ripped away because of the then-China's weakness and folly.

Extrapolating from the number of comments on most of the China articles, many fewer Americans are interested in what's coming out of Beijing than what's happening in Washington. I guess that's understandable. But it also seems to be changing, and the faster the better. The biggest threat to the freedoms Americans have today isn't global warming, The Wall, gun control, Russia, or even Trump. It's the dictatorship in Beijing. If you are reading this, you're likely aware of what's happening there. But how many of your friends and family are? Click the share button and send the Times's China articles around. The days of American isolation are past, like it or not, Trump or not. We should be as woke about Beijing as we are about our domestic issues.

Not everybody in HK supports rioters. Not everybody in HK has forgotten how to be Chinese. The central government should push back hard to suppress rioters. Freedom of speech is one thing, overthrowing the HK government by force is another: that's called an insurrection. It won't work. And despite all the US wicked support via shadowy NGOs (ie CIA) this rebellion will be crushed. Because it is not a grass root revolution, it is instigated and funded by a mega rich tycoon; he and his buddies should really worried to be arrested for treason. The Chinese have been handling the situation with kid gloves from the start. Police have been restrained -no one has been shot- no troops have moved in, the business of HK will be handled by HK people. Had riots like these happened in the US, there would be dozens of casualties. Go on believing your poetic liberal democratic dream all you want; what's happening in HK is not that.

When people protest against China, we call it a pro democracy manifestation by the citizens of HongKong. When others demonstrate their dissatisfaction against Hong Kong protests, we call it China's Communist Party Mobilization. What's the impartiality in it?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-identity-china-edward-leung.html "A group called Hong Kong Indigenous, in which Mr. Leung was a leading activist, began harassing mainland shoppers in what it called “retake” actions. Hong Kong’s colonial-era flag became a banner of resistance in what at times became an ugly xenophobic campaign against mainlanders, with some Hong Kongers dehumanizing them as “locusts.” " And there you have it. The truth of what these protesters really are and what they are about. Hong Kong's answer to Trump supporters. In the 80s and 90s, Hong Kong was the most prosperous Chinese city and served as China’s window to the outside world. Now it has lost that special status and its GDP has fallen behind neighboring Shenzhen, a former fish village and other major Chinese cities on the mainland. For the longest time Hong Kongers looked down on their mainland cousins as country bumpkins, but as their fortunes stagnated and the mainlanders became the new Beverly Hillbillies they became resentful. Like besieged Trump supporters they fall back on their identity as a source of superiority. For Hong Kongers it’s their British colonial identity. Make Hong Kong great again?

Everyone lives in a free society can distinguish what is a voice from the people, what is a voice from a state-controlled propaganda. However, the mainland Chinese don't know how to distinguish the two, coz they are preached from early childhood the "absolute truth" that the CCP represents the people and China. Under that "truth", all against the CCP is distorted as against China or the people. Therefore they are unable to recognise higher principles like freedom and democracy. This is why the CCP trolls confront the HKers without realising they are defending a ruling party in a one-party state, which holds up an entirely different values -- defending the CCP's dictatorship with whatever barbarian means. HKers are lauded and supported around the world because they are Vox Populi, and that is Vox Dei, the supreme. Go! HKers!

This report is typically "my enemy's enemy is my friend." Washington Post headline: "Trump drops pretense of friendship with China’s Xi Jinping, calls him an ‘enemy." Following the white supremacist's lead, Americans left & right support his Yellow-Peril Red-Scare attacks. China is the enemy. Nobody fault Americans for supporting their president. Yet they cast suspicions about Chinese citizens who support China and Xi. Hypocrisy has never been far away from American politics and its media. Confirmation Bias easily overcome any attempt for fair and balanced reporting. Brainwashed by the ideology of universal suffrage democracy, which gave Brexit to the Brits and Donald Trump to Americans, western reporters can only see Hong Kong protest as “huge & peaceful”, and excused “violent hooligans” waving the Union Jack & Yankee flags. A Hong Kong “Baptist” University "scholar" adds a voice to discredit peace loving Hong Kong citizens who dare to oppose the thugs. This report keeps insinuating that citizens who love China out of patriotic feeling are not “registered political organization member” and thus they “pass themselves off as regular residents.” Why should they? By contrast, not a word to condemn the thugs who hide their faces behind masks, provoke & attack the police. Their aim is to destroy Hong Kong, fully aware that China will never yield to their demands. Finally, what good is universal suffrage democracy in Hong Kong when it’ll all come to an end in 2047?

From the shadows, America's Capitalist Party Mobilizes in Support of Hong Kong Riots. Just sayin'..

Is there anyone to believe the 50yrs moratorium running from 1997 to 2047 is viable, tenable, realistic ? Isn't it time to plan and roll out the relocation of the HK banking system to, say, nearby Taiwan ? Why TW indeed ? Well, because it is Chinese, at least as much as Singapore, and because it is NOT Singapore, and given the PRC's aquatic ambitions in the region it might be all the best to spread the financial assets. It is sad for HK people who may feel themselves left behind, but seriously, as the Chinese proverb puts it : Trees cannot move, humans can. It is time to start moving away en masse from HK. I'm sure Taiwan would be a sensational global finance hub.

Liberal democracy argues that people can never be perfected to suit the presumptions of Marx’s utopia. The Communists’ entire justification for their authoritarian totalitarian system is to bring about that transformation of man. The Hong Kong demonstrations must be suppressed and never allowed to effect any changes or the Communists are in trouble.

Speaking of shadows, I'm no fan of masks and believe in transparency. I support self-determination for Hong Kong but I prefer to see the faces of people whom I'm rooting for.

Deng Xiaoping ended communism as an economic theory in China when he implemented socialism with Chinese characteristics aka capitalism. 'It does not matter whether a cat is black or white. As long as it catches mice' 'To become rich is glorious' Deng Xiaoping China's form of democracy implemented by Deng Xiaoping is a collective term-limited leadership. Xi Jinping has upended that model by choosing to reign and rule until death like a Chinese emperor. Hong Kong is a legacy of the British Empire's humiliation of ethnic Manchu minority Qing Dynasty ethnic Han Chinese majority. There is no more a Hong Kong nation than there is a Puerto Rican or Guam nation. Or there was an Alaskan or Hawaiian nation. Taiwan as a nation is also a myth.

what is described as "violence" by the protestors is an average day at the mall in America.. they know what free speech and democracy is, and what was agreed to with the Basic Law.. and in spite of their near powerlessness against the interests of the most powerful totalitarian organization on Earth, they remain essentially polite and well organized in demanding what they are owed.. RESPECT

Why those people who don't like the violent group of the protestors have to be described as pro-Beijing, I believe there are many out there like me who neither like those violent protestors nor the Communist party

One country but two systems. Keep your word.

Friends living on the Chinese mainland often complain to me about the anti-Chinese bias in the American media. This article makes their point. Following the 1997 handover, Hong Kong became PART of China. If the international community didn't want Hong Kongers to lose their freedom, that was the time to act. Imagine if the 5 boroughs of New York were to demonstrate for an exemption from the constitutionally mandated requirement that those accused of felonies be extradited to the state where the alleged crime occurred. Imagine further that the rhetoric of the demonstrators suggested that they wanted autonomy from US laws in general, or to became independent of the US. The US fought a bloody civil war to prevent this. Should the NY demonstrations grow, it is certain that the National Guard would be called in to quell protests (see Kent State). The population of Hong Kong is about 7.7 million, the population of China, 1.8 billion. Does anyone think that 0.25% of Chinese should be allowed to have their own set of laws? That's exactly how mainlanders see it, a small set of wealthy Chinese, having lived for years under British Colonial rule, don't want to be part of China. The party has not brainwashed the country, citizens all over China deeply dislike Hong Kongers for what they see as elitism. Of course, I see it from the viewpoint of Hong Kongers; they want FREEDOM. But I see it also from the view of Beijing; they are not going to allow Hong Kong to separate from China.

It's really interesting that Beijing relies so heavily on Fujian-affiliated associations in Hong Kong. Obviously they don't feel confident relying on Guangdong-affiliated associations. Aside from the fact the CCP expects that Fujianese are less likely to identify with the Cantonese [i.e. Guangzhou/ Guangdong] majority in Hong Kong, I suspect the Fujianese are also being used to promote the reach of the CCP into Taiwan (which is culturally and linguistically Fujianese).

Chinese Communist Party rule is, effectively, a theocracy. They believe they own the Truth. Members believe only they have the right to rule China. Like clerics, they are accountable only to their own doctrines, not the people they subjugate. They should study the the Enlightenment and the loss of secular power by the Catholic clergy. Any ruling group that believes it has a monopoly on truth and a divine mandate to control what others think or believe is ultimately anti-human. Fundamentally, the protesters are fighting this monopoly power, not with guns but simply with their vast numbers of people who want to forever "breathe free." It is precisely that freedom that has made Hong Kong the financial success it is - and why many from the mainland move there to enjoy its benefits.

It is useful to characterize an organization like the Chinese United Front in Hong Kong. According to this article: "The party, operating in the shadows through individuals and organizations, is driving an increasingly firm pushback against the antigovernment protests..." If the group were to operate openly as a bona-fide political party, then it can rightfully be identified as a political movement. However, if it works covertly in the shadows, using methods of intimidation, vigilantism and favoritism, then it is closer to 'fifth column' activity. 'Tollgate vigilantism' is a more recent term that describes underground activity centered around key (tollgate) positions in Government, academia, and in State and Federally funded jobs program. The method virtually controls all professions that would benefit from these programs. Here is a definition for 'Tollgate vigilantism': "A subjective tollgate implemented by an individual or group for deciding admission, employment, or the award of a bid or benefit. It is used when a decision is controversial, illegal or maintained as a secret. It is based upon duplicitous criteria, meaning that an overt interpretation of the rules is made to fit the covert decision of the individual or group. Thus, a necessary requirement is that the covert decision is non-transparent. For example, voter disenfranchisement of a particular group by an election judge based upon a biased interpretation of the voting laws."

I have a tremendous amount of respect for all the people demonstrating in Hong Kong. They are not only brave, but very, very smart. They are on the World's biggest stage and know it. This is their only real protection, and they are exploiting it for the betterment of all the people who live there. Also, they are a model for what people can do without guns; almost anywhere. For me, I am thinking specifically of right here in the USA, versus Donald Trump. In practice, it would not work. There are way too many "LEOs" (law enforcement officers), many of whom are not trained for a situation like in Hong Kong. The LEOs also have far too many guns and worse: the wrong frame of mind, especially in non-urban environments.

I have complained elsewhere about the slant in these articles, and the tendency to quote protesters uncritically. However, I would like to provide some general colour - Hong Kong is generally working round the disturbances and there is only really a risk of injury if you choose to go to one of the illegal confrontations (police sadly have no choice in the matter). Another article in this issue of the NY Times describes the fact that life goes on and this is quite true. Over the last few months, I have only really been slightly disrupted by the “general strike” which delayed colleagues from getting in to work (probably two-thirds made it in and still others worked from home). The rest of the time my life has been pretty much unchanged. Once I came across a group of black-masked youths (male and female) preparing to assault a police station, where other young people (police) were preparing their defence, removing items that the protesters could throw at them. Those small things make you want to cry, though.

Thank you for highlighting the political position of the elite. I would like to read more about what its members would lose if Hong Kong became really democratic. Because I think it is not (just) Beijing the issue, but these local wealthy Chinese people, who have prospered under two colonial systems and thartwed democratic reforms all along.

My city is a true representation of the richness and rewards that we all enjoy because of our cultural diversity. Every day I count myself lucky to live here and am proud that all who live here have the right to express their culture and their political beliefs without fear of retaliation by an oppressive state. Recently, however, the long arm of the PRC has demonstrated that not all respect these freedoms in this Canadian democracy. After recent demonstrations against the actions of the pro PRC forces in Hong Kong, every poster I have seen outlining the concerns of these protesters was spray painted over in black, every one. Protesters have expressed concern about their own safety. Reporting in our local paper stated that PRC supporters and counter protesters were intimidating them by video taping and taking photos of these individuals. Whether these actions and tactics come from a deep and passionate commitment to a homeland or fear of reprisals if dictates from the PRC are not followed it is, in my opinion a systematic effort to undermine the freedom of expression in my country and it concerns me deeply.

We all are biased one way or many other ways. I am biased as follows. I have empathy toward anti CCP people because they may well be feeling like me: I do not want to be pressed, controlled, told what to think and say, and watched over by any authoritarian regime.

I'm very surprised that no NY Times article has mentioned that there hasn't been a definitive survey on where the population currently stands on these protests. Definitely there's a lot of people (up to a 1MM strong) that either are protesting or are in support of the protesters but it's equally definitely unclear whether they are the majority (7MM people in HK)...especially as the level of violence has increased. Even sitting here, it's hard to tell. It's also clear that many of those that support an end to the violence are not secret Communist Party members or even fans of the Communist Party...both spectrums are filled with people that love HK. These 12 weeks have been traumatic for a unusually peaceful city and deepens a financial downturn that already had been in play due to the US-China Trade War. And aside from commentators from the global reporting outlets, I don't think there's a big fear that the PLA is going to come out of their garrisons or cross over from Shenzhen. It is inevitable that a lot of people will begin to lose their jobs and potentially, a repeat of the financial tsunami that hit Hong Kong in 1998 during the Asian Financial Crisis. Rather than support any side, hopefully people globally tell both sides that it's time to sit down and talk rather than have HK people fighting on the street with each other...even the police are just regular HK'ers.

In mainland China the population has bartered their freedom for happiness In Hong Kong, the population chooses freedom over happiness.

So its Capitalism that want. Shameful; the hearts of hedge fund managers.

Unless they were making money hand over fist, would anyone actually choose to live in PRC, raise and educate their children there? Youngsters in HK know the PRC is in no way an attractive life-option; therefore, they protest against PRC's increasingly invasive grip. They strive to be different, to distinguish themselves from the drab party-line of life over the border. We should encourage them, as life PRC-style is just not where it's at for most of the world's population.

Expat in HK: Like many other articles this starts with a certain world view and fits all the facts to it. I am reminded of the claims of “weapons of mass destruction” that were faithfully repeated by the press. No, this is not simply a struggle between good pro-democracy people and an evil empire. There are deep divisions inside Hong Kong, and China is a highly influential player that is nonetheless on the sidelines with regard to the people of Hong Kong. There are significant numbers of HKers who don’t like the protests, but are not necessarily “pro-Beijing”. There is a false dichotomy being drawn by these journalists who only interview protesters, as far as I can see. And there is no careful analysis. There may be some astroturfing, but no attempt has been made to evaluate it. It is simply stated as fact. Reader beware. Well, my observation is that the large gathering to support the police was essentially pro law and order, pro-Chinese (all were Chinese), but not “pro-Communist” as such. Most want law and order to be restored to the system that we have already. The protest crowds are definitely larger than the pro law and order crowds, but I sense that they are mostly trying to “stick it to the man”. The crowds are largely MAGA Brexit affairs, afraid of the future, afraid of the CCP, afraid of immigration and annoyed with government. And some of the protesters are violent, and have been from the beginning. Note that photos always portray the police in a bad light.

The use of the term covert is inaccurate, and reflects more of the author's own bias. The CCP and its members do not need to operate covertly in HK, as the CCP is not and illegal political entity. What is different in Hong Kong nowadays, as compared to 50 years ago, is there are many privately-owned, semi-privately owned, semi-state-owned and state owned business and other entities that have operations in Hong Kong as well as in China. Most of these businesses and entities are interested in making money, and many of them were set up to facilitate imports and exports. Like many US business, these Chinese entities us HK as a place to avoid Chinese taxes, park some of their foreign earnings, and to expand the reach of their business overseas. The fact that Chinese who commit crime in HK can be tried under Chinese law is also a significant threat to these business, and they are certainly motivated to help to quash that rule. But the demonstrations have now morphed into an Anti-Chinese campaign, and a campaign that not hurts the bottom line of all Hong Kong based operations of companies owned by Chinese interests, but also hurt all companies that have business interests in or with businesses in China. As this Anti-Chinese wave of demonstrations continue, more and more firms will likely shift their Hong Kong based operations elsewhere, further compounding the difficulties of getting good jobs in Hong Kong.

This is not going to end well. Trump is once again ahead of the curve. When the last shoe drops we will have already pulled out of trade with the Chinese government which of course will be seen as the bad guy aggressor and oh boy will all the nations pile on. Their economies will take a hit as they scramble to find suppliers meanwhile back in the states everyone will be scratching their heads trying to figure out how Trump knew. And he’ll laugh all the way to another term.

China has a history of being an Empire for four millennia, and the Chinese people are learning the same lessons about Empire which the German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, British, French and all other people who have lived under Empire have more recently learned: which is as the late great Jewish intellectual, Hannah Arendt, warned her own German people about in the 20th century: “Empire abroad entails tyranny at home” When the “Times” reports here, “Much of this suspicion dates to the colonial period, when the underground party orchestrated a campaign of rioting and bombings in 1967. The violence so revolted the public, already wary of Mao Zedong’s revolution, that even many who considered themselves patriots came to see the Communist Party as sinister and dangerous“, it set the stage for a rejection of those 4000 years of Empires. And when Xi Jinping promised that he would implement “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, not only the Hong Kong youthful protestors, but all mainland Chinese people, are moving toward ‘social democracy’ and/or ‘democratic socialism’ — as have all advanced country citizens of ‘our’ world. Any violent suppression of the people of Hong Kong, or the Chinese people in general would, IMHO, make Xi Jinping as unpopular globally as Emperor Trump!

PRC-style life is just not an attractive option for many young people in Hong Kong. They were not brought up brainwashed by the party, you see. They are a tiny force, a David, struggling against a Goliath. Is it any wonder the so-called 'free world' waxes sympathetic? China is just not an attractive place to lead one's life, if one has experienced life outside its boundaries.

Continental China, by way of it's authoritarian Communist Party, is afraid of it's own shadow, hence, trying it's 'best' (really?) to prevent it's people from thinking for themselves, and see the light. What a waste of talent, while the thrashing of human rights goes on, uninterrupted. Unless Xi, a smart man, realizes he is shooting his own foot by not allowing freedom and justice to show up, it shall never reach the level of self-respect, let alone the respect of the world. Not that these United States' capitalism is perfect; far from it; but at least we can, if we so choose, to think, act,and express ourselves freely. And that makes all the difference. And Hong Kong is just that, a bastion of freedom, worth defending.

Just because there are people in the street does not make protests progressive, worker-based or for the people’s interests. Jimmy Lai, aka the Rupert Murdoch of HK, the self-described “head of opposition media,” has been spending millions to build the movement and giving a lot of media time to the anti-China rhetoric. He has had meetings with Bolton, Pence, and Pompeo as well as with neocons in the Senate, Marco Rubio, and Tom Cotton. If the protesters were focused on workers rights, they would be demanding an end to, or at least reform of, the neoliberal capitalism of Hong Kong that is dominated by big financial interests and corruption.

Western views of the CCP as a monolithic source of power are fortunately flawed. The approximate 100 million members of the Communist Party would make it the 14th or 15th largest nation in the world. Likely most are members based on economic, not political considerations. No institution that large walks in lock-step. What is happening in HK is bad for business. HK elites are motivated the same as elites in Shanghai, Beijing and Washington: profits. The CCP need not incite greed; it is human nature. In HK the mantras of Democracy and Freedom are the two hollow containers of the Capitalist shell game played in every world city. Mess with the third shell on the street corner and the table is folded and the game ends, money grasped, shells discarded.