When you take away all legitimate choices, what remains?
The situation in Hong Kong has quickly been spiraling out of control. At first, protestors were using the phrase “Hong Kong people, try harder!”. Then, after escalated violence from the police it turned into “Hong Kong people, resist!”. Finally, after more escalation from police and protestors, it’s turned into Hong Kong people, revenge!”
Why? Are the protestors right to be falling into violence when previously they managed to bring 2 million peaceful protestors to the streets?Are they making the situation worse? Should they stop their current path and work towards a better negotiation process with the Hong Kong leadership?This can only be answered by knowing the full context of why the protests are taking place, how serious the situation is for the youth protesting, and understanding just how weak their situation is.
So what’s worth reading? What gives a good sense of where these protestors are strategically and emotionally? Vox’s piece “9 questions about the Hong Kong protests you were too embarrassed to ask” gives one of the better and more concise introductions into where this all started. Sinica’s discussion with Jerome Cohen gives yet another lived history of the background. “It is a war here now” and “Hong Kong should not be like this” give an on the ground view of what protestors in Hong Kong are experiencing.
Some key issues from all that material centers around Hong Kong’s struggle for universal suffrage. Currently, the people of Hong Kong are not able to fully elect or nominate members of the Legislative council, and in some cases, they can only vote on candidates approved by an election council that is strongly in favor of the Chinese Communist Part. Further, the CCP pre-screens all candidates for their Chief Executive. Even worse, the people of Hong Kong have no process or rights to remove a Chief Executive. Even worse, there exists no organization capable of addressing abuses of power. Worst of all, the Chinese Community Party has been asserting it has the sole power to interpret and rescind Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the people of Hong Kong have no say in this process.
So where does this context lead to the perspective of the protestors? My reading of the situation is that the protestors are losing access to all legitimate means of securing the future they want for Hong Kong. They spent six months mostly protesting peacefully in large numbers. They’ve peacefully protested and worked within the political system since at least 2014 when the Chinese Community Party first decided to pre-screen all candidates for Hong Kong’s highest office.
But during that time, the CCP has restricted key voices in a peaceful democratic movement from participating in the Legislative Council. Pro democracy lawmakers in the LegCo have been charged with violating the law while resisting Carrie Lam’s attempt to force the extradition bill into law. Mostly peaceful protestors were challenged by riot police, deemed rioters, and arrested. Peaceful protestors have been shot more than once.
The protestors are clearly giving into violence, but only after being pushed further and further by the police force. The same police force that should be acting according to the rule of law and adhering to key rights stated in the Basic Law. The youth have further had their promised rights continuously taken back or restricted over the last 20 years. At this point, what legitimate options do they have? Is it fair to insist they maintain a peaceful political process when all other parties fail to behave peacefully and truthfully?
In the end, the protestors are fighting for democracy with the only means left available to them, leaving them with a city of sadness. If we’re to be critical of anyone, let’s save our criticism for Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong Police Force, and the Chinese Community Party. They are meant to build a peaceful and lawful environment and have all clearly failed to upload the Basic Law.
