Among Chinese citizens who are well educated and well traveled, nationalism runs at a fever pitch.
........ I was once a Chinese nationalist with similar proclivities. Hong Kong — with its rule of law, vibrant free press, and freedom of association and assembly — changed my mind. ......... Having emigrated from China to the United States at age 10, I was a proud U.S. citizen. But my Chinese nationalism ran deep........ A couple of years before moving to Hong Kong, I had written an op-ed for The Los Angeles Times titled, “We Ask, ‘Can One Eat Liberty?’” Much of China barely had enough to eat, I argued. ........ Hong Kong has long nourished the seeds of spontaneity that an authoritarian government cannot control.
A Bubble Tea Summit brings together pro-Hong Kong and pro-China protesters in VancouverThe rivals sat together for almost three hours, trying to understand how the other came to such wildly different views about Hong Kong’s protests to their own......
Their conversation shows how personal and family histories cast the same events during the unrest in very different light ............... this Canadian city that has 188,000 mainland-Chinese immigrants, more than 71,000 from Hong Kong........ They were met by large crowds of pro-China counterprotesters, including Feng, who works in finance. He paid for Chinese flags waved at a series of events that weekend.......Feng, 34, tells us of the death of his great-grandfather at the hands of Japanese occupiers, and his pride in the rise of China that has paralleled that of his own family, from poverty to prosperity. “We’re proud that we stood up again,” he says. ........ Sung, a former RTHK journalist, tells of her family’s suffering under the Cultural Revolution and Communist rule, and their subsequent flight to the British colony. “As soon as my parents moved to Hong Kong, they made a very definite decision to separate themselves from that China,” she says. She feels not a speck of patriotism for Communist China.......... They discuss various incidents during the unrest – the attack on protesters in Yuen Long by men in white shirts, the police storming of a train at Prince Edward MTR station.
They agree on the basics of what they saw, but never come close to consensus on the context or implications.
........ The South China Morning Post invited Feng and Sung to sit down together last week in the wake of a series of flashpoint protests and counterprotests in Vancouver – at Broadway station, outside the Chinese consulate and, most controversially, outside a church hosting prayers for Hong Kong. All took place on the weekend of August 17 and 18........... Sung, who moved from Hong Kong to Vancouver in 1991 and is convenor of the group Canadian Friends of Hong Kong, has helped promote protest events but prefers to call herself an “active supporter” rather than an organiser......... Feng likewise denies organising the pro-China protests, although he paid for flagpoles and flags waved by his camp, distributed bottled water and spoke to police and the media on the group’s behalf.........
He immediately harked back to “racial slurs” used by Hongkongers to describe mainland people when he was a child.
........ His patriotism towards China grew after arriving in Canada in 2004, to study business at Simon Fraser University..........“Before I arrived in Canada I’m one of those people who love China, but I don’t love Communist China. That’s [the same for] a lot of people I talk to one our side, before they came out to Canada,” he said............ He says negative news and views about China in Canada had aroused in him concerns about bias, that in turn reinforced feelings of patriotism. “There’s a lot of misinformation about China that goes around,” he says. ..... I say it seems ironic that the longer he has spent in Canada the more patriotic towards China he has become, and that might surprise non-Chinese Canadians. “But that is correct” and quite typical, he says. .......... For the record, Feng says he is not a Chinese spy.....Nor is his family being threatened back in China, and nor is he being paid by the Chinese consulate, he says. All are allegations made since Feng took on a public role in the counterprotests.......... He also denies having ever communicated about the protests with the consulate – which last month issued a statement in support of the counterprotesters for targeting the “sin of Hong Kong independence”.......
how do two intelligent people see events in Hong Kong in such starkly different ways?
....... Picture-taking has emerged as one of the bigger points of tension between the two camps in Vancouver. What is its purpose? And, more broadly, what is the purpose of the pro-China counterprotest movement? ......
“I had conversations [at the protests] with the other side and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
We’ve been sitting here …” he looks at his watch “ … and I don’t see it going anywhere.”
The date which has both Hong Kong and Beijing on edge For months, October 1 has loomed over the mass pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, as a whispered deadline for the ruling Chinese Communist Party to take action to end the unrest......... On that day, Beijing will be hoping to project an image of national strength and unity with a military parade through the city to mark 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China......... It's a significant milestone that China's leaders will not want overshadowed by protests in Hong Kong, which have grown in intensity since mass demonstrations began in June....... 2021 will be the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party. It's also the self-imposed deadline for President Xi to deliver some of his signature achievements, such as eradicating all poverty and raise living standards to new heights. ........ In the last 20 years alone, China's wealth per adult has quadrupled, while its GDP has gone from just $150 billion in 1978 to over $12 trillion in 2018. Just over 30 million people are still living in poverty in China, down from 770 million 40 years ago......
Investors would flee at the first sign of any military boots hitting the streets, something Beijing can't risk as the domestic economy slows.
....... As their options dwindle, Beijing may be forced to grin and bear a Hong Kong spoiler to their national day
As their options dwindle, Beijing may be forced to grin and bear a Hong Kong spoiler to their national day Three commentaries published by state media single out unaffordable housing as a ‘root cause’ behind young people taking to the streets in anti-government protests ......... Cathay Pacific began cracking down on employees taking part in illegal protests and reshuffled its top management after the city’s flagship carrier came under severe criticism for its hands-off approach; and the MTR Corporation started closing metro stations and asking police to take action after the rail operator was accused of allowing protesters to use its network to their advantage. ........
tycoon Li Ka-shing made when he called young people the “masters of our future”.
......... state media specifically endorsed a proposal by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the city’s largest pro-Beijing party, for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to invoke the Lands Resumption Ordinance and take back large swathes of rural land lying unused as a quick option to tackle the shortage of land for housing. ....... The Xinhua commentary identified the inability of young people and low-income groups to afford homes and share the city’s economic success as an underlying cause of the social unrest......... A bylined commentary on the People’s Daily website took a tougher line, saying: “For the sake of public interest … it is time developers show their utmost sincerity instead of minding their own business, hoarding land for profit and earning the last penny.” ........ The Communist Party mouthpiece went on to state: “What is being responsible to Hong Kong’s future? What is showing humanity and providing a way out to the young people? This is the way.”......This was a direct counter to tycoon Li Ka-shing’s remarks last weekend, when he described the city’s youth as the “masters of our future” who should be “provided a way out” of the protest crisis.................. City University academic Ray Yep Kin-man said the state media commentary showed Beijing’s understanding of local grievances was based on economic factors......... “But they are not the sole factors, as the calls for universal suffrage, freedom and democracy are clear in the current situation,” he said, adding that Beijing’s input was also blurring the line in terms of “interference” in the city’s affairs.
The new battle in Hong Kong isn’t on the streets; it’s in the apps Activists are using Airdrop, livestreams, and innovative maps to keep their protest alive. But the authorities have plenty of tech of their own. ............. Hong Kong is famous for its souk-like electronics malls, and it’s blanketed with high-speed internet. So when protests broke out in June over plans to implement a controversial extradition law—which would see Hong Kongers accused of crimes turned over to mainland China’s notoriously opaque justice system—it was natural that many people turned to online services for more information and guidance............. Everything from supplies of food and water to press conferences are put together in the chat app Telegram ......... LIHKG, a Reddit-like forum that is limited to local ISPs, provides a sandbox of ideas where a network of anonymous citizens can exchange memes, protest schedules, and tactics. Online polls often dictate the location of the next traffic-disrupting flash mob. .......... a small army of journalists and activists have been live-streaming everything from major marches to minor spats with police. The raw videos tap into local media habits—
many people leave live streams playing in the background while they cook dinner or hang out with friends—and help create a sense of solidarity and belonging, even among those who are not on the streets themselves
............ Supply chain: Thanks to messages on Telegram and information sent via AirDrop, protesters are able to get supplies to the front lines through chaotic scenes. ........ “We disregard quality and framing, but we’re in the middle of the protesters and even the police, and people get really immersed in the scene,” she says. “The audience doesn’t want well-packaged shots—they want to feel what it’s like to be on the ground, in the most dangerous situation.” ........
“A lot of people have told me it was like a VR experience of getting beaten.”
.......... (“No one knew where the police were or how they could get to an escape route,” he told me. “So our team began planning to map out the next big rally the following week.”)......... Now Orca and his team publish dozens of maps during large demonstrations, updating positions with colors to show the location of police, “thugs,” and protesters, plus icons to signify first aid, rest, and supply stations. All of this is put together by on-the-ground volunteers who draw the information out on a blank map on their iPads, and send it to an “integrator” who compares the data with news from live streams and television stations before putting it all together and sending it out over Telegram or Apple’s AirDrop file transfer service. During one rally, an estimated 600,000 people downloaded maps put out by Orca’s team, just one of three mapping services created during the protests. ........... Then, three weeks after she watched the train station attack, Alice decided her contributions needed to become more direct. During one of the most violent weekends so far, she joined the crowd, carrying a rucksack filled with supplies: bandages, water, snacks, and filters for gas masks. When she saw a call on Telegram, she rushed forward toward police lines for the first time, opened her bag to those in need, and quickly retreated, checking Orca’s maps to avoid running into police......... She was dressed in what has become the uniform among demonstrators: black from head to toe, her face obscured by a black surgical mask and a black baseball cap.............
"This moment is our last chance to fight for Hong Kong, or the next generation won’t even know what privacy is."
........... “In the past few months people have educated themselves incredibly quickly on end-to-end encryption, only buying single-use transit cards, and the dangers of widespread surveillance” ......... many types of data Hong Kong’s telecommunications companies do not consider to be personal and protected, including a user’s geolocation and IP addresses, as well as the information on websites visited. This interpretation, which was made privately by the companies themselves and has not been challenged in court, means that police do not need a warrant to request, say, a list of subscribers who were in a certain place at a certain time........... Information collected by Hong Kong authorities could also be handed over to China, Tsui added, since there is no formal agreement defining what can and cannot be shared............. Alice does not even know the real names of several friends she’s made at the protests. When they message on Telegram, they use their aliases—all English pseudonyms. Even though they are anonymous, anyone who is arrested is cut out of the group for fear that police could compromise their phones............. With no end in sight, Lam has considered invoking emergency powers, according to local media. One of her first targets would likely be the apps that protesters use to organize. The mere suggestion was so divisive that members of Lam’s cabinet warned her against the move, and the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association declared that “any such restrictions, however slight originally, would start the end of the open Internet of Hong Kong.”..........
The Chinese government’s concern is that the internet is also the most likely way the Hong Kong protests could spread to the rest of the country.
........ After Lam’s announcement that she would withdraw the extradition bill, posts on Chinese social media wondered why those elsewhere in China face jail time for even a hint of dissent. ......... amid attempts by the Chinese government to deter protesters by releasing viral clips on Twitter threatening a military crackdown, there is little sign Hong Kongers are cowed. Alice feels that their collective efforts are leveling the playing field between the government and demonstrators. ......... “The government uses an old playbook, but we have created whole new ways of resisting. And if we didn’t stand up and [we] let Hong Kong become just another Chinese city, all that creativity would be snuffed out.”
Hong Kong's Protestors Have Their Own Special Slang. Here's a Glossary of Some Common Terms Avoid irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong, China warns UK MPs Is it safe to be in Hong Kong? Against all odds the answer is still a strange ‘yes’ China’s soft power failures may cost Hong Kong its trade status Denise Ho: Hong Kong has reached 'a point of no turning back' Op-Ed: Why so many Chinese students can’t understand the Hong Kong protests It’s hard for Americans to understand why so many Chinese students attending school in Western countries have turned out in recent days to express support for the Chinese government in its current conflict with Hong Kong protesters. The Chinese students have tried to shout down demonstrators at pro-democracy rallies in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom....... I don’t agree with the students’ pro-Beijing sentiments on Hong Kong, but I think I understand them. They remind me of myself when I first came to the U.S. to study in 2009........ Soon after arriving, I saw protests in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., organized by Tibetans in exile, but I couldn’t make sense of them. Weren’t Tibetans happy with the high-speed trains and nice buildings the Chinese had built? Weren’t Tibetans making more money doing business with the Chinese? ....... it took me several years to be able to understand on an emotional level the sufferings of many Tibetans in China. ........ My thinking about Tibet had been fully shaped by Chinese propaganda, which held that China had freed Tibetans from serfdom and brought them prosperity and happiness. I had no access to contrary opinions because of government censorship, so I couldn’t fathom that Tibetans were self-immolating to protest the severe suppression of their language, culture and identity........ Studies show that overseas Chinese students — totaling around 1.5 million, including more than 300,000 in the United States —still rely on information from China’s heavily censored internet and media. That helps explain the fervor demonstrated by some of the anti-Hong Kong protesters. But it is deeper than that........ For those us who grew up in a system where information control is all-encompassing, processing ideas contrary to what we were taught and believed all our lives is not easy. It takes an innate curiosity, constant reading of uncensored information and self-reflective thinking — none of which are encouraged in China.......... Unlearning untrue information and the beliefs it engenders can take a lifetime. I left China a decade ago, but today I still occasionally question the truthfulness of certain knowledge I have — because I learned it in school in China........ When Chinese students step outside of China to study, they are struggling to adapt to a new education system, and are frequently confronted — in class, in daily life, and online — with assumptions that they have been “brainwashed by the Chinese government.” It makes some feel attacked and reaffirms what they were taught in China: The West is biased and hostile........
It is only human to want to speak one’s mind, but when years of conditioning teach people that having one’s own thoughts and speaking them can bring serious reprisal, you gradually learn to avoid thinking for yourself at all.
........ When you live under Communist Party rule, not thinking is self-preservation. ........ Even emotions are calibrated by the state. We are taught to be happy about certain events, to be sad or angry about others, but never to pause and ponder why. Shortly after a friend of mine emigrated to Hong Kong from the mainland in early 1997, China’s paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, died. My friend, then a middle school student, went to the Liaison Office, Beijing’s representative in Hong Kong, to pay tribute. As he was leaving the building, a local Hong Kong journalist asked him why he was crying. “At the moment, I was just dumbstruck,” he told me. “‘Why am I crying?’ I asked myself. I didn’t really know.”.............. Universities and educators should double down on respectful, nonjudgmental engagement, mindful that the students may feel compelled to appear to defend the Chinese government.
Chinese authorities have long monitored and conducted surveillance on students from China on campuses around the world
............. For me, learning about the Chinese government’s human rights violations led to the work I do today at Human Rights Watch. In the long run, today’s students living abroad may be best positioned to return home and chart a new direction for China.
Xi Jinping, the president of China, will act, or he will find himself in the dustbins of history.
He is the only person who can act. It's not Carrie Lam. It is not the Chinese Politburo. It is Xi.
For as long as Xi does not act, he is an emperor who is walking naked.
Xi should accept the five demands in Hong Kong. And Xi should pledge political reform for all of China.
Xi Jinping does not have unlimited time. It is best he acts before October 1. Or he and his party might already be in the dustbins of history by the New Year.
Xi calls Deng Xiaoping's reforms the second revolution. China has done remarkable work over the past four decades digging millions out of poverty. Hundreds of millions. Xi should launch the third revolution. The third revolution has to be about political reforms.
Political reforms in China need not be about copying the political system in the United States. There is plenty of dissatisfaction in the United States. Money is too decisive a force in the US. People first run in the money primary. Voters don't really have much of a choice. That is why an overwhelming majority in the US can want universal health care and not get it.
Capitalism is in crisis. The wealth inequality is unsustainable and getting wider.
Face it. Communism is in crisis. It was never meant to be anti-people. It was never meant to be undemocratic.
Xi could grant universal suffrage for Hong Kong, but install the kind of campaign finance reform that progressives in the US only dream about. Xi could shape this tide. Or he could sit on his hands and wait until he is washed away. He could be washed away in a few short months.
Accept the five demands for Hong Kong now, and give a major speech on October 1 in Beijing to launch political reforms for all of China.
Inaction is not an option.
If I were to write a speech for Xi, it would look like this.
October 1, Beijing:
Two weeks ago, I convened a meeting of the politburo, and we decided to accept the five demands of the Hong Kong street protests. These idealistic young people in Hong Kong are full of energy and enthusiasm. They stand to rejuvenate not only Hong Kong but China at large.
There was a real danger things might go out of hand. We have managed to avoid that. We are here to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of this republic. And people across China, people in Hong Kong, young and old, are cheering.
In accepting the five demands, we have not imported a political system from anywhere. China does not believe in political exports and imports. It is for each country to decide its own political system. When Hong Kong rejoined China in 1997, we agreed to one country, two systems. Foreign Direct Investment that has been indispensable to our economic growth has come by way of Hong Kong in large measure. And the Chinese mainland is thankful.
Us accepting the five demands has been us respecting the political evolution of Hong Kong. The political arrangement that worked for them was no longer enough. It was time for something new.
For over a year now, the US and China have slapped tariffs on each other's exports. There is no winning side. Our economy has slowed down. Their economy has slowed down. I call on the G20 to launch a new round of reforms for the World Trade Organization. Some structural reforms that the US seeks in the Chinese economy are similar to some reforms we have sought for our own economy for years. Those reforms are necessary if we are to see the best allocation of our large but limited financial resources. If we are to avoid the middle-income trap, we must reform. If we are to see the next stage of economic growth, we must reform. If we are to move from a large manufacturing base to a high tech economy, we must reform.
Reform is not easy. It is like pulling teeth. There is pain. But reform is necessary. We have to take the necessary steps.
The founding of the republic in Mao's leadership was our first revolution. Economic reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping were our second revolution. Instead of saying capital has no place, we changed tack and started saying capital does have some place, a major place actually. And it has worked. Is there any country in the history of the world that has lifted more people out of poverty than China?
It will soon be time for our third revolution. On this 70th anniversary of the founding of our republic, I invite citizens across China, and members of this party to start a conversation. If we were to usher political reforms, what would they look like? We will hold this conversation for a few years and then start making changes as necessary.
We must be vigilant, though. We can not simply copy what is already not working in some other countries. We Marxists take the scientific approach. We collect data. We study and analyze. We experiment. We debate and discuss. And I believe Hong Kong has showed the way. Deng started in Guangdong what was unthinkable in China only a few decades before that. Hong Kong is the Guandong for political reforms. We will see how things play out in Hong Kong for a few years. We will then take some of the political reforms to the Hong Kong Bay Area at-large, and then eventually to the rest of China.
I am open to the idea of a directly elected president for China. But I am not open to the idea of a handful of rich people buying out political leaders. We must make sure power stays with the people. Capital does not get to hijack power.
Hong Kong’s extradition law mess: don’t blame Beijing, blame naive Carrie Lam In underestimating the pushback from Hongkongers from all walks of life, the chief executive has shown a lack of political antennae ..... She could have avoided much of this quagmire had her government not bypassed proper procedures and, instead, consulted the public ...... Blaming “foreign forces” for causing havoc in Hong Kong has always been the official mainland media’s default position but the Hong Kong government’s current crisis is largely of its own making. ....... no matter how the crisis ends, no one is a winner and Hong Kong as a whole loses – its reputation, the independence of its judiciary and the confidence of the international community in its status as a leading financial centre. ....... There has been intense speculation in Hong Kong and elsewhere that Lam pushed for the law at the request of Beijing. She herself strongly denied this and said she had not received any instruction from Beijing and the bill was not initiated by the central government. ....... This is probably true. .......... would also make it much easier for the central government to hunt down and extradite businessmen and corrupt officials who often hole up in Hong Kong after they fall foul of the mainland authorities......... the extraordinary pushback from Hong Kong people from all walks of life, particularly from the usually docile but powerful business community in the city, over their
deeply held fears and concerns about the lack of rule of law on the mainland.
..... Trained as a career civil servant, Lam, along with senior officials in her cabinet, seems to lack political sophistication and acute political antennae. ....... In the name of urgency, the government bypassed the proper procedures and process and failed to allow public consultation over the proposed law. In contrast, some cynics pointed out that in April, the government launched a three-month consultation on how to better protect animals and ensure owners will have their dogs and cats fed, cared for and given adequate medical attention....... With Taiwan’s presidential election cycle already heating up, both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and a potential opposition candidate – the electronics tycoon Terry Gou – have both used Hong Kong’s mass protests as proof that the mainland’s “one country, two systems” formula has failed. ....... Beijing has expressed full support for Lam’s efforts and so long as the pro-government legislators, who command a majority in the local legislature, stay united, the bill has a high chance of passing.
Xi Jinping’s speech shows China’s Communist Party is still haunted by the fall of the Soviet Union Xi’s warning of the long struggle ahead between socialism and capitalism is being circulated as the People’s Republic reaches its 70th anniversary – a mark the USSR never reached ....... Chinese leaders’ speeches to their inner circles, particularly those on sensitive issues, are always guarded with the utmost secrecy. ....... Citing Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Xi said socialism would triumph over capitalism but cited Deng Xiaoping as saying that it would be a long historical process, which would probably take
several dozens of generations
...... He warned that the collapse of the Soviet Union served as a painful lesson for the party. ..... he floated a new narrative to bolster the legitimacy of the party by arguing that one could not use the period following reform and opening up to negate the period before it, nor vice versa. ....... he recognised that Western developed countries would maintain long-term economic, technological, and military advantages and China must be fully prepared for the two systems – socialism in its primary stage and a more advanced capitalism – to cooperate and struggle for a long time to come. ........ As China must learn and borrow from capitalism, it must face the reality that people would compare the strong points of Western developed countries with the shortcomings of China’s socialist development and be critical, Xi said...... Xi’s speech was previously circulated only among party officials with county level ranking and above....... its leaders are still smarting from the collapse of the then 69-year-old Soviet Union in 1991.
China’s media companies are failing at home, failing abroad and failing Xi Jinping China is spending billions in an effort to tell its stories to the world ........ The explosion, which occurred shortly before 3pm on March 21, initially killed 62 people and injured 640 others, but failed to make it to the front page of the People’s Daily the very next day – or any other page for that matter, the last time I checked. The death toll now stands at 78 and is expected to rise. ...... At a time when the official media is at full throttle in worshipping Xi, any news about the president takes pride of place on the front page while any other item, no matter how newsworthy, must give way......... on March 22, Xi, in an answer to a question from Roberto Fico, president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, about his feelings as the Chinese president, said that he would be selfless and determined to devote himself to serving the Chinese people. .......
the inherent nature of China’s propaganda machine determines that its primary target audience is the Chinese leaders and officials at various levels of the government
– not least because they control the budgets and careers of Chinese state media workers. So long as officials are happy with the coverage, the job is done........ Chinese propaganda officials, who are not accountable to their own media, have little idea of how to engage overseas journalists and respond tactfully to their criticisms. Previously, when their campaign to shape China’s image was largely defensive, they simply ignored criticisms or seethed with anger behind closed doors. ....... Now as the Chinese leadership makes no bones about its ambitions for world leadership, propaganda officials are more forthright about criticism in the overseas media but in a much less tactful way ....... either out of ignorance or arrogance, they thought they knew what the foreign audience wanted to hear and read about China, but in fact they did not. So their products are often found wanting, reeking of nothing but propaganda...... in the parlance of cynical journalists at the state media, they often liken their filing of stories to “sending things into the sky” – showing they have done their job.
China’s sophisticated internet censorship regime has blocked numerous overseas websites, including the South China Morning Post
, and search engines and social media platforms including Google, Twitter and YouTube........ there is a widespread perception that the Great Firewall could be one of the few red lines on which China is unlikely to budge....... China’s digital barriers are facing increasing pressure from within as Chinese businesses, academics, and intellectuals have been increasingly vocal about the negative impact of the Great Firewall on the country’s economy, academic research, technological innovation, and its competitiveness in attracting overseas companies and talents.......
Baidu, long a source of bitter complaints and frustration among Chinese internet users for its poor quality search results
and questionable advertising practices, was the target of renewed public anger in January......... Google’s exit from China in 2010, triggered by China’s increasing online censorship, has further cemented Baidu’s lead. Before its exit, Google commanded about 30 per cent of China’s market share, trailing Baidu but providing healthy competition and a far better alternative for Chinese internet users seeking high quality search results........
as Baidu’s quality of service has declined rapidly over the past few years, the public clamour for Google’s return has become louder.
....... China’s academics and businessmen alike have argued the country’s severe restrictions on cross-border data flows – including slow cross-border internet speed and the inability to access global online tools like Google – have damaged China’s competitiveness and innovation. ..... Back in March 2017,
Luo Fuhe
, a prominent academic and a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top consultative body, caused quite a stir by publicly releasing a proposal urging the Chinese government to ease internet restrictions to enable faster access to overseas news and academic websites and search engines.........
Anyone who has tried to search for English-language information on Baidu should know how lousy its service is.
........ AmCham China, which represents American businesses in the country, said more than 90 per cent of respondents felt slow cross-border internet speeds and the blocking of online resources harmed their competitiveness as well as their operations. ........ the US media suggesting that Google was planning a return to China and had been working on a censored version of its search engine, code-named Dragonfly..... even a filtered version of Google would be much better than Baidu.
The leadership(s) in Hong Kong and Beijing are engaging in fantasy if they think there is some kind of a police solution or a military solution to the protests in Hong Kong. There is only a political solution. Engage the protest leaders in political dialogue. Basically, accept their five demands. That's it. That will make the whole thing go away.
Carrie Lam can defuse the Hong Kong protests by taking on the property tycoons The Chief Executive can break the stranglehold of property moguls by increasing land supply and providing more affordable housing ....... There is no question that Hong Kong has messed up big time. But a cloud of questions hangs over how to defuse the city’s biggest political crisis in decades........ Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po cited the gloomy economic outlook and downplayed the political crisis, he seems to have resorted to the tried-and-tested trick of “handing out candies” to assuage public discontent at a time of upheaval........the “grey rhino” risks long associated with Hong Kong – sky-high property prices, worsening inequality, lack of social mobility for youth, and woefully underfunded social security ...... every time a crisis has broken out – the crisis of governance in 2003, the national education controversy in 2012, the Occupy Movement in 2014 ....... From half a million protesters in 2003 to about 2 million in June ........ Lam, with the support of Beijing, must break the stranglehold of local property tycoons on the real estate market and curb their political influence by greatly increasing land supply for development and providing more affordable housing for low-income families.......
Hong Kong may pride itself as one of the freest economies in the world but, in fact, the property tycoons are calling the shots on the economy.
....... Hong Kong is short of space for property development – but perhaps not as short as one may think. Just seven per cent of the land is used for residential purposes. ..... In the two months since the anti-government protests started in June, Chinese officials have reportedly expressed dismay over some property tycoons’ reluctance to support Lam’s government and Hong Kong police. ...... the government could take back the 1,300 hectares of brownfield sites currently occupied by operators of open-air storage facilities, warehouses and car parks. ...... To speed up construction and reduce costs, the government should consider introducing
factory-built modular homes
into Hong Kong. ........ about seven per cent of land in Hong Kong is used for residential purposes while about 65 per cent is in green areas and country parks. Shrinking a few per cent of that land would ensure years of housing supply........ take back the 170-hectare Fanling golf course for residential development..... Greater land supply by the government would also have the added benefit of forcing the property tycoons to speed up development using their own land banks. ...... the government should also raise the minimum wage and create more middle-class jobs to improve social mobility for youth. To achieve that end, it should invest more in training health-care professionals and build more polytechnic colleges to equip the city’s youth for the information age ..... the government can also consider raising taxes on those making HK$2 million a year or more, and increasing taxes on property transactions valued at HK$10 million or more.
Hong Kong protests will not fizzle out on their own – Beijing needs to rethink its approach Hong Kong protesters’ resolve should not be unfamiliar to the Communist Party with its history of struggle against the Kuomintang. A more draconian policy will only harden that resolve, but what can be achieved if the grip is loosened? .......... Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has achieved little with her wilted olive branch of withdrawing an extradition bill previously pronounced “dead”. The mass protests she helped to spark, now in their fourth month, rage on. ........
Hong Kong’s administrators and others who advise Beijing are clueless about public sentiment.
....... Demosisto leader Joshua Wong Chi-fung, and founder of Hong Kong National Party Andy Chan Ho-tin ........ Wong, who seeks not independence but Hongkongers’ right to self-determination and the election of lawmakers and the chief executive by universal suffrage, said that “for Hong Kong to gain real democracy, it may have to wait until Xi Jinping steps down”. ........ The ball is in Beijing’s court and how it tackles it will determine if Hong Kong caves in or becomes the tail that wags the dog........
They can be happy with Chinese sovereignty if the freedoms promised in the Basic Law are implemented so they can elect their lawmakers and chief executive by universal suffrage.
Meaningful universal suffrage would include voters’ right to nominate candidates, including themselves, to stand for election, rather than voting for candidates put up by their rulers.
‘West can’t solve your problems,’ China’s Communist Party tells Hong Kong protesters Western nations ‘can’t even solve their domestic problems … it is a fantasy to ask them to help people thousands of miles away’, it says ........ The commentary, by the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, highlights socioeconomic factors such as the lack of affordable housing in the city as a root cause of the Hong Kong protests, signalling a shift in Beijing’s propaganda efforts in relation to the unrest......... “It is not easy to be a young person in this international metropolis. They face fierce competition and a heavy homework burden. After they get into university they have to shoulder big loans and even after they graduate ... [they still face] difficulties finding a job, low salaries, high property prices and an uncertain future.” ........
“The places ‘helped’ by Western countries to usher in ‘democracy and freedom’ are all in trouble. Western countries can’t even solve their domestic problems ...
it is a fantasy to ask them to help people thousands of miles away.” ........ The commentary came just a day after the commission published a similar article criticising Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing for condoning crime after he had urged those in power to “provide a way out” for the young demonstrators, describing them as the “masters of our future”.........It also suggested the 91-year-old, as a major property developer in the city, should be the one providing the way out by building more affordable homes.......... Li said it was regrettable that his remarks had been misinterpreted, but that he had become “accustomed to unwarranted accusations for many years”.
was also arrested...... independence campaigner Andy Chan Ho-tin ...... He was stopped from boarding a plane leaving for Tokyo at Hong Kong airport....... Wong and Chow were key figures during the Occupy protests of 2014 while Chan, also an Occupy activist, led the banned Hong Kong National Party. ........ Wong and Chow are leaders of the pro-democracy outfit Demosisto, which has been campaigning for democratic self-determination in Hong Kong. Chow was disqualified last year from taking part in a Legislative Council election........ A third member of the party,
Ivan Lam Long-yin
........ In a statement on Friday, Demosisto insisted the recent protests were leaderless and the party was not spearheading them. ....... August 31 marks the fifth anniversary of Beijing’s stringent “831 Decision” on Hong Kong’s democratic reforms. ......... Seen as one of the leaders of the 2014 movement, Wong was jailed in August 2017 for six months for storming the government headquarters compound in Admiralty, which sparked the 79-day protest......... The anti-government movement has five main demands, including the bill’s complete withdrawal, the establishment of an independent inquiry into police’s handling of protests and genuine universal suffrage.
Can Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam issue an emergency edict? Yes, but the legislature needs to approve it the legislature is back in session in mid-October. ...... as the city entered the 81st day of unrest, surpassing the 79 days of the Occupy protests in 2014....... Local authorities could have the power to arrest, detain, censor media and amend or suspend any laws in operation......... Andrew Wong Wang-fat, a former president of Legco, said any emergency regulations could take effect immediately when gazetted, but lawmakers could later scrutinise or even repeal the order. ....... “Could the government be creating yet another crisis?” Wong asked. “Lawmakers will only have chance to scrutinise the bill on the second meeting in October, by which time the order may have already been in place for months. This will be a challenge to the legislature.”
Adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), China is now the largest economy in the world. Measured by per capita income it is still quite a distance behind the United States, but it can no longer argue that it needs more time before it can usher in political reforms. Just like Guangdong was the experiment for economic reforms, let Hong Kong be the experiment for political reforms across China. Start in Hong Kong.
The Chinese Communist Party should also open up a branch in Hong Kong. Compete in the local elections. Why does the CCP not have an organizational presence in Hong Kong? Spies and paid infiltrators don't count. If you are so good, if your policies are so good, if your thinking for the future of Hong Kong is so much better, you should be able to attract members.
Instead of trying to squash the political waves in Hong Kong, the CCP should attempt to ride the waves. These waves will go to New York. These waves will go to Mumbai, and London. They will go to Sydney. Johannesburg.
Hong Kong could take the lead on how big cities should be governed globally.
Marxists are supposed to be scientists, not dogmatists. You are supposed to collect data. And make sense of the data. What are the material conditions in Hong Kong? What are the social and economic forces that are in play? The communists in Beijing prop up Hong Kong tycoons in the Hong Kong legislature. What is the irony in that? Tycoons should also contest elections just like everybody else.
The only way, the best way for China to avoid the middle-income trap is by realizing it is now time for political reforms. The trade war has shown China lacks truly cutting edge technologies. It needs to open up and make space for cutting edge stuff. You have to move from potato chips to computer chips.
The Chinese constitution actually promises free speech. You can't do cutting edge research and innovation in a no free speech environment. That is the number one precondition.
China could stagnate. China could collapse. Or China could soar to new heights. If it "wins" the trade war, it stagnates. If it squashes the political waves in Hong Kong, it stagnates. If it is defeated by the trade war and the political waves in Hong Kong, it collapses like the Soviet Union. But if the CCP updates itself and engages in bold scientific thought processes, China sees new heights of prosperity and power.
Hong Kong will show the way, not only to China, but to the world. There is immense dissatisfaction in the democracies of the west. There is a hunger for a new kind of political system, a new kind of economy. There is a hunger for a more plentiful democracy, a more humane economy, a more just economy. And Hong Kong will show the way.
Hong Kong will form the nucleus for a consortium of the 100 biggest cities in the world. One country, two systems is essentially a form of federalism. Beijing can worry about defence and foreign policy. Elected Hong Kong leaders take care of everything domestic. Reaching out to the 100 biggest cities in the world is domestic. It is comparing notes. The 100 biggest cities have more in common with each other than with their own countries.
China says Hong Kong’s protesters have the mainland in their sights In the neighbouring province of Guangdong, many people have surprisingly little sympathy for them ......... “I can sympathise with the protesters in Hong Kong,” says a young saleswoman from Guangdong province, which borders on the territory. “The rule of law, greater democracy—these are good things to be demanding,” she adds, attributing her views to an “open mind” and software that allows her to bypass China’s censorship apparatus. ...... Since the protests broke out in Hong Kong three months ago, officials on the Chinese mainland have been working hard to prevent views like hers from circulating openly. China’s state-controlled media have focused only on the more chaotic aspects of the unrest, portraying participants as a small number of violent separatists in cahoots with foreign “black hands”...... They have ignored the record numbers who have joined peaceful demonstrations and dismissed their pleas for democracy as merely a ruse to achieve independence. So it is hardly surprising that many people echo the government’s line. They often argue that the “rioters” in Hong Kong deserve to be crushed. ......... The saleswoman is a rarity. ........... In an article published last month on the website of Newsweek, Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to America, said the biggest threat to China’s “one country, two systems” arrangement for Hong Kong was posed by “ill-intentioned forces” trying to turn Hong Kong “into a bridgehead to attack the mainland’s system and spark chaos across China.”........ On August 19th Xinhua, a government news agency, accused “anti-Chinese Western powers” of trying to unleash a “colour revolution” in Hong Kong that would “penetrate” the mainland. ...... A week later China’s public-security minister visited Guangdong and urged local police to “resolutely defend the great southern gate of China’s political security” by combating “all kinds of infiltration, sabotage and subversion”. ....... Guangdong—the country’s most populous province, with as many residents as France and Spain combined ........ shared culture and language. Many Hong Kongers are refugees from Guangdong, or their descendants. Hundreds of thousands fled from the province to the then British-ruled territory to escape famine or persecution during Mao Zedong’s rule. Inhabitants of both places commonly speak Cantonese, which sounds very different from the mainland’s official tongue, Mandarin. They take pride in the region’s distinct traditions. Many travel back and forth frequently.......... in interviews across the province, few people express sympathy for Hong Kong’s protesters. This is partly the result of the censorship that prevails across China. ........ In 2013, not long after Mr Xi took power, hundreds of people gathered outside the headquarters of Southern Weekend, a newspaper in Guangzhou with a national reputation for its investigative reports. They were protesting against the party’s ban on the publication of an editorial calling on China to uphold its constitution, which notionally enshrines wide-ranging freedoms. Incensed readers gave speeches at the gate. One even called for a competitive multiparty system. But the authorities tightened control over Southern Weekend. A former journalist there says that what was once China’s “boldest” newspaper has been completely tamed.............. In the five years leading up to Mr Xi’s accession, Guangdong’s party chief was
Wang Yang
, a relatively liberal official who was linked with what admiring academics in China called the “Guangdong model”. (Mr Wang is now one of the seven members of the party’s most powerful organ, the Politburo Standing Committee, but shows fewer signs of liberal thinking.) The model included innovations such as making government budgets public—in 2010 Guangdong became the first province to do so—and making it easier for ngos to register. Mr Wang emphasised the need for “thought emancipation” among officials, reviving a slogan promoted by Deng and the then party chief in Guangdong, Xi Zhongxun (Mr Xi’s father, ironically)........ It was on Mr Wang’s watch that thousands of residents of the fishing village of Wukan, in south-eastern Guangdong, rose up in 2011 against local officials who had illegally sold large tracts of collectively owned land to developers.
The protesters demanded, and were granted, a free election by secret ballot for the village leadership—a rarity in China.
The villagers’ extraordinary pluck made headlines around the world......... Wukan, meanwhile, has long since reverted to the grip of the local officials whom the villagers had once defied. The leaders they elected were turfed out in 2016....... Reporters who visit Wukan risk detention. On a recent, entirely legal, trip, your correspondent and a colleague were interrogated for hours by plainclothes police. ........ The chill is also evident among ngos. ....... Guangdong’s many Christians are feeling the impact, too. In the past year numerous house churches (informal congregations which often meet in people’s homes) have been shut. One of China’s biggest and best known, Rongguili Church in Guangzhou, which had a congregation of several thousand, was closed last December.
A former pastor at the church says the local government cited “fire-safety regulations”.
........... A commentator from Guangdong with more than 3m followers on Weibo, a microblog platform, said last year that more than 90% of Guangdong natives cannot stand to watch even five minutes of China’s annual televised Spring Festival gala. He said people preferred shows from Hong Kong......... Lao Zhenyu, the founder of a popular local news website, writes that when he was at primary school in Guangzhou in the 1980s, he was taught in his native Cantonese. Now, he notes, some schools in the city ban the use of it even during breaks............ A young native of Guangzhou admits to feeling “more culturally at home in Hong Kong than Beijing”. But he says education in China, which stresses patriotism, has “completely inoculated us” against even thinking about siding with Hong Kong’s protesters. Others are less diplomatic. Asked about the demonstrators, an old man strolling outside Jinan University in Guangzhou huffs, in broken Mandarin, that the army should “just kill them all”............. If Guangdong is resistant to contagion from Hong Kong, it is likely that the rest of the country is immune, too. China’s liberals have never drawn much inspiration from the territory’s democratic aspirations. Its politics have not exerted the same fascination as that of Taiwan, where democratisation in the 1980s and 1990s offered hope to some observers on the mainland that the same might happen in China..........
The 70th anniversary on October 1st of the founding of the People’s Republic is fast approaching.
Hong Kongers are widely expected to spoil the occasion by holding a mass pro-democracy demonstration that day. Short of unleashing the army in Hong Kong with a mandate to use extreme force—which the party now seems reluctant to do—it is hard to see how the central government can stop it. It can, however, step up efforts to prevent copycats in the mainland.
Wang Yang – the ‘joker’ and reformer in Xi Jinping’s new pack The former Guangdong party chief is known for being a committed economic reformer as well as his loyalty to the president ........ best known outside the country for the unlikely image of a senior Chinese politician cracking jokes at a Sino-US summit......... Wang broke the stereotype of the humourless and bland Chinese Communist Party technocrat by jesting that China and America’s relationship was like a marriage, but then quipping that this did not mean that he and the then US treasury secretary Jack Lew would be entering into a same-sex relationship......... “We cannot go for a divorce like Wendi Deng and Rupert Murdoch have done,” he joked. “It would be too big a price to pay.”.......... Wang’s remarks at the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington four years ago had some members of the Chinese delegation squirming in their seats ....... Inside China, Wang is best known as a committed economic reformer ......... has been promoted to a seat among the nation’s top leaders – the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee......... was particularly high profile when he served as party chief in China’s industrial powerhouse Guangdong province from 2007 to 2012. ........ Guangzhou becoming the first city in China to publicly publish its budget and making it easier for people from poorer areas to migrate to the big cities for work......... His pro-market, more liberal approach become known as the “Guangdong model” and it was contrasted at the time with the “Chongqing model” promoted by the megacity’s former party chief Bo Xilai who favoured state-owned enterprises and traditional socialist values. Bo was later jailed for life for corruption. ........ Wang’s catchphrase during the initiative to refocus Guangdong’s economy was: “Empty the cage and let the right birds in”. ...... It was during his tenure in Guangdong that Wang also attracted international attention by ending the protests over land seizures by officials in the village of Wukan.
The three-month stand-off against the local government in 2011 ended peacefully with Wang’s unusual decision to dismiss officials, redistribute land and allow a village election......... More than 55 million people were lifted out of poverty in Chinese rural areas from 2013 to 2016 ....... Wang, 62, comes from Suzhou in Anhui province and quit school at 17 to work in a food processing plant.
Xi Jinping made a rather dramatic reference to the Long March of the Mao era at one point during the trade war back and forth. Recently he has made inferences to the Cultural Revolution. Maybe he is as backward looking as Donald Trump.
When Karl Marx wrote what he wrote, capital had too much sway, labor was powerless. But that was a long time ago. After 1989 China tried to give capital more room at the table, instead of no room at the table. That led to the largest reduction of poverty in world history.
But the CCP has been miserly on political reforms. If they were to take a scientific approach to what is happening in Hong Kong, they have a wonderful opportunity to preserve one country, two systems, and to usher a new era of political reforms inside China.
That half the Hong Kong legislature in Hong Kong is unelected capitalists, why is that not a problem for the Beijing communists?
Xinhua warns 'end is coming' for Hong Kong protesters China issued a stern warning to Hong Kong protesters as well as the West on Sunday, reiterating that it will not tolerate any attempt to undermine Chinese sovereignty over the city.
China does not understand Hong Kong's leaderless movement On August 30, key pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, including Joshua Wong and three lawmakers from the opposition camp, were arrested. After months of protests both peaceful and violent against a proposed extradition bill and police brutality, the Hong Kong government, instead of making concrete concessions, has decided to step up repression. Protesters responded with more determined action.
Xi brings in 'firefighter' Wang Qishan in bid to calm Hong Kong China's Vice President Wang Qishan, a close aide to President Xi Jinping and the former enforcer of the president's anti-corruption campaign, is believed to have played a key role in the recent developments in Hong Kong.
Trump on thinner political ice than Xi in trade war Domestic politics, however, make the U.S. president's position a lot dicier than it looks. ..... The opening salvos had come in July 2018, when Trump imposed 25% additional tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports, including industrial machinery, out of the roughly $550 billion worth of products the U.S. buys from China every year. Washington launched a second barrage the following month, targeting another $16 billion worth of imports, and escalated its attacks that September by adding $200 billion in goods to the list......... The latest and fourth batch of U.S. tariffs increased the total by $110 billion to $360 billion....... And despite rampant speculation that Xi was facing growing criticism within the Communist Party, the party's secretive annual summer meeting in the seaside resort of Beidaihe offered no signs that the president was in a political bind....... Only two incumbent U.S. presidents have failed to be reelected since the end of World War II -- Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush -- and an economic downturn was a major reason in both cases......... If the economy starts to seriously suffer, with little leeway for major monetary expansion, Trump's reelection chances could come down to achieving a truce in the trade war....... Rushing to compromise would also pose risks, though, with the U.S. Congress as a whole now adopting a tough posture on China....... his penchant for surprises should not be underestimated. Frustrated with Beijing's stalling tactics, he might expand the battle from trade to currency and the financial markets. ...... In that case, Trump would head into the presidential race with his hard-line China policy intact, while pinning blame for the sputtering economy on the Fed and Beijing........ If Beijing moves to crack down on the demonstrators, using force like it did in response to the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, China could be hit with international sanctions that would squeeze its economy hard....... That would turn what was a bilateral trade dispute into an all-out cold war between the two largest economic powers, with potentially devastating consequences for the global economy.
The knee jerk way to interpret what is happening in Hong Kong is, well, China wrong, America right. Both are wrong. The 20th-century dichotomy no longer explains aspirations. Capitalism is in crisis in America. Communism is in crisis in China. And the trade war between the two puts the whole world in crisis mode. Something fundamental is not working. There is a need for a rethink.
A big reason capitalism is not working in Hong Kong is because the Hong Kong capitalists control half the legislature. That is not sustainable. You can't have a Chief Executive who answers to Beijing but not to the ordinary citizens of Hong Kong.
There is an acute housing crisis in Hong Kong. It is a big city problem. Singapore does it much better. Hong Kong can learn from Singapore. But it does not have the option to learn unless it can elect its own leaders.
Election day should be a public holiday. People should be able to vote from their phones. Or maybe no holiday, and a week-long voting period.
Citizens also have the responsibility to regularly meet in-person to engage in political dialogue.
Hong Kong is showing the way for the 100 biggest cities in the world. This is a turning point in world history. New Yorkers should also march. Not for Hong Kong, but for New York. Demand UBI. Demand voting rights for all residents, citizen or not.
Hong Kong’s protests are just the tip of the iceberg: capitalism is in crisis across the globe While Hong Kong is embroiled in unprecedented social and political upheaval, a silent revolution is unfolding in the capitalist heartland of the world...... This transition from “shareholder capitalism” to “stakeholder capitalism” is more than semantics. ..... The lopsided emphasis on maximising profits has been responsible for a disproportionate share of social, environmental and political problems in contemporary society – notably, extreme economic inequality, distortion of human needs, environmental destruction and climate change, corporate tax evasion and, above all, the integration of economic power with political power...... Hong Kong has for a long time had one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world, rising from 0.533 in 2006 to 0.539 in 2016. The number of poor households reached 530,000, with more than 1.3 million people living in poverty (over 15 per cent of the population)...... In May 2018, the total net worth of the wealthiest 21 tycoons amount to HK$1.83 trillion, approximately the same as Hong Kong’s fiscal reserves. But, for low-income workers, real wages have only increased 12.3 per cent in the past decade....... In a city in which seven out of the 10 richest people are in the real estate business, financial assets are the major source of income polarisation........ Hong Kong’s case is special in that its government is not accountable to the populace; Lam was “elected” by a 1,200-strong committee and is expected to follow Beijing’s line....... These same issues plague the capitalist West. Because of the presence of a nominal democratic system, some of the mass revolt has found expression in outcomes such as Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as US president, as well as the Yellow Vest movement in France. ....... their fate is bound up with the fate of “capitalist” development in China, which is also heading towards a major crisis...... There is a huge amount of repressed unrest on the mainland; it is just not visible because of the powerful social control mechanisms in place: China’s budget for maintaining social stability is already greater than its defence budget and it is still growing....... All this points to the urgency of reinventing capitalism.
