Showing posts with label hong kong protests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hong kong protests. Show all posts

Friday, September 27, 2019

A Criticism Of The Hong Kong Protestors

I attempt a criticism of the Hong Kong protestors because they are fighting for democracy, and it is a democratic act to criticize. I hope this is considered constructive criticism.

First of all, let me make it clear. Mahatma Gandhi said at one point, if it is a choice between protesting injustice violently and nonviolently, I'd prefer you protest nonviolently. But if it is a choice between protesting violently and not protesting at all, I'd prefer you protest. What are a few blocked roads or burnt railings between friends!

But having said that, I'd like to emphasize, if there are even only a few acts of vandalism, a few acts of property damage, a few acts of violence, that shows the movement lacks internal discipline of the highest degree. That internal discipline is what gives you moral authority.

It does not matter what the police do. The Hong Kong police have crossed the line a few times, true. The Hong Kong police protected vigilantes have crossed the line many times, true. But if you respond in kind, you lose some of your moral authority. The right political thing to do is to not react, to maintain internal discipline. And to create and maintain that internal discipline, you need internal political organization, internal dialogue.

"If we burn, you burn" is not a political program. I have been hearing more and more of that lately. That line of thought has to be consciously abandoned. Beijing is trying hard to tell the world, this is like the yellow vest protests in France or the forest fires in California. It will burn and die out on its own.

Unless the Hong Kong protest movement makes the extra effort towards that internal discipline and away from the "if we burn you burn" mantra, the movement might break all records in terms of how long it might last, but it might not see the success it seeks.

That is one thing I have to say about the method.

Another thing is dialogue. The Hong Kong protest movement needs to engage Carrie Lam and Beijing in an intense dialogue. Beijing has put out comment after comment on the protests in the global media. Those comments have gone unanswered. They need to be answered. Every such utterance needs to be answered.

You can not be fighting for democracy and say, Carrie Lam, we don't want to talk to you. Dialogue is basic to democracy.

Why do you want to talk to Carrie Lam?

The top of the five demands has already been met. The final demand, that of a directly elected Chief Executive, and a fully directly elected legislature is most important to me.

But there is room for compromise on some of the other demands. I agree that all protesters who have been detained should be released and their charges dropped. But when you ask for an independent inquiry of the police behavior, one has to ask, to what end? So the police officers might face disciplinary action? The room for compromise is to forgive and be forgiven.

A good outcome of a direct dialogue with Carrie Lam will also be to get her to say that it is simply not in her powers to meet the final demand. It is above her paygrade level. And that is true.

So, she has met one demand. I think she can meet another, that of releasing the 1,000 plus protestors that have been detained. But the protest movement has to be willing to compromise on two others. And the final demand has to be taken to Beijing. How do you do that?

There is a protest path. And there is a dialogue path.

If you only partially shut the city, you might have to do it a long time. But if you shut the city down 100%, the movement might win in a few short weeks. But the risk is those tanks in Shenzen might roll.

The dialogue path is, is Beijing even talking? It is not even at the table. Beijing big, Hong Kong tiny. That is the Beijing thinking. You already have Carrie Lam. That is what they say.

Creating a credible threat to independence might be the only way to get Beijing to budge. That is one thing Beijing does care about. On the other hand, if you can not build that credible threat, you perhaps should be willing to compromise.

Carrie Lam was basically appointed by Beijing. That makes an administrator. I hear a few years ago Beijing offered an arrangement whereby it would offer two candidates and Hong Kongers will get to pick one through direct vote. I wish that is how they elected the president of China every five years. The CCP offered two candidates to the billion-plus Chinese.

A compromise position between what Beijing was willing to give a few years ago and what Hong Kong wants today might be, okay, so Beijing gets to offer two candidates, but Hong Kong will also offer two candidates. There would at first be a primary. And the top two vote-getters will go into the final round. And the four candidates would contest.

Even that Beijing might not go for. But the beauty of being in constant dialogue mode is you force them to take positions. Dialogue is not just sitting across the table, or Xi Jinping giving one of you a call. Dialogue is already happening. Beijing has been issuing statement after statement. The movement has not been responding.

That is a political slam dunk for Beijing.

For example, when Joshua Wong showed up in Berlin, Beijing said, the west can not solve its own problems, how is it going to solve your problems? What did Joshua Wong say in response? Crickets.



Thursday, September 26, 2019

I Worry For The Hong Kong Protestors

Running out of options, Hong Kong protesters dig in Police crackdowns have failed, and protesters have no trust in dialogue with an intransigent administration ....... On June 9, Jason So joined the sea of people stretching from Hong Kong's Victoria Park to its seat of government at Admiralty. On that day, more than a million people took to the streets to protest against a proposed bill allowing criminal suspects to be deported from Hong Kong to the mainland, a law that many saw as emblematic of a wider, creeping erosion of the city's treasured civil liberties.



What the Hong Kong protestors need are (1) political organization, (2) political conversations, (3) political strategy, and (4) elected political leadership. In short, sophistication.

If the goal is to almost shut down the city, mission accomplished. But that is not the goal.

If you just organize more protests, Beijing is simply going to wait you out. Not necessarily because that is their active strategy. But it is possible they really don't know what to make of the protests. Maybe they are deer in the headlights.

All protestors should actively join one political party or another. Those parties should have elected leadership at all levels. The leaders of the party should form a coalition. There is need for internal conversation.

Every effort should me made to engage Carrie Lam and Beijig in dialogue. Unless there is much internal dialogue, that external dialogue is less possible.

This has gone on for long. It can not go on forever.



Monday, September 23, 2019

Hong Kong: The Power Lies In Non-Violence

Even when the Hong Kong Police might engage in police brutality, even when Beijing might see fit to encourage vigilantism, it makes sense for the Hong Kong protestors to stick to non-violence. Do not damage property. Do not engage in violence.

The movement is being called leaderless. But there is as much order and organization to the movement as there is in a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. There is purpose. There is defiance. There is thought. There is discussion. There is mission. There is action.

Hong Kong leads. I don't see Hong Kong clamoring for what others have but they don't. I see Hong Kong leading. I see Hong Kong demanding for what other big cities don't have either. Hong Kong leads New York. Hong Kong leads DC. Maybe this is how Washington DC will gain statehood and due representation. Maybe this is how residents of New York City will gain voting rights. 40% of New Yorkers do not get to vote in the city elections.

Hong Kong leads the way.

Bu the method is important. Non-violence is the only good option. Not because the Hong Kong protestors are weak, but because that is how they keep their moral high ground.

The entire world is watching in real time.

The Hong Kong protests should become better organized politically. There is need for political conversations. Options have to be explored. If a near total shutdown of the city is not working, maybe a total shutdown has to be attempted. Because the current protests can not go on forever.

And the nuclear option is organizing for independence. I hope things don't go that far. But Beijing might not budge otherwise.

It is best that the five demands are met and one country, two systems is maintained. That is what is best for Hong Kong. That is what is best for the Chinese mainland, and the cause of democracy there.

But organizing for independence will take greater political sophistication. Millions of Hong Kongers will have to become active members of political parties. Leaders will have to emerge. Political strategies will have to be discussed.

Organizing protests does require conversations and strategies. But organizing for independence is a whole another level. Right now that political organization is lacking. Unless Beijing feels it might lose Hong Kong altogether, it might not budge. So that threat has to be created.

The world stands by Hong Kong. If Beijing attempts military action in Hong Kong, the world will shut down the Chinese economy. Chinese exports will come down dramatically. Beijing knows that to be the case. And so a credible threat for independence has to be created. That is the only way Beijing will come around to accepting the five demands. Hong Kong deserves nothing less.

The police have to be investigated. Only an independent commission could do that. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong has to be directly elected. It is going to be one of the leaders of the movement. All members of the Hong Kong Legislature need to be directly elected by Hong Kong citizens. A vast majority of them are going to be those who are currently part of the movement.

That is the way forward. The earlier Beijing makes peace with that, the better.

One country, two systems. Really.





Young Progressives Making Mistakes
Capitalism's Own Propaganda Machine
How Will Democracy Come To The Arab Countries?
Kashmir: Not Normal Yet
Trying To Understand Hong Kong And China
News: Hong Kong, Kashmir, Vigilantism, Curfew, Terrorism, Diaspora
Hong Kong, Non Violence Works
Globalization 4.0
News: Hong Kong, Vancouver, Diaspora Nationalism
News: Hong Kong, October 1, Protest Slang, Mental Conditioning
Xi Jinping Should Act
The Asymmetry Between Beijing And Hong Kong Is On Hong Kong's Side
Defiant Hong Kong
Microsft, Huawei, Trump, 5G
The Two Wangs
Hong Kong: Antennae Problem?
Hong Kong: No Police Solution, No Military Solution, Only A Political Solution
Hong Kong: Let The Dragon Grow Up
Navigating The Hong Kong Protests

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Trying To Understand Hong Kong And China

While I have been trying to understand Hong Kong and China, this blog post of mine has been of great help: Racism. The history and persistence of racism in the United States should help us understand mindsets elsewhere that we might find exotic and offensive.

I can not talk of Hong Kong, without also talking of Kashmir.

I would like to talk of China, but also of Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders, and all the race and class bias the two face. Looks like Bernie also faces what can only be called the Great Wall Of Capital.



To be clear, I don't believe the status quo is okay, in Hong Kong or Beijing. But where is the status quo okay?

Hong Kong, like every city out there, is sexist. The female protesters experience it on both sides. And so I have at times wondered if this whole movement is not some sexist rebellion against a female Chief Executive. Of course, that is rhetorical. The ball is clearly in Beijing's court. Carrie Lam has not much wiggle room.

Hong Kong, I believe, is taking the lead, not just for Hong Kong, but also for mainland China, not just for mailand China, but also for the 100 biggest cities in the world.


Hong Kong, Non Violence Works

The Hong Kong protests are in their fourth month. That is a long time. That is a testimony to how utterly unresponsive the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing are to the ordinary people in Hong Kong. That just proves the point, that the entire Hong Kong legislature and the Hong Kong Chief Executive need to be directly elected by the people of Hong Kong.

One of the five demands has been met. If that demand had been met on day one, or during the first week, that would have been that. But now one is not enough. All five demands have to be met.

Time is on the side of the protestors. Beijing can not afford to drag this on indefinitely. But the protestors must be organized enough to be able to say we do not engage in violence, we do not engage in property damage. Not only does non-violence work, but that is also the only thing that will work.

The five demands are clear. The protestors do have the option to shut down the city completely. If a near-total shutdown is not working, perhaps a total shutdown will.

The protest movement can not degenerate into mob behavior. That will show a lack of political organization, lack of political strategy, lack of leadership.

Since no good police and military options are available, the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong might be tempted to engage in vigilantism. They might organize and fund small groups of violence-prone people to do their dirty work for them. An incident here, an incident there. They already have done that a few times. That is no solution. The authorities must recognize there is no physical solution to this. There is only a political solution. The political dialogue must be initiated. Small groups of people not wearing uniform doing the dirty work for them is not the way out. That will only bring confusion and chaos.

Both sides must refrain from violence.

In making conscious efforts to not engage in violence, you take the movement to new heights.

Hong Kong protests: man seriously hurt after attack by anti-government demonstrators as street fights between rival groups erupt People trade blows and verbal abuse, with outbreaks of violence occurring mainly in the North Point and Fortress Hill area...... Ugliest incident involved unarmed man being attacked by a mob of black-clad masked protesters .........















Sunday, September 15, 2019

News: Hong Kong, Vancouver, Diaspora Nationalism

As Hong Kong protests face mainland pushback, here's what Chinese nationalists misunderstand

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 Vancouver The 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.”


News: Hong Kong, October 1, Protest Slang, Mental Conditioning

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.



Exclusive: The Chief Executive 'has to serve two masters' - HK leader Carrie Lam – full transcript



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.


The Asymmetry Between Beijing And Hong Kong Is On Hong Kong's Side

Beijing is over a billion people. Hong Kong is not even 10 million. Beijing has an army that could challenge the United States. The Hong Kong protestors only have gas masks and mobile phones. Beijing has unlimited billions it could put towards propaganda efforts and policing inside China. And it does spend a lot on policing and censoring. But still this is a no win situation for Beijing. It is like Beijing is IBM in 1979, and Hong Kong is Apple, or Beijing is Microsoft in 1999 and Hong Kong is Google. It is like Beijing is the PC and Hong Kong is the smartphone. Hong Kong taunts, and Beijing can only issue empty threats.

Beijing tried to imitate Hong Kong. It thought it created Shanghai. They got the hardware right: the roads, the bridges, the skyscrapers, the city lights at night time. But the software is missing. Shanghai is like an iPhone without Google Maps. For Shanghai to become Hong Kong, you need free speech, you need cultural diversity, you need rule of law, not rule of communist party, you need universal suffrage.

China depends on Hong Kong for funds. FDI enters China through Hong Kong. Hong Kong has the upper hand.

IBM did come around to making the PC. Microsoft did try to catch up with Bing. Apple simply let Google Maps to come rule the iPhone. Beijing has no choice but to let Hong Kong lead the way for all of China on political reforms. Or the dam will simply break. The dam could break before the New Year.

Hong Kong protestors should do their best to (1) not engage in damage of property and (2) not engage in violence. That kind of internal discipline will send a strong message to the world. Then the slightest acts of violence by the Hong Kong police will be major blows to Beijing. This is about claiming moral authority. It is powerful. Hong Kong keeps the upper hand that way.

2019 in Asia does not have to be like 1989 in Russia. Beijing should make the smart choice and bend. Agree to the five demands and keep one country, two systems intact. Before it is too late.



February 2019: Workers' Activism Rises as China's Economy Slows. Xi Aims ...
China: Strikes and protest numbers jump 20%
Why protests are so common in China - Masses of incidents




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.”


Saturday, September 14, 2019

Defiant Hong Kong

The Two Wangs

In the past two days, I have become very impressed with the two Wangs that I have discovered. One is a member of the CCP Politburo, among the seven most prominent Chinese communists in Beijing. He used to be Chief of Guangdong, which is adjacent to Hong Kong. Xi should listen to Wang. Wang had a Hong Kong problem in a village back in the days. He solved it by holding local elections. I first learned of him today.



Another Wang writes for the South China Morning Post that I only discovered a few months ago while reading up on the trade war. It has become one of my favorite newspapers. I like it better than the New York Times. The NYT only lets you read 10 articles a month. The SCMP does not have any such limitations. I have not found another publication with better coverage of China.


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Lunch at home.

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