Protests in Hong Kong

[Big Bad Sven]

Interesting development in Hong Kong with all these protests.

If its true what is happening i support the students, the Chinese government has no right to dictate what happens in Hong Kong and set up puppet candidates.

Could be a real defining moment in Chinese and Hong Kong history. I sadly predict if the protests keep happening and getting bigger China will lose patience and come in and 'clean up the mess'. Eventually Hong Kong will lose its unique charm and become a commie chinese city.

Btw most chinese people i met in HK hate main land chinese. They come to HK with their rude and disgusting manners e.g. shitting in public, spitting in public, eating like pigs at restaurants. A lot of the new middle class from the main land migrate to HK as well and a lot of Hong Kong people feel like they are losing their identity and the city is crowded.
It seems its like a tactic by China to eventually change the demography of HK in the next generation. Similar to what they are doing in the Uigher area of china,similar to what the shiptars are doing to macedonia.....

This could be the era of China, reclaiming all of its 'lost' territories.

It would be a shame if HK loses its charm, i have never been but also wanted to. Looks like it will just be a distant memory.

[Big Bad Sven]

Btw isnt it Ironic that the HK students are brave to take on the HK government and potentially China (world power) while macedonians are too scared (or lazy) to take on a weak 'macedonian' government or a bunch of shiptar mountain thugs LOLOLOLOLOL

[Phoenix]

Already there are accusations of Triad involvement in disrupting the protest movement.

It will be a good test of the One Country, Two Systems agreement signed by China and the UK and it's legitimacy.

[George S.]

the chinese govt is ruthless and eventually will have its way..They are really reclaiming lost territorries ,i don't think they going to give in to a bunch of students.If you know how communism works its not by giving in.

[Carlin]

Hong Kong is exporting its protest techniques around the world

By Mary Hui

URL:
https://qz.com/1728078/be-water-cata...rom-hong-kong/

The “Be Water” nature of Hong Kong’s protests—fluid, flexible, and fast-moving—has taken on a new form half way across the world in Catalonia: as a tsunami.

After a Spanish court on Monday (Oct. 14) handed down lengthy jail terms to nine Catalan leaders for their roles in a 2017 secession attempt, tens of thousands of Catalans took to the streets to protest against what they saw as heavy-handed political persecution and blatant repression of the region’s political rights.

The protesters were answering the call to action from a group called Tsunami Democràtic, which launched in September (link in Spanish) urging mass peaceful and civil disobedience actions in order to safeguard Catalonia’s freedoms. Following the sentencing, protesters quickly gathered at plazas and on streets across the region, cutting off major thoroughfares and blocking traffic before heading en masse to their next target: Barcelona’s El Prat airport. As they set off from the city center, a group of youth shouted, “We’re going to do a Hong Kong!“

They were referring to what had happened at the Hong Kong airport almost exactly two months prior, when thousands of protesters forced the international transport hub to shut down. At Barcelona airport on Monday, strikingly similar scenes played out as thousands occupied both the terminal and the roads outside the building, eventually forcing the cancellation of at least 100 flights. Tsunami Democrátic even distributed some130 boarding passes (link in Spanish) via the messaging app Telegram so that protesters could enter the airport, in a move reminiscent of some Hong Kong protesters who purchased cheap flights in order to enter the airport and circumvent a court ban on demonstrations at the building.

The months-long protests in Hong Kong have also been studied in Indonesia by students who took to the streets to oppose new laws, and Extinction Rebellion climate activists in the UK, but it is the Catalonia protests that appear to be most directly inspired by the Hong Kong playbook. For weeks, Catalan activists have examined the techniques of Hong Kong’s protesters closely, taking notes on what works and what might be successfully replicated in Catalonia. In late September, the grassroots group Assemblea Nacional Catalana even held a public forum titled, “Experiences of the use of new technologies in the nonviolent struggle: the case of Hong Kong.”

“We have been inspired a lot by the Hong Kong protests, although we are aware of the differences between both societies,” a representative of Picnic x República (link in Catalan), a digital platform designed to mobilize Catalans for political action, told Quartz. “The Hong Kong people have done a very good job in letting everybody else know about their fight through social networks… These are the first lessons we have learned from them: the use of these tools to mobilize the people and keep them informed.”


A page on Picnic x República’s website lists several Hong Kong protest-related Telegram channels (link in Catalan) as sources of inspiration and information, as well photos of Hong Kong protesters’ street-level organisation (link in Catalan). “The images and videos showing Hong Kongers’ discipline passing messages and goods all along the lines of action made a strong impression on us, although we are not sure we could achieve such perfection,” said the Picnic x República representative. “Maybe, with some time and practice!”

Perhaps the strongest tactical link between the two protest movements is the focus on the Bruce Lee-inspired “Be Water” philosophy, which translates into unpredictable, creative, and agile protests that flow like water and move quickly throughout the city.

Now, Catalan activists are similarly putting that thinking to use. On social media, Tsunami Democràtic has made use of the “Be Water” hashtag, and their call for everyone to be “a tsunami” quite literally embodies Bruce Lee’s philosophy in the flesh. Picnic x República has also embraced the importance of adapting quickly like water to changing situations, taking a page from Hong Kongers’ playbook by urging protesters to move fluidly in response to police actions and not to fixate on holding static positions.


That the Hong Kong movement has been able to sustain protests for over four months and continue to command international attention also serves as a model for Catalonia. Writing in a column last month, the Barcelona-born journalist and political commentator Jordi Barbeta held up Hong Kong as an example (link in Catalan) of a movement that has successfully given a “global dimension to a local conflict.” Picnic x República is aware of the importance of being in the global spotlight, too, and has encouraged Catalans to use masks “like those used in Hong Kong”—not only to protect protesters’ identity from the authorities, but also “reinforce the international image” of Catalonia’s fight. In this sense, Catalan activists are emulating the distinctive and highly recognisable optics of Hong Kong protesters—hard hats, respirator masks, and umbrellas and other eclectic shields—as both a preventative and performative act.

Beyond parallels in protest techniques, the Catalonia and Hong Kong movements share similarities in the nature of their struggles, said Joan Ramon Resina, a professor at Stanford University specializing in Spanish and Catalan literatures and cultures.

“Dictatorships like the Chinese and the resurging Spanish one do not tolerate dissidence or even cultural difference,” he said. “Thus, what the Hong Kong and the Catalan challenges to authoritarian regimes have in common is their value as symptoms for the growing impatience of peoples around the world with political systems that sacrifice the rights of minorities for the sake of expanding their power.”


Protestors close Barcelona Airport #Tsunamidemocratic 14 Oct 2019:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c6F44b7HcQ

[Risto the Great]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Already there are accusations of Triad involvement in disrupting the protest movement.

It will be a good test of the One Country, Two Systems agreement signed by China and the UK and it's legitimacy.

Well, 5 years later, the agreement looks to be a joke.
But then again, Australia is one of the punch lines with Gladys Liu as a federal politician. The Chinese aren't even playing the long game now. It is on. And idiots are protesting about the climate which is hilarious given the systematic destruction of our manufacturing industries. Let them go to China and protest.

[Thorvald]

What buffles me is why Hongkong returned to China in the first place...the agreement of leasing HongKong made by the British empire and Imperial China, not by the communist state of China.

[Risto the Great]

P.R.China reminds me of Greece. Talk about 5000 years of history but has only been around for about 70 years.

Interesting fact: Anyone seeking the highest qualifications in Traditional Chinese Medicine needs to go to Japan to learn it. PR China burned all their books and lost most of their identity.

The republic of China is a different story though.

[Thorvald]

Yes I agree that China is overrated...

Personly Im not a big fan of China, nor its stuff they make. Made in China hasnt a very good reputation you know. Back in the day, when I grew up, things were Made in France, Made in Germany, Made in the UK, Made in Holland, and it was quality stuff. Now buy some toys for a kid and its broke very easily. While I still have many goodies from my youth, since it was made in Europe.

[Dove]

why Hongkong returned to China

Interesting idea. I guess you need to look at the communist rule like a company takeover. The entity still exists, there is just a change in management. Presumably, HK may have been given independence if it had not been a lease. A practical consideration is that HK buys its water from China so it is extremely vulnerable.