What Hope Left for Hong Kong Protests?
Jeffrey Wasserstrom has made a career out of linking China’s past and present, with a special interest in the history of political protest and social movements. His slim book, Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, adds historical context to first-hand observation of Hong Kong’s protests in the 2010s, from the Occupy Central with Peace and Love and Umbrella Revolution to last year’s anti-extradition law demonstrations. He traces the extraordinary transformation of Hong Kong from a politically apathetic financial hub into a global icon of people power.
Wasserstrom has a knack for illuminating historical analogies — comparing Hong Kong to Cold War Berlin and Shanghai, for example. Yet he keeps reminding the reader, “history does not repeat itself.” He ends his meditation on a bleak note. The question is no longer whether or not Beijing will honor the pledge to grant Hong Kong “universal suffrage,” as written into its mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law. “Rather, will the resistance be able to stop the erosion of Hong Kong’s hopes and liberties?” he asks.
Beijing’s recent moves to bypass Hong Kong authorities entirely and draft a national security law for the city would seem to support Wasserstrom’s pessimism. Yet as he also points out of the history of protest in general, it is hard to tell when a civic movement is really over, or merely entering a period of “temporary dormancy,” waiting to be re-awoken. In that light, Hong Kong’s vigil for democracy may not be at the point of being extinguished.
Global Asia.