Protesters see little reason to celebrate Chinese rule
Kelvin Chan
in Hong Kong Hong Kong is planning a big party as it marks 20 years under Chinese rule. But many people in the former British colony are not in the mood to celebrate.
Fireworks, a gala variety show and Chinese military displays are among the official events planned to coincide with a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping starting today for the occasion.
Ahead of the anniversary, state broadcaster China Central Television has been running daily news features extolling what it calls the inextricable ties between China and Hong Kong in fields ranging from sports to the military and the arts.
Underneath the surface, however, tensions are simmering as Hong Kongers, especially the young, chafe at life under the tightening grip of China’s Communist leaders.
“People are not celebrating but worrying about Hong Kong’s future and its current situation,” said Nathan Law, who at age 23 was elected the city’s youngest-ever lawmaker last year and was a student leader of 2014’s massive “Umbrella Movement” prodemocracy demonstrations.
Members of the Demosisto political party including young activist Joshua Wong on Monday draped a giant flower statue bequeathed by Beijing in 1997 in black cloth, which they said symbolised “the hard-line rule of the authoritarian regime”. Other protests in the works include a rally by a proindependence group tomorrow evening and a pro-democracy march on Saturday, the latter an annual event that has drawn big crowds in the past.
Law said there is growing concern that Beijing is steadily eroding the “one country, two systems” principle put in place after it took control of the Asian financial hub. Under that principle, Hong Kong largely runs its own affairs and enjoys civil liberties unseen on the mainland, but now, he said, “there are lots of people describing the current system as one country, 1.5 systems”.
He and others tick off a list of incidents that stoke fears about China tightening control. At the top is the case of five Hong Kong booksellers secretly detained on the mainland starting in late 2015 for selling gossipy titles about elite Chinese politics to mainland readers. One of the men, Gui Minhai, is still being held.
Xi’s three-day visit includes an inspection of People’s Liberation Army troops based in the city and culminates in the swearing-in of Hong Kong’s new leader, Carrie Lam. Police are ratcheting up security, with media reports indicating officers will crack down on political banners and images.
For many in Hong Kong, the fundamental problem is the legitimacy of the city’s Beijing-backed leaders. Lam was chosen by a coterie of pro-Beijing elites over a far more popular rival in what pro-democracy activists slammed as a fake election. The system was at the root of the 2014 pro-democracy protests.
But not everyone in Hong Kong shares the protesters’ views.
“They’re just wasting their time. They should make good use of their time to study,” said Choi Wah-bing, a 67-year-old retiree. He said he didn’t understand young people protesting and agitating for more autonomy.— AP