Hong Kong matters

This past week the spotlight turned to HK, for the Chinese parliament proposing a national security bill, and of course the nation-wide protests in the US for the death of George Floyd. 

It is silly that the US, UK, or any country could oppose the national security bill.  Is there anybody who doesn’t have one?  Why is China exceptional, except for the WCEV?   The beef hypocritically arises because the Basic Law of HK SAR has already called for one, so the Chinese Central Government shouldn’t impose one on HK.  Yet for one, the Basic Law hasn’t been followed, as the national security law supposed to be there years ago is still missing in HK, an illegality by itself, mostly because the US and UK have been actively instigating against it from behind the scene.  Another, is that the Chinese Central Government, or any national government for that matter, certainly has a right to enact such a law.  And the Basic Law of HK SAR has got nothing against it, nor does it have the right to do so.   A law common all over the world, so what is the big fuss about it?  Everybody can do it, just not China?

Then the George Floyd protests in the US, knocking COVID-19 from the front page for a change.  There are many aspects and angles, not all related to HK, but any Chinese can clearly identify WCEV in the Western media and politicians all over again, who have been vouching for the HK riots for almost a year and now calling for more because of the proposed national security bill. 

First, how did the protests start?  In the US it is just another black man killed on the street (or at home), the latest of a long list of such cases over many years.  Always the public outrage, then protests, riots, then nothing happens, until the next video surfaces.  Perfectly legitimate grievances, only nothing will change.  Just like mass shootings.  In HK it was because the SAR government proposed a bill extraditing common criminals in 2019.  Its origin was that a resident of HK killed someone at Taiwan and then fled to HK.  HK can’t prosecute him for the crime, while Taiwan can’t get hold of him, so the law would prevent HK from being “the paradise of criminals” by allowing him being extradited to Taiwan.  Again, nothing usual about it.  But because it also included the mainland China as one of the destinations, all hell broke loose, even after the bill was withdrew long ago.  None of it is possible without the US and UK support, which is well documented and openly admitted.  Now the rioters are going for “democracy” and “HK independence”.  The irony is off the roof.  The British controlled HK for over 100 years without any such a thing.  Nobody ever denies HK today has it much better, and various political fractions are still negotiating for reforms.  So it is really not “democracy” but “HK independence”, which is why the new national security bill is now proposed.

But all these above are too abstract for commoners.  So it is better to compare concrete evidence, and what one’s eyes can see and what the Western media and politicians say about the happenings in HK and the US.  If one’s only source of information is the Western media, he can be excused to believe that there are only peaceful protesters in HK, and the HK police are a violent bunch.  The Western media always call them democracy “protesters”, always never “rioters”.  Yet in no exaggeration, right from the start these people have been blocking, burning, looting, trashing, smashing, and beating.  Stores, buses, trains, roads, bridges, banks, restaurants, vehicles, ambulances, buildings, you name it.  The only death so far was an old man hit in the head by rocks thrown by “protesters”.  Another man was set ablaze by “protestors” and luckily survived.  And “protesters” beat and kidnapped countless of people disagreeing with them, clearing the roads, or merely passing by.  Throwing fire bombs at cars, places, and HK police.  Guns, bombs, and many other weapons have been confiscated.  There are ample pictures and videos of these examples, few ever shown in the West, or casually swept under the rug.  No rioting, just protesting.

But how about the legendary HK police brutality?  One will be hard pressed to find any evidence, especially compared to the US police.  Most stories reported in the West or social media turn to be fake.  The HK subway station deaths?  People with the names on the “death list” are all alive and well.  The student who died from a fall off the parking lot?  Videos showed no cops were even near him when he jumped.  The one woman supposedly got blind after a hit in the eye?  She was at a bus stop, with her back protected, and in front of her there was no police nearby nor tear gas or projectiles fired from the police.  She was, however, among “protesters” with BB guns.  In rare instances HK police fired guns, they were all being attacked by outnumbering “protesters”.  Most of time it was in the air; in one time the cop shot a “protester” when he reached for the gun.  The “protester” lives, and videos and images of the encounter abound.  But no matter, HK police are so violent.

It is comical that HK police get so much bad rap in the West but have yet to kill anybody, despite the year-long, daily rioting and fighting, interrupted briefly by COVID-19, when one can only imagine how much differently police in the US would have done.  And how many protests were started precisely because the police had killed somebody in the US, when the original goal of the HK bill was to punish murderers?  But see how quickly the Western media label “rioters” when they are in the US this week.  In truth, no matter how it starts, this kind of things always evolve and happen everywhere and are perfectly and entirely predictable.  But in China including HK it is “protesters”, else it is “rioters”.  They do the exact same thing, just a matter of how the media decide to frame the issues or whether to promote it or not (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/riot-or-resistance-how-media-frames-unrest-in-minneapolis-will-shape-publics-view-of-protest/).  Or whether WCEV approves it or not.