All the stars are lined up to save
Hong Kong
Nobody could
have thought 2020 can bring such profound changes to Hong Kong.
The violent
protests that swept Hong Kong throughout 2019 has brought the city to its
knees. The government seem unable do anything as waves of protestors appear
every day. The western media was all out in full force recording the events and
literally broadcasting it non -stop to all the TV screens of our homes. It was
label as pro-democracy protests for the freedom of Hong Kong.
This was in
the midst of the trade war started by USA. USA and all its allies were pressing
the Hong Kong government to give way to the protesters. The Hong Kong police
force surprisingly showed extreme restrain. However they were still accused of
police brutality and castigated by the foreign press.
Covid 19 Pandemic
Then at the
turn of the year a virus turn up in Wuhan. Suddenly a deadly pandemic has
erupted and is now sweeping the world. Hong Kong also caught the bug but
fortunately with the experience from handling SARs back in 2003 the government
was much better prepared. The number of cases were very few and the number of
deaths even lower in comparison to any country in the world. Suddenly the
protests quiet down.
The pandemic
had caused a lot of death in Wuhan. It was so sudden that within days the virus
had spread very rapidly. The Chinese government took an unprecedented measure
of locking down the whole province in which Wuhan was the capital just days
before Chinese New Year. Eventually the whole country was closed and the annual
movement of nearly 300 million Chinese returning home during the annual
celebration curtailed.
The Chinese government gather enough boldness to convene their national meeting. I think it is like the Chinese saying “ the tiger is forced to jump over the wall to escape” Beyond the imagination of the Hong Kong protesters and their foreign supporters they announce a security bill which give the Hong Kong government the power to investigate and convict any person deemed affecting the security of Hong Kong and China. Suddenly the tables were turned on the protestors and their supporters. Prior to this bill, the left behind British style judicial system was a stumbling block and provided refuge to all the trouble makers.
Obviously
USA and all its supporters cried foul. They not only promised to strip Hong
Kong of any privileges granted, they will increased sanctions against China. To
show the world how magnamous they were Taiwan offered to take in anyone who
seeks political asylum. Good old Britain now wants to accept all those who had
British passports but peculiarly previously not allow to reside and work in
Britain. They went even further to accept all those who had the slightest
chance of applying.
USA and its
allies Australia, New Zealand Australia
all open their doors to Hong Kongers.
Wow, these act suddenly gave all
those Hong Kong people who may be in trouble with the coming security law or
those who have no confidence in Hong Kong’s future a chance to leave.
Furthermore this also allows those who want to stay and become part of China a
chance to do it without resorting to bloodshed.
The
President of USA being the commander of the most powerful country in the world
thinks it is his best opportunity and duty to lead the western world to bring
China to his knees. He was stepping up the rhetoric.
Black Lives Matter
Again a
unique event totally unrelated to Hong Kong has to appear. On the streets of
Miinneapolis a white police officer was shown to have use his knees and brute
force to murder an African American. Even at the pleading of the bystanders to
stop before the man was killed, his colleagues helped him to continue. This
terrible act went viral. To make matters worse the police department did not
initially charge or arrest them.
The African
Americans had suffered tremendously throughout American history. Forcefully
brought to America to be slaves, they never really got their freedom until as
recent 1965.They have been subjected to segregation, lynching and many more
forms of inhumane treatment. Till today the majority of them live in fear in
their encounters with the police.
This was
just spark on the tinderbox needed to set the explosion. Already these people
were suffering from disproportionate death from the virus in addition to the
massive unemployment. Large scale demonstration now erupted all over America.
Suddenly the country was up in flames. Once again this scenes on shown non-stop
on our TV screens.
To make
things worse Donald Trump tweeted now the famous tweet
“When the looting starts the shooting
starts”
China now can push forward its
security bill. Those Hong Kong demonstrators can escape the punishment by
migrating to Taiwan, Great Britain and the rest of its allies. The foreign
supporters can quietly leave Hong Kong before it is too late. USA has too many
fires on hand to douse and will have no more strength to shout at China.
Those who remain can now live in
peace and rebuild Hong Kong.
So it looks like all the stars are
aligned and shining bright for Hong Kong