The Conquest of Bread -
The inherent flaws in feudalism and capitalism
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Saturday, 17 August 2019
quote [ That is the Hong Kong I saw last weekend. I don’t know - I suspect no one knows - what will happen tomorrow. The only sure thing is that people will march. There are many Hong Kongers and other smart people writing online who can explain the political context of the protests, the likelihood of intervention, and what this means in a deeper way. I am just a visitor who perhaps thinks too much about fish cakes when being tear gassed. ]
Very close account of the Hongkong protests, obviously a little subjective.
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damnit said @ 9:33pm GMT on 18th August
This has been a long time coming. Ever since British rule ended in '97, China has been slowly inching it's way to fully controlling Hong Kong. They couldn't do it then because Hong Kong accounted for a lot of the wealth generated by China in those days. But now they have Shanghai, Macau, and Shenzhen generating more money for China than Hong Kong ever did.
Travel for Mainlanders to Hong Kong were relaxed while Hong Kongers still had to go through strict protocols to get to the mainland. Essentially, mainlanders could buy everything they want in Hong Kong and take it back to Beijing or wherever at no cost. Hong Kong residents can't do the same.
It was events like these over the years that has festered in Hong Kong.
The TL;DR version of how these protests started was a man from HK murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan and fled back to HK where he confessed. Taiwan wants him tried in Taiwan, but HK and Taiwan currently do not have laws about extradition. Carrie Lam, the acting officer and representative for HK, said she and her governmental body will draw up an extradition bill. However, the bill has been very unpopular (80% citizen disapproval) among HK residents as well as Taiwan saying they will not accept any bills from China. Still, Lam tried to push the bill through without hearing from HK citizens. So, protests began in June. Things were peaceful, and then you have the small group of rioters.
Over the course of the two months, things have escalated between the black shirts (rioters) and the HK police. Black shirts throwing bricks and beating down/stabbing officers with umbrellas, while officers firing rubber bullets, tear gas, and also accused of hiring white shirts (pro-China people and sometimes Triad/other gang members) to assault the black shirts, journalists, or anyone who seems to not be on their side. Peaceful protests continue, but so do the violence on both sides.
damnit said @ 9:39pm GMT on 18th August
This has been a long time coming. Ever since British rule ended in '97, China has been slowly inching its way to fully controlling Hong Kong. They couldn't do it then because Hong Kong accounted for a lot of the wealth generated by China in those days. But now they have Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Shenzhen generating more money for China than Hong Kong ever did.
Travel for Mainlanders to Hong Kong were relaxed while Hong Kongers still had to go through strict protocols to get to the mainland. Essentially, mainlanders could buy everything they want in Hong Kong and take it back to Beijing or wherever at no cost. Hong Kong residents can't do the same.
It was events like these over the years that has festered in Hong Kong.
The TL;DR version of how these protests started was a man from HK murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan and fled back to HK where he confessed. Taiwan wants him tried in Taiwan, but HK and Taiwan currently do not have laws about extradition. Carrie Lam, the acting officer and representative for HK, said she and her governmental body will draw up an extradition bill. However, the bill has been very unpopular (80% citizen disapproval) among HK residents as well as Taiwan saying they will not accept any bills from China. Still, Lam tried to push the bill through without hearing from HK citizens. So, protests began in June. Things were peaceful, and then you have the small group of rioters.
Over the course of the two months, things have escalated between the black shirts (rioters) and the HK police. Black shirts throwing bricks and beating down/stabbing officers with umbrellas, while officers firing rubber bullets, tear gas, and also accused of hiring white shirts (pro-China people and sometimes Triad/other gang members) to assault the black shirts, journalists, or anyone who seems to not be on their side. Peaceful protests continue, but so do the violence on both sides.
<-- Entry / Current Comment
damnit said @ 9:33pm GMT on 18th August
This has been a long time coming. Ever since British rule ended in '97, China has been slowly inching its way to fully controlling Hong Kong. They couldn't do it then because Hong Kong accounted for a lot of the wealth generated by China in those days. But now they have Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Shenzhen generating more money for China than Hong Kong ever did.
Travel for Mainlanders to Hong Kong were relaxed while Hong Kongers still had to go through strict protocols to get to the mainland. Essentially, mainlanders could buy everything they want in Hong Kong and take it back to Beijing or wherever at no cost. Hong Kong residents can't do the same.
It was events like these over the years that has festered in Hong Kong.
The TL;DR version of how these protests started was a man from HK murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan and fled back to HK where he confessed. Taiwan wants him tried in Taiwan, but HK and Taiwan currently do not have laws about extradition. Carrie Lam, the acting officer and representative for HK, said she and her governmental body will draw up an extradition bill. However, the bill has been very unpopular (80% citizen disapproval) among HK residents as well as Taiwan saying they will not accept any bills from China. Still, Lam tried to push the bill through without hearing from HK citizens. So, protests began in June. Things were peaceful, and then you have the small group of rioters.
Over the course of the two months, things have escalated between the black shirts (rioters) and the HK police. Black shirts throwing bricks and beating down/stabbing officers with umbrellas, while officers firing rubber bullets, tear gas, and also accused of hiring white shirts (pro-China people and sometimes Triad/other gang members) to assault the black shirts, journalists, or anyone who seems to not be on their side. Peaceful protests continue, but so do the violence on both sides.
