You make a very good point in the bolded section. To be fair, I have great respect for the protesters in Hong Kong. I hope they somehow find a way to win their independence from China. But that does seem like a longshot, to say the least. However, that is what they will have to achieve in order for them to be successful there. If they cannot achieve independence from China, their next best alternative is to flee the country, to the freeest and most prosperous country they can find.
You do know you are repeating the one-sided western propaganda and their non-stop anti-China rants? Have you seen the things they did? would any country tolerate that?
Enjoy your ignorance, with all due respect. Do you really have no clue as to what China's government is doing? Hey, at least here you can give a opinion and not worry about the government jumping on you with both feet.
just so you understand, there is a deep hatred between Singaporeans and HKers, they can't stand each other. HKers can't stand the Singa snobs' arrogance pretending that they're the greatest thing since chop sticks Singaporeans can't stand the fact that even tho they're more educated than HKers, they can't supplant / leapfrog HK as a globally recognized financial center it'd not be far-fetched to say that even the most fervent pro-Independence HKers would rather live in China than the nanny-state Singapore two professors, both have lived in HK and Singapore, have written this book "Constructing Singapore"; in it they've offered this take Singapore is the quintessential nanny state, a micro-managed Asian cosmopolitan society with hints of Orwellian repression and ignorant bliss. Living in Singapore is really akin to slitting your own wrist while immersing in a warm bath; you feel comfortable but you are dying every second. for the most part, HKers share this view
I would caution laying all the blame or demonizing one side or the other. This is a very complex situation. As some posters noted there are many people in HK who do support Beijing and there have been counter protests. Also some of the animosity driving the protest is bias by HK people towards mainlanders who they describe using terms like Trump does towards Mexicans. My own view is that the PRC should rfully recognize and implement the agreement allowing HK to have true autonomy. That won’t resolve all of the issues though. As Americans we need to be very careful about our rhetoric and how we approach this. Stability and territorial integrity are very prized by the Chinese. The latter is what is holding back the PRC from a crackdown as why the protests are a huge headache For Beijing a crackdown will likely cause much more problems. If Beijing believes that this driven by foreign interests, or there is a real chance of HK no longer being a part of China they will use force. There is no greater fear of the PRC than the idea of losing territorial integrity.
Having lived in both places i don’t think it is quite as negative as that. There is a rivalry but there is also a lot of trade and other exchanges and cross travel. A lot of Asia doesn’t like Singapore and singaporeans but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t consider going there. That said the idea of a mass migration from HK to Singapore is totally unrealistic. Singapore is much smaller land area and population wise than HK so that alone would prevent a mass migration. Further Singapore wants to keep good relations with the PRC so wouldn’t want a lot of HK dissidents coming to Singapore.
I've seen what protesters are doing. They are becoming mob terrorists. What China's government is doing anyway? any real example that a government should not do?
Even if the PRC is willing to do this, doesn't that just push the ball down the road to 2047? The PRC will take over in 2047. People will go from a relatively free society with common democratic freedoms (press, speech, association, legal rights, independent judiciary etc...) to a society ruled by an authoritarian government. It feels like a bomb slowly counting down to zero.
What is this true autonomy? HongKong is just a city of China. They do not even pay tax to China while China provide basic resources for them. Why do they feel the need to ask for 'true autonomy' beyond 'one country two systems'? I do not understand. Can any city of US ask for true autonomy? The bottom line is that China will not allow HK becomes a base for anti-China movements. There will never be a government that is anti-China. 'One Country' means one country. China won't give in that ground.
Don't worry. money will resolve all this. In 1997, HK is 19% of China GDP. 20 years later, now it becomes 3%. In 2047, HK might be the poorest city in China. They will welcome any government that can give them food. Their "relatively free society" is not working well.
Exactly right. Some people seem to think that the people of Hong Kong are expected to just passively forefiet their freedom just because of an agreement between the British and Chinese governments. Using pretty much that same reasoning, we never would have revolted against the British in 1776. The only answer here for the Hong Konger's who are trying to fight for freedom and the ability to democratically determine their own destiny is to pursue independence. If the terms of the agreement between the Chinese and the British are deferred to, then the people of Hong Kong will not be free past 2047, and probably that freedom will be taken from them well before that, and possibly within the next few days. The Chinese are leftists and leftists are all about domination and control. This is what is most important to them and everything else is just window dressing. The Chinese have no respect for "One country, two systems". The only reason they even talk this way is because they are clearly not dominant over Taiwan and Hong Kong the way that they intend to be. At least not yet. In the end, there will be no freedom for anybody who is truly under the control of the Chinese government.
I do not know what is happening, but I blame both Xi and some HK people. Xi becomes another Mao, which is terrible for Chinese, and some HK people are just prefeed to be ruled by white people like UK people, which is shameful. I support some of them move to other countries for good, but those people are just poor, they depend on food and water from China mainland, then they have no skills to complete jobs with good educated people from mainland, simply talking freedom is not taking you to nowhere.
HK isn’t just another city in China. It’s not Harbin, Chengdu or even Shanghai. It by definition is a Special zone that was returned by a treaty with specific terms and promised in writing that during the 50 year transition they would have the right to choose their own leaders and conduct internal affairs free from PRC interference. While recognizing PRC sovereignty. That is “One Country Two Systems” you’re only focusing on the first part while ignoring the second. FYI for what it’s with I don’t advocate HK independence. What I’m advocating is democracy and rule of law which I would like to see for all of China. HK though is the only part of China that that has that in writing right now.
