Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters are pricking at my soul. There is something unhealthy going on in Hong Kong. Under the United Kingdom of Great Britain, it was such a vibrant, crazy, loud and spontaneous place. I’ve been twice there since it was turned over to China. I noted that Hong Kong had become much more orderly. At the sidewalk restaurants, even the live seafood stayed on their plates. It was less harried while you went about your business, but I missed the vibrant spirit. I was saddened to read about the pro-democracy “ringleaders” being hauled off by police this week.
In advance of those talking about the pot calling the kettle black, let me say I know things have gotten pretty bad in the USA with Guantanamo and all, but I don’t think we have yet to sink that low. It is a shame we can’t close that prison and engage in a public discourse about what happened to clear the air in the USA. But still, reading about the repression of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy rallies this week struck a nerve, in my psyche anyway. I call it out as evidence of the forces of darkness striking in broad daylight. There is no such thing as an innocent bystander.
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” —–Martin Niemòller
“The protesters, mostly students, are demanding full democracy. They have called on the city’s embattled leader, Leung Chun-ying, to step down after Beijing in August ruled out free elections for Hong Kong’s next leader in 2017, despite constitutional promises made by China to allow eventual universal suffrage in the city of 7.3 million.” -Reuters.com (November 28, 2014)
With today’s release of the CIA Torture Report and the resettling of some Guantanamo detainees just days ago, that is a start. Perhaps soon, the healing can begin.
“Two Hong Kong students who rose to fame during pro-democracy demonstrations that angered Beijing last year were charged on Tuesday with obstructing police during a protest earlier in the year.”—Reuters
“America makes prodigious mistakes, America has colossal faults, but one thing cannot be denied: America is always on the move. She may be going to Hell, of course, but at least she isn’t standing still.” – E. E. Cummings
Tens of thousands take to the streets in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest march. —AP, July 1, 2016
HONG KONG (Reuters, June 16, 2019) – “Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam apologized to the public on Sunday with “utmost sincerity and humility” after the second massive protest in a week over a proposed extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial. Lam’s statement came after hundreds of thousands of people clogged the streets in central Hong Kong dressed in black to demand that she steps down, a day after she suspended the extradition bill. Reporting By Twinnie Siu and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Andrew Heavens”
LONDON (Reuters) August 10, 2020 – Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow has been arrested under National Security Law, fellow activist Nathan Law said on Monday. “Agnes Chow is arrested under National Security Law and we are still acquiring information about the content of the arrests,” Law said on Twitter. “Horrible day.”