Hong Kong: Democratic Crossroads

Crowd at the protest last week. 

Last week, mass protests erupted across Hong Kong as pro-democracy advocates took to the streets.  With 2017 fast approaching, it remains unclear how or if Beijing will be able to implement its plans for universal suffrage in Hong Kong.  The protests occurred on the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from the United Kingdom 17 years ago and have become a kind of annual event.  Organizers estimate than over 500,000 people participated in the protest, but police estimate the number to be around 98,000.  Over 500 protesters were arrested, and coverage of the event by state news agencies in China remains almost nonexistent.  

Protestors being detained by police

Unrest in the world's 3rd financial capital are nothing new.  Riots in the 50's and 60's brought the colony to a standstill as it attempted to cope with mass migration across the border from China during the Great Famine and Cultural Revolution.  Last week's protests are something different, and very few would ever compare Hong Kong's "repatriation" to America's Fourth of July.  (By the way, my fourth here was alright.  Had barbeque)  Hong Kong remains relatively unique among former British colonies because it didn't receive independence, it just became part of another larger entity.  It is worth noting that pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong often carry Hong Kong's former colonial flag, complete with the British ensign in the upper left-hand corner.    

From 2013.  Notice the old colonial flag.  

The protests prove something very important to me that I already knew.  Political apathy isn't ingrained in the Chinese through some inherited trait.  This might sound ridiculous and slightly racist, but I have heard it many times over the last year.  During my time in China, I have had several people (exclusively mainland Chinese, always wealthy, and usually party members) tell me that the Chinese people don't care about politics in any form.  This argument is of course absurd, especially considering the Communists fought a war to win power and that usually the person telling me this is a member of a political party.

As the situation down south continues to develop, it remains to be seen how Beijing will deal with its politically unruly, financial hub.  A clampdown likely would not go well for any of the parties involved, especially Hong Kong's pro-democracy advocates.  However, their moral victory last week proved human rights don't discriminate based on ethnicity or what passport you hold.