Hong Kong Phooey....
After several weeks of protests in Hong Kong that initially started as a protest against extradition reforms that the Chinese government wished to implement on the population of Hong Kong the scope of the protests seems to have developed into a more broad pro democracy movement. Does this remind you of the so-called Arab spring events?. The protests have had initial success in getting the extradition bill 'postponed' but a distrusting public fears once the protests stop the bill will get implemented. Therefore the protests have continued and in doing so have resulted in the notoriously harsh Chinese authorities piling pressure on the Hong Kong government to resolve the situation.
As I write this the protesters have been occupying the Hong Kong national airport for 48 hours and people on both sides are getting angry. The Chinese Government have accused protesters of being 'terrorists' a classic tactic used by the West previously to demonize legitimate protest, they have learnt well it seems. The protesters are accusing the authorities of brutality by showing harrowing pictures of an injured protester shot in the eye. Again this is a tactic used by protesters in the west to demonize the powers that be. We rely on independent journalism to provide the 'truth' in situations like this which is proving exceptionally hard in a country that straddles East/West when it comes to press freedom. With tempers frayed and nervousness in the crowd and riot police this could go very wrong very quickly. The protesters wary of undercover police have apprehended a journalist suspected of working for the police brutally beating them. The police have stormed the front gates to 'rescue' this individual resulting in brutally attacking a tourist caught in the crossfire. The resulting melee saw her rescued by protesters and the police officer drawing his firearm before his colleagues intervened with batons. A very close call.
My suspicion is this will explode in violence before the end with western powers being called on to intervene, a very messy geopolitical situation. The UK has a unique position in all this being as Hong Kong is an ex British Colony. It was officially handed back to the Chinese in 1997 after agreement was reached that it would be essentially self governing 'one country, two systems' for a period of 50 years. It would appear that if China reneges on this deal the UK would be entitled to respond?. Boris Johnson has clearly stated his 'concern' so it must be on his radar and potential to spin it how he wishes. From my point of view this would be the height of hypocrisy as we are clearly using our extradition laws to pass Julian Assange to another country (US). This is mirroring the Chinese wanting people in Hong Kong extradited to China to face charges instead of the Hong Kong legal system. Both the US and China have the death penalty. The UK and Hong Kong don't. We should be ashamed we are not protesting in the UK with such vigor as the people of Hong Kong.
