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Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

nytimes.com

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Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#171

Post by princetontiger »

d_burfoot wrote: post #161

Before pontificating too much about the doom of Hong Kong, you should observe that compared to the US, HK has: - Far lower crime and incarceration - Better education (measured by PISA scores) - Incomparably better infrastructure (compare beautiful, clean HK subways with laughably pathetic US ones) - Better health outcomes than the US, 84 year life expectancy vs 79 for the US - Preserves an incredibly large percentage…

.... built by the British, not the Chinese. The British gave the local Chinese a first world place.

Again, HK and Singapore were both built by British folks. Look it up. Had the British colonized more places, it would be even safer.

Malaysia is still defended by Aussies and Brits to this day!

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#172

Post by gech »

Analemma_ wrote: post #89
blackbagboys wrote: post #22

Compared to the reputation for far-seeing technocratic excellence that it acquired in the foreign business press, the CCP leadership has always been astonishingly short-sighted when it comes to foreign policy. The Taiwanese are taking note of what 'one country two systems' means in practice - absolute submission to the ruthless, brutal oligarchy in Beijing. The CCP will crush Hong Kong, destroying everything that mad…

I mentioned this in the last thread about Hong Kong, but they're not as dumb as you think. Taiwan (both the Blue and Green coalitions) has always distrusted "one country, two systems", even way back in the 90s before Hong Kong's autonomy started getting salami-sliced away. China knows that, and knows they're not really losing anything by abandoning that approach. That's not their plan anyway. The parallel tracks for…

Why do they just -need- to have Taiwan back that they would kill for it? Just let it be.

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#173

Post by unityByFreedom »

vitaminbandit wrote: post #170

EDIT: Nevermind. unityByFreedom is a troll https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=14667581

> The only difference is, with the exception of Taipei, there is no political history to point to and scapegoat.

Sure there is. Politicians allowed foreigners to buy residency/citizenship in Canada to a greater degree than possible elsewhere.

There are plenty of political levers to pull that can adjust housing costs. Government has a major role in determining property prices. They set the tax rates and issue permits.

Edit: Why don't you try responding to my argument rather than calling me names?

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#174

Post by goobynight »

contingencies wrote: post #135

I just crossed back to Shenzhen from Hong Kong yesterday. A few random observations... In HK, a lot of the taxi drivers are old guys who can barely read, don't speak English or mandarin, and are a real hassle to deal with unless you are a Cantonese speaker. A lot of the taxis have weird fare manipulation lookup tables instead of correct metering. Although the mass-transit oriented stored value card, Octopus, was esta…

Note that you can use Octopus for way more than just transit. You can buy groceries or stuff at 7-11 with that, so you can easily use it all.

9 usd will go quickly here.

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#175

Post by vitaminbandit »

unityByFreedom wrote: post #173
vitaminbandit wrote: post #170

EDIT: Nevermind. unityByFreedom is a troll https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=14667581

> The only difference is, with the exception of Taipei, there is no political history to point to and scapegoat. Sure there is. Politicians allowed foreigners to buy residency/citizenship in Canada to a greater degree than possible elsewhere. There are plenty of political levers to pull that can adjust housing costs. Government has a major role in determining property prices. They set the tax rates and issue permits.…

EDIT: Nevermind. unityByFreedom is a troll

https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=14667581

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#176

Post by unityByFreedom »

vitaminbandit wrote: post #175
unityByFreedom wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only difference is, with the exception of Taipei, there is no political history to point to and scapegoat. Sure there is. Politicians allowed foreigners to buy residency/citizenship in Canada to a greater degree than possible elsewhere. There are plenty of political levers to pull that can adjust housing costs. Government has a major role in determining property prices. They set the tax rates and issue permits.…

EDIT: Nevermind. unityByFreedom is a troll https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=14667581

> Hong Kongers don't care about the ideological differences between mainland China and HK

You're ignoring the umbrella movement protests, which spanned months, demanding true democracy. Many in HK also are not happy with China's ideological injections into their educational curriculum.

edit: Not sure what you wish to achieve by naming me a "troll". Feel free to critique my argument, but namecalling is against HN rules,

> When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names [1]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#177

Post by [deleted] »

unityByFreedom wrote: post #176
vitaminbandit wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EDIT: Nevermind. unityByFreedom is a troll https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=14667581

> Hong Kongers don't care about the ideological differences between mainland China and HK You're ignoring the umbrella movement protests, which spanned months, demanding true democracy. Many in HK also are not happy with China's ideological injections into their educational curriculum. edit: Not sure what you wish to achieve by naming me a "troll". Feel free to critique my argument, but namecalling is against HN rule…

[deleted]

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#178

Post by idra »

princetontiger wrote: post #171
d_burfoot wrote: post #161

Before pontificating too much about the doom of Hong Kong, you should observe that compared to the US, HK has: - Far lower crime and incarceration - Better education (measured by PISA scores) - Incomparably better infrastructure (compare beautiful, clean HK subways with laughably pathetic US ones) - Better health outcomes than the US, 84 year life expectancy vs 79 for the US - Preserves an incredibly large percentage…

.... built by the British, not the Chinese. The British gave the local Chinese a first world place. Again, HK and Singapore were both built by British folks. Look it up. Had the British colonized more places, it would be even safer. Malaysia is still defended by Aussies and Brits to this day!

Indeed. The best things about Hong Kong are all colonial legacy.

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#179

Post by uiri »

justicezyx wrote: post #149
uiri wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kent State, Dresden and dronings are well-known, if not in the US, then in Canada (where I'm from). The first one is mainly from the protest song by Neil Young which may be played more often here due to Canadian content requirements. Of course, Canada has its own sordid moments in history... Residential schools, Oka & Ipperwash crises, Japanese internment during WW2. I think the Chinese government may play a role in…

> Chinese student-spies on American University campuses is a well documented phenomenon [0]. Why "Chinese student protesting" is labeled as "spying". Dalai does want to make a part of China become independent. Without going into the debate into the legitimacy of this claim, can a country's citizen express their own emotion through the right channel? What makes them spy?!

The protests themselves are not "spying" per se but rather a tactic used to promote pro-Chinese government propaganda. According to the linked article, members of the student group have been accused of spying.

Straight out of that article:

Li Fengzhi, a longtime employee of the Chinese Ministry of State Security who came to the United States in 2003 as a graduate student at the University of Denver, said that the Chinese government did not see the group so much as a spying operation, but rather as a propaganda and “information collection organization.” Mr. Li eventually defected and was debriefed by F.B.I. counterintelligence agents about the group’s activities.

Re: Once a Model City, Hong Kong Is in Trouble

#180

Post by inimino »

d_burfoot wrote: post #161

Before pontificating too much about the doom of Hong Kong, you should observe that compared to the US, HK has: - Far lower crime and incarceration - Better education (measured by PISA scores) - Incomparably better infrastructure (compare beautiful, clean HK subways with laughably pathetic US ones) - Better health outcomes than the US, 84 year life expectancy vs 79 for the US - Preserves an incredibly large percentage…

Hong Kong is a port city conveniently located (politically and physically) between China and the rest of the world.

To compare a uniquely positioned city like that to the entire US population (which, for example, includes Detroit) is not particularly meaningful.

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