71–80 of 234 posts
They've made it. The Chief Executive apologized and the government has suspended the fugitive law amendment. That's really a RARE concession in these years because the Chinese government typically doesn't compromise at all under pressure.
This isn't the central government of China. The government in question is the government of the Hong Kong SAR.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They've made it. The Chief Executive apologized and the government has suspended the fugitive law amendment. That's really a RARE concession in these years because the Chinese government typically doesn't compromise at all under pressure. First, the government is suspending the law amendment, not retracting it. The law amendment could be revived in a month or two--that is, after enough leaders have been arrested an…
I agree with you that the government should release all protesters arrested. I actually don't care about the difference between "suspension without timetable for restarting" and "retraction" because even if the government had completely retracted the amendment, they could draft another amendment anytime anyway.
It's part of a broader war between the government and the opposing faction.
This result- where the government backed down, was not expected by anyone. Ever since the Beijing-picked government stared down the Umbrella Protests in 2014, it's been a death by a thousand cuts to Hong Kong's autonomy.
After talking to a friend who works for one of the pro-Beijing parties, it turns out the biggest fear for the Chinese authorities wasn't related to HK at all, but Taiwan. China has spent so much resources to promote friendly candidates for office in Taiwan and this HK debacle has instead emboldened the incumbent president of Taiwan, who is not at all friendly towards Beijing. In fact, she won her party primary and is now well positioned for the elections next year. As it turns out, as important as HK is, Taiwan is more important to Beijing and anything that provides fodder for Taiwan's independence leaning party is not allowed.
They've made it. The Chief Executive apologized and the government has suspended the fugitive law amendment. That's really a RARE concession in these years because the Chinese government typically doesn't compromise at all under pressure.
> the Chinese government typically doesn't compromise at all under pressure. This isn't the central government of China. The government in question is the government of the Hong Kong SAR.
It’s a bit sad feeling like this level of participation would never happen in the US. I’m not sure what the reason is, but likely a mix of being a highly individualistic society, apathy, distraction.
They've made it. The Chief Executive apologized and the government has suspended the fugitive law amendment. That's really a RARE concession in these years because the Chinese government typically doesn't compromise at all under pressure.
> the Chinese government typically doesn't compromise at all under pressure. This isn't the central government of China. The government in question is the government of the Hong Kong SAR.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What makes HK so special that they must have an extradition treaty with China? Apart from being a Chinese territory?
Hong Kong and China are separate legal jurisdictions, which seems to be the relevant distinction when considering extradition laws. It’s a bit reductive to describe Hong Kong as a “Chinese territory.” What do you think would happen if China attempted to forcefully annex Hong Kong?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As others have pointed out, HK government is not historically oppressive, physically speaking. So if the protesters initiate violence without being provoked, mass opinions may change real quick. IMO we better consider this on a case-by-case basis. If non-violent protests can and will work in more places in future, why not?
Like I said, I hope they work, but I see no reason for the HK government or Beijing to respect this, given there's no actual threat of the people protesting in a more forceful way.
Every article I see about the HK protests makes sure to focus on how non-violent the gathering was. I see many people framing that non-violence as a better way to affect change in their government. I sincerely hope that a non-violent protest gets these people the change they want, but I take real issue in framing violent protests as unnecessary when your historically oppressive government refuses to listen to the wil…
I'm French and politicians have become very very good at this.
So my HK team had the week off to protest. Luckily I didn't get any calls at 2am to bail anyone out of jail. This result- where the government backed down, was not expected by anyone. Ever since the Beijing-picked government stared down the Umbrella Protests in 2014, it's been a death by a thousand cuts to Hong Kong's autonomy. After talking to a friend who works for one of the pro-Beijing parties, it turns out the b…