Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
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Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#2What are the chances of the unrest spreading into China?
One hears of sporadic unrest through China, I take the economy hasn’t yet faltered so people aren’t too disgruntled.
I take it this qualifies as “Interesting Times”
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#3What are the chances of the unrest spreading into China? One hears of sporadic unrest through China, I take the economy hasn’t yet faltered so people aren’t too disgruntled. I take it this qualifies as “Interesting Times”
0 to minimal chance. the brainwashing happening in mainland china makes those protesters into terrorists supported by foreign governments. that’s the level where china is at right now.
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#4What are the chances of the unrest spreading into China? One hears of sporadic unrest through China, I take the economy hasn’t yet faltered so people aren’t too disgruntled. I take it this qualifies as “Interesting Times”
China isn't nearly as strong as people think. China isn't Shenzhen and Shanghai. Far from it.
It is 95% wastelands with uneducated peasants. They don't care about democracy or freedom. They care about rice and chicken.
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#5So… a few thoughts. I live in HK (having semi-recently moved here from the Bay Area, right before this all flared up).
First, there's a ton of misinformation out there. Few sources have entirely accurate information, but the best English-language resource I've found on the subject is the local paper South China Morning Post (scmp.com). They have pretty accurate and unbiased live reporting of the protests as it flares up. Twitter and private groups have unfiltered live information.
The movement is still described as "anti extradition bill," but has long stopped being about the extradition bill that triggered it all. At this point, it's simply a revolution against an increasingly worrying shift towards Beijing-controlled authoritarianism.
The mood has intensified and darkened since the beginning of the movement in June. There is a lot more disagreement now about whether the protester's tactics are justified. The protests are losing a lot of general support, but still attract overwhelmingly large crowds. Police has stepped up the aggression, the gov't isn't budging, and dissidents are increasingly angry and willing to resort to violence and guerrilla tactics. There's also the added element of the white shirt counter-protesters (allegedly triads, allegedly China-backed) inciting indiscriminate violence to attempt to scare the public into distancing themselves from the movement.
Nobody has died yet, but the violence is getting worse and some people are getting seriously hurt. Yesterday's flare-up at the airport was in response to anger about a female medic protester being shot point-blank in the face by police and losing an eye. There were some pretty horrific scenes of police shooting tear gas rounds at close range in Kwai Fong MTR station (which is against the rules for how to use tear gas and which endangers both protesters and bystanders and MTR employees alike).
My life here hasn't been affected much, but I do make an effort to avoid the protests area which aren't exactly safe. There have been quite a few of regular transit disruption. I've definitely have had several days of cancelled plans due to transportation issues. I've had friends crash with me because their neighborhood was in the middle of a protest fight. I've had a friend get tear gassed walking home a bit too close to a group of protesters.
Hope this all gets resolved peacefully soon, but let's be real… it won't. I expect this will continue to escalate. I'm watching China's response carefully, because there's a risk they make some pretty unprecedented moves.
For perspective, here's a comment I wrote the day of the first violent protest on June 12th (which I attended): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20167292
Happy to answer any questions from the perspective of an expat on the ground.
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#6What are the chances of the unrest spreading into China? One hears of sporadic unrest through China, I take the economy hasn’t yet faltered so people aren’t too disgruntled. I take it this qualifies as “Interesting Times”
0 to minimal chance. the brainwashing happening in mainland china makes those protesters into terrorists supported by foreign governments. that’s the level where china is at right now.
Most people on the mainland are probably unware of what is going on in HK.
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#7What are the chances of the unrest spreading into China? One hears of sporadic unrest through China, I take the economy hasn’t yet faltered so people aren’t too disgruntled. I take it this qualifies as “Interesting Times”
0 to minimal chance. the brainwashing happening in mainland china makes those protesters into terrorists supported by foreign governments. that’s the level where china is at right now.
Kinda like the brainwashing happening in the US where any divergence from the mainstream is seen as Russia influenced
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#8What are the chances of the unrest spreading into China? One hears of sporadic unrest through China, I take the economy hasn’t yet faltered so people aren’t too disgruntled. I take it this qualifies as “Interesting Times”
Low. There are also reports of APCs massing on the China-HK border. Allowing unrest to spread is the one thing China has become extremely good at preventing.
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
#9What are the chances of the unrest spreading into China? One hears of sporadic unrest through China, I take the economy hasn’t yet faltered so people aren’t too disgruntled. I take it this qualifies as “Interesting Times”
Why would unrest spread to China?
Re: Protests Put Hong Kong on Collision Course with China’s Communist Party
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