The Hong Kong (Pro) Test

As Beijing pushes forward towards solidifying political control over Hong Kong, Hongkongers push back en masse. However, what seems to be an existential exam into the democratic grit of the former British colony’s inhabitants, may actually be Beijing’s biggest test on its governing prudence yet.

On June 9th, estimations of over a million attendees protesting against the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, or widely known as the Extradition Bill, made headlines across the globe.

Then, a week later on the 16th, claims of almost two million people marching the streets of the commercial hub island with a population of approximately 7.4 million people surely got Beijing reassessing the situation.

 

Hong Kong is one of the world’s most significant financial and commercial hubs, but perhaps more importantly for Beijing, the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China has become the frontline, ground zero, for consolidating Beijing’s narrative of a single Chinese nation under the Chinese Communist Party. If Hong Kong is free to defy the will of the CCP, it may become a precedence that leads to China’s other “special” regions to follow suit.

For example, the Autonomous Region of Xinjiang might demand the right to deviate from the China Standard Time and adjust their clocks to be two hours behind Beijing’s. Mao Zedong declared a one time zone for all of China in the name national unity, thus, setting your watch or clock to the geographical time zone of Xinjiang could be interpreted as an act of terrorism, apparently. Last year, a man of Uighur ethnicity was detained on terrorist charges because he set his watch 2 hours behind Beijing time. This is probably what some people are referring to when they label the CCP as a totalitarian regime.

Though Hong Kong isn’t on the other side of the country like Xinjiang in geography to Beijing, it might as well be due to the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The joint declaration stipulates that after handing Hong Kong over to China, China would allow the way of life and the laws that uphold such ways of life in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to remain untampered for 50 years from 1997 onwards.

 

Hongkongers speak Cantonese, and has their own legislature. Criticizing the CCP is not a crime in Hong Kong, it’s not actually a crime in China either, but if you get enough attention doing it in mainland China you could be charged with subversion, inciting subversion, endangering public security, etc. That’s one of the reasons why Hongkongers and foreigners residing in Hong Kong have fervently opposed the Extradition Bill that would allow Hong Kong authorities to detain and extradite its citizens or foreign nationals that sets foot in Hong Kong at the behest of Beijing. Kind of like when Canada detained Huawei’s CFO when Washington asked, kind of.

 

It is quite clear what the protesters in Hong Kong want for the time being, getting rid of the Extradition Bill entirely instead of suspending it as Hong Kong chief executive Carry Lam had done, and for the chief executive to step down. Furthermore, the protesters are demanding that the authorities change their interpretation from “rioting” to peaceful protests, and independent investigations into police brutality.

Overall, the protesters are demanding their rights as a democratic society, but is it really worth it to stall for just another 28 years? Why not just get it over with now and save the later generation the transitional turmoil, it’s inevitable anyway, right? However, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned Beijing of “serious consequences” if promises agreed to in the joint declaration are broken.

Of course, Chinese authorities returned in kind with jabs at the British Foreign Secretary comment as being a fantasy of a “faded glory of British colonialism”, “hands off Hong Kong and show respect.”

The escalations in diplomatic communication between London and Beijing came a few days after protests in Hong Kong took a turn towards what most mass demonstrations look like in the rest of the world. During the July 1st protests and the government’s ceremonial celebration of the 22nd anniversary of the Handover of Hong Kong to China, a group of protesters went astray from the abnormally peaceful demonstrations and charged into the Legislative Council or LegCo. Luckily, the police that was reportedly inside the legislative building backed off due to reasons that have experts baffled.

 

It’s been 30 years since the violent suppression by the CCP at Tiananmen Square with lethal force. Fears of retribution and further suppression are on the rise as authorities have already made at least 12 arrests in relation to the July 1st force entry into LegCo, The New York Times reports, citing that the youngest arrested was only 14 years old.

 

As much as this is a test for the people of Hong Kong on how much they are willing to do to ensure their way of life, it is a test for Beijing’s prudence in governance. With the delicate truce from the ongoing trade war with the US being offered to continue trade negotiations, China does not want to lose any public support from the global community nor start another conflict on another front with London.

The Hong Kong test will be watched closely by the world. It’s actually a great chance for Beijing to show the world how much it has changed since Tiananmen Square thirty years ago. Can a symbiosis of two systems within one country prevail, or is it the end of Hong Kong as we know it?