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| Mr Wong leads the high-profile Scholarism student activist group |
Not only Joshua wasn’t clear about their strategy but I am not sure about Hong Kong’s situation in future also because at first I think the 2014 Umbrella Movement has already finished since December last year, which the polices cleared all protesters and their camps with no resistance and brought the movement to an end with no law change, but now it’s still alive. The protesters just wait for the proper time to fight for democracy again.
Ending the movement that time may result from various factors; for example, millions of protesters had to go back to their responsibilities - working for money, taking care of children, or studying. Furthermore, they might not want to pass the Christmas time with stressful political situation, the tourism revenue would be decline too.
However, it is very interesting that most of the pro-democracy activists are the new generation of Hong Kong people – students, workers, and professors, they want to see the new system of Hong Kong governance, which give them more freedom to vote the leader of their city. They did not agree that the Beijing government rejected the proposal for democratic election of Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017; in other words, the city’s top leader will again be chosen by a small loyal group under the communist party.
This is a dilemma situation which is definitely unclear because if the Hong Kong chief executive can be voted by Hong Kong people, yes they will have more freedom to choose which policies they like, the “one country, two systems” are going to an end. Nevertheless, is it the beginning point to China’s political disorders? Because there are a lot of ethnic minorities in China too such as Uyghur, Tibetan, etc., how will they react to that Hong Kong change?
Sometimes, I hopefully want to see something “new” about the countries’ governance, rules, and orders not only within my country but also any other countries, yes I am a new generation too; in conclusion, is it possible that Hong Kong will be the first example of China’s new governance or the first city which is a completely democratic city both in economy and in politics under Beijing government?
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Reference
Liu, J. (2015, August 2). Joshua Wong: 'We had no clear goals' in Hong Kong protests. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-33729241
I'm sorry for sending late ><"
ReplyDeleteThank you Punn. A little late is not a problem. It is certainly a thought provoking piece of work, as politics often is.
ReplyDeleteBut then, politics should be thought provoking since it has important consequences for the lives of people and societies. One of the great problems with the sort of censorship beloved of China and other despotic, anti-democratic systems is that they teach lies and call them history. Chinese people do not, for example, know or understand the truth about Mao Tse-Tong, or Tian An Men Square, unless they have gone overseas and learnt it in more free and open societies where it is not illegal to peacefully share honest opinion and to disagree with what is likely false, however popularly believed because of such things as "patriotic education in local schools" (Liu, 2015).
I was also reminded of other recent parallels with Thailand, but will come to that with my afternoon coffee, unless someone else writes it first.
Maybe Hong Kong people don't realize themselves as Chinese, they seem to have more freedom of many things to do, including freedom of speech than the main China.
ReplyDeleteYes, it can be compared with recent situation in Thailand. I am looking for someone to share about this idea too.
Thank you for your comment, Peter.
My thought was that in Thailand, too, it is the young people, university and even high school students, who are setting the example of good morals, which the government and others in authority are rejecting in favour of injustice, censorship and other things that facilitate corruption by officials and those with power.
ReplyDeleteAs the brave and thoughtful young students of both Hong Kong and Thailand understand, corruption does not like democracy because democracy means citizens can seek and speak truths about every topic.
Many in the older generations need to learn some important lessons from these youngsters.
I have heard that Hong Kong there are lots of students stop their school to protest the government, but I thought they were cleared that situation already since I did not heard a protest in Hong Kong.
ReplyDelete"Umbrella Movement," I did not know the movement's name until I read your blog. Do you know why it is call Umbrella?
The name "Umbrella Movement" came from the protesters who used the umbrellas to protect themselves from tear gas.
DeleteYes, I think it's already done, but actually it's not, we may see this movement again.
I agree, freedom of speech should not be limited no matter what the countries are. Thank you for your thoughtful idea.
ReplyDeleteWhy shouldn't free speech be limited? What are the reasons for thinking it must be respected? (I agree, but I still think it's useful to check why we hold a belief.)
DeleteIf I say the reasons depend on human rights, is that right?
DeleteNo matter who we are, we all are human who basically have rights to do basic things like speaking freely. Why do we obey the laws that limit our basic freedom? So, freedom of people's speech should be respected.
What do you think about that reasons?
The dilemma situation of political crisis seems very hard to solve immediately. Although Thailand’s and Hong Kong’s problems are different, these political problems have become issues that each country needs to find out the best solutions to address them. To solve it without violence, I believe that the discussion and negotiation would be a part of effective solutions that every political group should do because no one can get injured, and everyone will be able to share their own reasons and opinions in order to lead to the best solutions. Meanwhile, it would take times to address the problems as well.
ReplyDelete