"They are showing the world that even a giant will back down when faced by determined resistance."
"They are showing the world that even a giant will back down when faced by determined resistance."
When Hong Kong was transferred to China in 1997 after one and a half century of British rule, the former colony was handed over to the new sovereign transformed from being a backwater colony to an economic and commercial hub of Asia. In the aftermath of the transition, the former British colony became a special administrative region of China with its own autonomous government, under the principle of “one country, two systems” where the city would enjoy "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defense affairs. The Joint Declaration between the British and China guarantees this type of government for 50 years but does not specify the type of government beginning 2045. Whether or not Hong Kong will be reintegrated to Mainland China is a fodder of much debate and speculation among the citizens of Hong Kong.
From the start, the relationship between Hong Kong citizens and the central government of Beijing has been tense. Many of the former, up to now, more than two decades after the transfer, still fiercely identify themselves as people of Hong Kong rather than Chinese. This is especially true for the youth. As recently as April 2017, it was reported that only 3.1 percent of Hong Kong’s young people identified themselves as Chinese. This self-identification is likely to decline again after the latest demonstrations on the extradition bill.
Indeed, a significant portion of the population in Hong Kong takes offense every time Beijing is perceived to be interfering in the city’s internal affairs. On the other hand, some politicians in Beijing are agitating for stronger control over the former colony.
The people of Hong Kong, a long-time British colony, have a more cosmopolitan outlook and cultural values very much different from those practiced by mainlanders. Over the years, several incidents between locals and mainlanders have illustrated just how tense the situation is between the two peoples. For instance, since 2012, local people have become concerned over the increasing number of anchor babies; pregnant mainlanders seek to give birth in Hong Kong to take advantage of social welfare in the city. These pregnant mainlanders come to Hong Kong to assert their “right to abode.” In 2015, an anti-mainlandization motion was narrowly voted down. The motion sought to defend local customs and culture from the influence of Mainland China. Other irritants, which have been causing friction between the two camps, crop up every now and then. Over the years, there has been an uptick of increasing activities among locals to assert self-identity and independence from the Beijing government.
Against this backdrop, the protests by the Hong Kong people to scrap the extradition bill passed by the Hong Kong legislature erupted. This started when the government tried to pass a highly contentious extradition bill which allows criminal suspects, whether Hong Kong citizens or foreign nationals, to be sent to China for trial. The Hong Kong government insists the extradition bill will prevent the city from becoming a haven for criminals. Critics fear that this will erode freedom and put the “one country, two systems” at risk. They also believe it will undermine Hong Kong’s judicial independence which the citizens of Hong Kong are particularly sensitive about.
There are apprehensions that the measure will be used as a tool to crack down on political dissenters in this freewheeling, semi-autonomous region. These fears come as China's President Xi Jinping, who took office in 2012, has increasingly cracked down on dissent as well as put into a spotlight China’s judicial system which is said to have a near-100 percent conviction rate. Because Chinese law already has extraterritorial scope, the extradition law endangers not only Chinese, but also Hong Kong citizens and foreigners alike.
The extradition bill is so unpopular that it has triggered massive protests by Hong Kong citizens, generating a mammoth crowd which by some estimates run into a couple of million bodies. Protesters are demanding that authorities retract the extradition bill. This is reminiscent of the September 2014 Umbrella Revolution where protests began after the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) issued a decision regarding proposed reforms to the Hong Kong electoral system seen to be highly restrictive, and tantamount to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s pre-screening of the candidates for the leader of Hong Kong.
Incidentally, if this extradition bill is passed, Filipinos traveling to Hong Kong must take precaution if they have in fact committed acts elsewhere, including in the Philippines, that China might consider a crime. The treatment of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former Foreign Affairs Secretary, already extremely disrespectful to them and the Philippines, would be kid gloves compared to what would happen if they or other China critics were charged with crimes in China and then extradited from Hong Kong.
We know of course that the massive protests forced Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam to backpedal and suspend the bill. Yet this act of appeasement seems to have failed to mollify her detractors as protests continue. Protesters are demanding no less than the resignation of Carrie Lam and the cancellation, not mere suspension, of the controversial bill.
The Chinese government can disregard these defiant protesters like a horde of flies but the people of Hong Kong are showing the world that even a giant will back down when faced by determined resistance, when one is willing to confront the bully with unflinching courage. The people of Hong Kong can impart a thing or two to the government of Duterte who, for all intents and purposes, has conceded and raised the flag of surrender to China, the neighborhood superpower. Indeed, the Duterte government’s woeful response to China’s aggressive acts in the West Philippine Sea pales in contrast to Hong Kong’s courageous stand.
The Filipino people too, including and especially our youth, can learn from Hong Kong citizens. We must stand up to our rights if we do not want to lose them.
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