Riots in Hong Kong. Will China use the army and what will the West do
In Hong Kong, riots continue. Even the PRC authorities admit that the enclave is experiencing the greatest problems after 22 was incorporated into China a year ago.
Tensions in Hong Kong have persisted for several months, almost from the beginning of the 2019 year. But in the last 60 days, the situation has grown beyond imaginable limits: despite the fact that impressive police forces have been taken to the streets of the city, and the number of detainees has long gone into the hundreds, mass unrest does not stop. Zhang Xiaoming, Head of the Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China for Hong Kong and Macau, said that Hong Kong is experiencing the worst crisis since it was transferred to the People’s Republic of China.
The other day, about 14 thousand people held the largest general strike in 50 years. The Hong Kong subway stopped its work, the main streets and bridges were closed. Airlines canceled over 200 aviation flights. The massive protests launched by radical youth were joined by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, which has 200 members.
The strike and mass demonstrations are attended not only by students and activists of public movements, but also by government officials and employees of urban infrastructure, who specially took one-day vacations to participate in mass protests. Joined the performances and employees of the Hong Kong airport, which is one of the busiest in the world. Moreover, so that there are no questions from the management, the strikers do not go to work on legal grounds - they take sick leave and leave at their own expense.
On August 5, police arrested an 82 rioter, but the measure did not impress the rest of the protesters. They were not stopped by the fact that more than 40 people had already appeared in court and they were facing up to 10 years in prison for participating in mass riots.
Hong Kong Administrative Secretary Carrie Lam states that the situation in the city not only threatens the security of citizens, but undermines the very foundations of the sovereignty of China over Hong Kong. This has already been understood in Beijing, since they started talking seriously about the prospect of the transfer of units of the People’s Liberation Army of China to Hong Kong to suppress riots. After all, the Hong Kong police can’t cope with the protesters, or maybe they don’t want to cope, given that the police themselves are residents of the city, that is, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors of the protesters.
It is symbolic that protesters tore off the Chinese flag from one of the flagpoles, and then drowned it in the Gulf of Hong Kong under the enthusiastic rumble of a crowd of protesters. Now, for information about who did this, a fee of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (more than 8 million rubles) has already been offered.
As you know, back in 1842, Hong Kong was captured by Great Britain. But most of the city’s territory, part of Hong Kong, London in the 1898 year was leased from the Chinese Empire for a period of 99 years. Despite the many political transformations that China underwent in the twentieth century, having traveled from the Manchu Empire of Qing to the People's Republic of China, the UK never refused to fulfill its obligations to the country and 99 years after the conclusion of the lease to transfer Hong Kong to China. This ultimately happened.
In 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a British colony and became part of the PRC. One of the conditions for entry was following the principle of "One country, two systems." He suggested that Hong Kong, having become part of China, would retain complete autonomy in domestic matters, including its own judicial system. This is not surprising, given that Hong Kongs have lived in British jurisdiction for generations. The excessive severity of Chinese laws to most of the city’s residents would not have been to their liking, since historically they were used to living in freer conditions, with a different legal system.
However, then it became known about the preparation of the law on extradition. According to this law, Hong Kong criminals could be extradited to mainland China to serve their sentences in Chinese prisons. This decision caused widespread discontent among city residents who had heard about the harsh conditions in prisons in China.
But do not think that most Hong Kongers considered themselves potential criminals. They simply perceived the extradition law as an attack on the autonomy of the city, on its legal system, until recently, practically independent of the legal system of mainland China, on the very principle of "One country, two systems."
Rallies and demonstrations began, which gradually grew into riots. The Hong Kong people stormed the city parliament building, built barricades, fought with the police. On 21 of July, 430 of thousands of people took to the streets of the city, the building of the central office of the Chinese government was attacked - the demonstrators threw eggs at him, painted a sign on the facade of the building.
In the end, the city leadership was forced to announce the abolition of amendments to the law on extradition. But then the protesters had new slogans - now the citizens who took to the streets demanded the resignation of Hong Kong administrative secretary Carrie Lam, the holding of new elections, the organization of an investigation into the actions of the police during the dispersal of mass protests.
In Beijing, a connection is being made between the riots in Hong Kong and the hostile policies of the Western powers towards China. The fact is that Britain was the first to be worried about the situation in the city. On the one hand, London’s attention to Hong Kong is understandable - for a century and a half the city was under British control and still feel some responsibility for its fate in the UK.
But China warned the British against interference in its internal affairs and advised them to deal with their own problems. Moreover, there is another side to the riots in Hong Kong - many protesters pointedly raise British flags. Such a flag was also attached to the wall of the regional parliament seized by the demonstrators. That is, the Hong Kong people participating in the protests emphasize that under British rule they were better than now under Chinese rule. The demonstrative stripping of Chinese flags speaks volumes. Some protesters come out with posters on which anti-Chinese slogans are written.
However, this alignment can already be directly described as a threat to the territorial integrity of China and its sovereignty over Hong Kong. Therefore, in Beijing they say that the British intelligence services acting through public organizations controlled by them may be involved in the organization of the riots.
That is, the West uses the technology of the "Orange Revolution" (or, by analogy with Ukraine, the "Maidan") to achieve its goals - to weaken China, focus its attention on internal problems, and at the same time demonstrate to the whole world that China is not all calm that the inhabitants of the richest city in the country are unhappy with Chinese government and want to fall under British government again.
You can also pay attention to the significant similarity between the actions of protesters in Hong Kong and the events on Independence Square in the fall of 2013 - in the winter of 2014. It is interesting that the Hong Kong demonstrators themselves do not hide their interest in Euromaidan. At least they are watching the video frames of those events. And, as activists say in an interview with the Western press, they admire the “Dignity Revolution” in Ukraine.
But, it should be noted that the Hong Kongs have stepped immeasurably further than the Ukrainians, primarily in the use of modern technology for riots. For example, during the 21 rally in July, interference with the operation of police face recognition cameras was created, for which special lasers were used.
The situation in Hong Kong is increasingly annoying the Chinese leadership. Apparently, in the very near future, China may send parts of the PLA to the city, which will suppress speeches much harder than the police. The representative of the Ministry of Defense of China, Wu Qian, said that the People’s Liberation Army of China is ready to suppress riots in Hong Kong. In addition, the Chinese authorities published a video showing how soldiers train to suppress riots.
There is no doubt that the army will operate in Hong Kong with maximum rigidity. Will the events that took place thirty years ago on Tiananmen Square be repeated in this enclave? At least, if the central leadership gives a command to use firearms against protesters weaponsthen the soldiers will fulfill it - there is no doubt about it.
From the use of force, Beijing is only stopped by its reluctance to spoil relations with the West, the "world community." Great Britain will inevitably stand up for the former colony; US President Donald Trump, who will introduce regular duties and sanctions, can take advantage of the situation. By the way, it is the United States, as China’s main adversary, that is most interested in rocking the situation in Hong Kong. In this case, Britain appears as a symbol of the "good old Hong Kong - Hong Kong", but the jackpot in any case destabilizes the US in any case.
It is the economic interests of the United States that are behind the swaying situation in Hong Kong. Human rights are just an external reason for enabling one to argue one's interest in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. But China is not Iraq, not Libya, not Syria. Therefore, if the United States and Great Britain can somehow express their indignation with the actions of Beijing, then only through the introduction of some kind of economic measures against the Celestial Empire.
So far, such a development of events is unprofitable for China, and there is still some hope that the protests can be minimized without the intervention of the armed forces. Moreover, the West is constantly discussing the topic of China's use of violence against the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (XUAR, East Turkestan).
But it is difficult to use only one Xinjiang for accusations against China, especially since the world has already formed a rather negative attitude towards the radicals opposing the PRC in Xinjiang - both in Afghanistan and Syria, they have been noted fighting on the side of terrorist groups. The conflict in Xinjiang is implicated in the civilizational confrontation between Muslim Uighurs and Chinese. Another thing is prosperous Hong Kong with its citizens who share many of the familiar values of the Western world.
In any case, there is no doubt that the mass unrest in Hong Kong is now most beneficial to the West. As for Beijing’s position, it’s very interesting how long the Chinese authorities will be able to maintain composure. If the unrest does not come to naught in the near future, sooner or later the PRC leadership will still have to resort to the capabilities of the People's Liberation Army of China.
Thousands of Hong Kong people take to the streets
Tensions in Hong Kong have persisted for several months, almost from the beginning of the 2019 year. But in the last 60 days, the situation has grown beyond imaginable limits: despite the fact that impressive police forces have been taken to the streets of the city, and the number of detainees has long gone into the hundreds, mass unrest does not stop. Zhang Xiaoming, Head of the Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China for Hong Kong and Macau, said that Hong Kong is experiencing the worst crisis since it was transferred to the People’s Republic of China.
The other day, about 14 thousand people held the largest general strike in 50 years. The Hong Kong subway stopped its work, the main streets and bridges were closed. Airlines canceled over 200 aviation flights. The massive protests launched by radical youth were joined by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, which has 200 members.
The strike and mass demonstrations are attended not only by students and activists of public movements, but also by government officials and employees of urban infrastructure, who specially took one-day vacations to participate in mass protests. Joined the performances and employees of the Hong Kong airport, which is one of the busiest in the world. Moreover, so that there are no questions from the management, the strikers do not go to work on legal grounds - they take sick leave and leave at their own expense.
On August 5, police arrested an 82 rioter, but the measure did not impress the rest of the protesters. They were not stopped by the fact that more than 40 people had already appeared in court and they were facing up to 10 years in prison for participating in mass riots.
Hong Kong Administrative Secretary Carrie Lam states that the situation in the city not only threatens the security of citizens, but undermines the very foundations of the sovereignty of China over Hong Kong. This has already been understood in Beijing, since they started talking seriously about the prospect of the transfer of units of the People’s Liberation Army of China to Hong Kong to suppress riots. After all, the Hong Kong police can’t cope with the protesters, or maybe they don’t want to cope, given that the police themselves are residents of the city, that is, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors of the protesters.
It is symbolic that protesters tore off the Chinese flag from one of the flagpoles, and then drowned it in the Gulf of Hong Kong under the enthusiastic rumble of a crowd of protesters. Now, for information about who did this, a fee of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (more than 8 million rubles) has already been offered.
Why is Hong Kong raging?
As you know, back in 1842, Hong Kong was captured by Great Britain. But most of the city’s territory, part of Hong Kong, London in the 1898 year was leased from the Chinese Empire for a period of 99 years. Despite the many political transformations that China underwent in the twentieth century, having traveled from the Manchu Empire of Qing to the People's Republic of China, the UK never refused to fulfill its obligations to the country and 99 years after the conclusion of the lease to transfer Hong Kong to China. This ultimately happened.
In 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a British colony and became part of the PRC. One of the conditions for entry was following the principle of "One country, two systems." He suggested that Hong Kong, having become part of China, would retain complete autonomy in domestic matters, including its own judicial system. This is not surprising, given that Hong Kongs have lived in British jurisdiction for generations. The excessive severity of Chinese laws to most of the city’s residents would not have been to their liking, since historically they were used to living in freer conditions, with a different legal system.
However, then it became known about the preparation of the law on extradition. According to this law, Hong Kong criminals could be extradited to mainland China to serve their sentences in Chinese prisons. This decision caused widespread discontent among city residents who had heard about the harsh conditions in prisons in China.
But do not think that most Hong Kongers considered themselves potential criminals. They simply perceived the extradition law as an attack on the autonomy of the city, on its legal system, until recently, practically independent of the legal system of mainland China, on the very principle of "One country, two systems."
Rallies and demonstrations began, which gradually grew into riots. The Hong Kong people stormed the city parliament building, built barricades, fought with the police. On 21 of July, 430 of thousands of people took to the streets of the city, the building of the central office of the Chinese government was attacked - the demonstrators threw eggs at him, painted a sign on the facade of the building.
In the end, the city leadership was forced to announce the abolition of amendments to the law on extradition. But then the protesters had new slogans - now the citizens who took to the streets demanded the resignation of Hong Kong administrative secretary Carrie Lam, the holding of new elections, the organization of an investigation into the actions of the police during the dispersal of mass protests.
Hand of the west
In Beijing, a connection is being made between the riots in Hong Kong and the hostile policies of the Western powers towards China. The fact is that Britain was the first to be worried about the situation in the city. On the one hand, London’s attention to Hong Kong is understandable - for a century and a half the city was under British control and still feel some responsibility for its fate in the UK.
But China warned the British against interference in its internal affairs and advised them to deal with their own problems. Moreover, there is another side to the riots in Hong Kong - many protesters pointedly raise British flags. Such a flag was also attached to the wall of the regional parliament seized by the demonstrators. That is, the Hong Kong people participating in the protests emphasize that under British rule they were better than now under Chinese rule. The demonstrative stripping of Chinese flags speaks volumes. Some protesters come out with posters on which anti-Chinese slogans are written.
However, this alignment can already be directly described as a threat to the territorial integrity of China and its sovereignty over Hong Kong. Therefore, in Beijing they say that the British intelligence services acting through public organizations controlled by them may be involved in the organization of the riots.
That is, the West uses the technology of the "Orange Revolution" (or, by analogy with Ukraine, the "Maidan") to achieve its goals - to weaken China, focus its attention on internal problems, and at the same time demonstrate to the whole world that China is not all calm that the inhabitants of the richest city in the country are unhappy with Chinese government and want to fall under British government again.
You can also pay attention to the significant similarity between the actions of protesters in Hong Kong and the events on Independence Square in the fall of 2013 - in the winter of 2014. It is interesting that the Hong Kong demonstrators themselves do not hide their interest in Euromaidan. At least they are watching the video frames of those events. And, as activists say in an interview with the Western press, they admire the “Dignity Revolution” in Ukraine.
But, it should be noted that the Hong Kongs have stepped immeasurably further than the Ukrainians, primarily in the use of modern technology for riots. For example, during the 21 rally in July, interference with the operation of police face recognition cameras was created, for which special lasers were used.
What is going to do Beijing
The situation in Hong Kong is increasingly annoying the Chinese leadership. Apparently, in the very near future, China may send parts of the PLA to the city, which will suppress speeches much harder than the police. The representative of the Ministry of Defense of China, Wu Qian, said that the People’s Liberation Army of China is ready to suppress riots in Hong Kong. In addition, the Chinese authorities published a video showing how soldiers train to suppress riots.
There is no doubt that the army will operate in Hong Kong with maximum rigidity. Will the events that took place thirty years ago on Tiananmen Square be repeated in this enclave? At least, if the central leadership gives a command to use firearms against protesters weaponsthen the soldiers will fulfill it - there is no doubt about it.
From the use of force, Beijing is only stopped by its reluctance to spoil relations with the West, the "world community." Great Britain will inevitably stand up for the former colony; US President Donald Trump, who will introduce regular duties and sanctions, can take advantage of the situation. By the way, it is the United States, as China’s main adversary, that is most interested in rocking the situation in Hong Kong. In this case, Britain appears as a symbol of the "good old Hong Kong - Hong Kong", but the jackpot in any case destabilizes the US in any case.
It is the economic interests of the United States that are behind the swaying situation in Hong Kong. Human rights are just an external reason for enabling one to argue one's interest in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. But China is not Iraq, not Libya, not Syria. Therefore, if the United States and Great Britain can somehow express their indignation with the actions of Beijing, then only through the introduction of some kind of economic measures against the Celestial Empire.
So far, such a development of events is unprofitable for China, and there is still some hope that the protests can be minimized without the intervention of the armed forces. Moreover, the West is constantly discussing the topic of China's use of violence against the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (XUAR, East Turkestan).
But it is difficult to use only one Xinjiang for accusations against China, especially since the world has already formed a rather negative attitude towards the radicals opposing the PRC in Xinjiang - both in Afghanistan and Syria, they have been noted fighting on the side of terrorist groups. The conflict in Xinjiang is implicated in the civilizational confrontation between Muslim Uighurs and Chinese. Another thing is prosperous Hong Kong with its citizens who share many of the familiar values of the Western world.
In any case, there is no doubt that the mass unrest in Hong Kong is now most beneficial to the West. As for Beijing’s position, it’s very interesting how long the Chinese authorities will be able to maintain composure. If the unrest does not come to naught in the near future, sooner or later the PRC leadership will still have to resort to the capabilities of the People's Liberation Army of China.
- P P 'SЊSЏ RџRѕR "RѕRЅSЃRєRёR№
- mnews.world, rus.delfi.ee
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