At this rate, I think China's best option is to back down. Hong Kong is way too free, westernised and linked to the global market for there to be any break from the status quo of one country, two...
At this rate, I think China's best option is to back down. Hong Kong is way too free, westernised and linked to the global market for there to be any break from the status quo of one country, two systems.
Any sort of violent intervention in the protests, whether from the Hong Kong authorities or the PLA would drive international opinion further away from China and could risk economic catastrophe. When China is already in the middle of a trade war with a Trump-led US, this is not a good thing. It's worse when you question whether Trump will get a second term, given the recent allegations that have come to light regarding his communications with Xi Jinping. None of the Democrat leaders are likely to be more sympathetic towards China.
The protests see no sign of dying down, especially when the protesters have been very clear on their six demands. If anything, Carrie Lam's invoking of of the ERO is just going to rile them up even further.
There's already been another police shooting today: A 14-year-old was shot in the left thigh by a plainclothes police officer on Friday night in Yuen Long, as protests against an anti-mask law...
It's also worth noting that the mask ban is even more troubling than it seems at first because of how it was done:
The [Emergency Regulations Ordinance] is a colonial-era law that gives the chief executive unlimited power in the event of an “emergency or public danger.” The ERO, introduced in 1922, has not been used since the 1967 leftist riots.
...
The Civil Human Rights Front, an alliance of 50 NGOs which has acted as the organiser of recent mass marches, said the ERO was a draconian law from the colonial era.
“Once invoked, the Carrie Lam government would be declaring the death of ‘One Country, Two Systems’, and that Hong Kong is now a colony under Mainland Chinese rule. This old severe colonial law must be abandoned to keep the government in check and stop it from persecuting Hong Kong residents,” it said.
Related article: A brief history of government efforts to stop people from wearing masks https://qz.com/1721901/hong-kong-anti-mask-law-a-history-of-mask-bans-around-the-world/
At this rate, I think China's best option is to back down. Hong Kong is way too free, westernised and linked to the global market for there to be any break from the status quo of one country, two systems.
Any sort of violent intervention in the protests, whether from the Hong Kong authorities or the PLA would drive international opinion further away from China and could risk economic catastrophe. When China is already in the middle of a trade war with a Trump-led US, this is not a good thing. It's worse when you question whether Trump will get a second term, given the recent allegations that have come to light regarding his communications with Xi Jinping. None of the Democrat leaders are likely to be more sympathetic towards China.
The protests see no sign of dying down, especially when the protesters have been very clear on their six demands. If anything, Carrie Lam's invoking of of the ERO is just going to rile them up even further.
There's already been another police shooting today: A 14-year-old was shot in the left thigh by a plainclothes police officer on Friday night in Yuen Long, as protests against an anti-mask law erupted across the city.
And the court appeal has failed: A Hong Kong court has dismissed an application for an emergency injunction to halt the mask ban announced by Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
It's also worth noting that the mask ban is even more troubling than it seems at first because of how it was done:
Related article:
A brief history of government efforts to stop people from wearing masks
https://qz.com/1721901/hong-kong-anti-mask-law-a-history-of-mask-bans-around-the-world/