Hong Kong erupts in protest...again.
And police arrest people...again.
Even as the deadly coronavirus spreads.
Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
Hong Kong.
Remember them?
It’s been nine very long months
since the protests began there.
They started after the Hong Kong government tried
to pass a law that would let them extradite criminal suspects
to mainland China...
...where they’d be treated to China’s legal system,
which looks like this.
For some reason, Hongkongers didn’t want that.
After months of stalling, the Hong Kong government
eventually scrapped the extradition bill.
But that didn’t stop the protests—
which by then had evolved into anti-Chinese Communist Party protests.
“Chinazi.”
I think it’s pretty clear how the people feel.
So for almost 9 months,
there have been protests in Hong Kong virtually every week—
sometimes even more often.
And the typical reaction of the Hong Kong police has looked like this.
So really, why bother extraditing people to mainland China,
when Hong Kong police can bring mainland China to the people?
Now, there’s a deadly coronavirus spreading in China,
and it’s also affected Hong Kong.
Back in 2003, Hong Kong went through
the worst SARS outbreak outside of mainland China.
So people are understandably concerned about the coronavirus.
But if the Chinese regime was hoping the coronavirus
would make Hong Kongers too scared to protest,
they’ve been sorely disappointed.
We haven’t seen large-scale rallies in a while.
But the coronavirus is also inspiring *new* protests in Hong Kong.
These are often strikes or smaller spontaneous protests.
Authorities aim to arrest their way out...
...because arresting people is apparently
the solution to all of life’s problems.
Except student loan debt.
If only...
It’s also clearly the solution
to dealing with pesky local media moguls
who refuse to censor themselves.
Like Jimmy Lai.
He’s the founder of Apple Daily,
a Hong Kong newspaper that has been explicitly supporting the protests.
Hong Kong police arrested Jimmy Lai on Friday
for participating in an “illegal assembly” back on August 31.
Also arrested were two former pro-democracy legislators,
Yeung Sum and Lee Cheuk-yan.
It was a smart move by Hong Kong police.
Arresting senior citizens, including a multi-millionaire,
is a great way to remind Hong Kongers from all walks of life that
they have a reason to hate the government.
It really brings people together.
Jimmy Lai has been released,
but he’ll have to appear in court on May 5.
If he’s convicted of participating in an illegal assembly,
he could face big fines, and up to five years in prison.
More than 7,000 people have been arrested
since the Hong Kong protests began last June.
And a lot of them have been charged with “rioting,”
a more serious charge that carries up to 10 years in prison.
But somehow, arresting people doesn’t actually
deter other people from protesting.
This past Saturday, Hongkongers came out to protest again.
They were commemorating the six-month anniversary
of that time when Hong Kong police actually
boarded the subway to beat people up.
Following tradition,
Hong Kong police came to provide the solution:
Tear gas.
And arresting more people.
It’s hard to believe protests like this
have been going on for so long.
Then again, time flies when you’re repressing people.
So what do you think?
Leave your comments below.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question
from one of our supporters who contributes to China Uncensored
through the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Shane asks:
“Hi Chris, Why is it that the former colony of Hong Kong
has such a vibrant culture of democratic values
that they're willing to fight tooth and nail for,
while the former colony of Macau
seems to have just rolled over
and accepted their authoritarian fate?”
Good question, Shane.
There are potentially many reasons why this is the case.
But one reason is the economy.
Hong Kong’s economic future depends on having rule of law.
Institutions like banks, financial firms,
and many others have set up their operations in Hong Kong.
They depend on liberty and rule of law,
because if clients renege on agreements,
or if there are lawsuits, et cetera,
these companies can rely on a fair court system,
without interference from powerful Communist Party officials.
At least in theory.
So Hong Kong’s economy *requires* liberty.
Who wouldn’t “fight tooth and nail” for that?
But Macau’s economy *depends* on powerful Communist Party officials.
Macau technically has the same
“one country, two systems” policy as Hong Kong.
But Macau is China’s hub for gambling and money laundering.
Macau’s economy has grown by sevenfold since Portugal
returned it to China twenty years ago,
and that economy is built around gambling.
Rich Chinese people use these casinos
to change their Chinese currency into US dollars or Euros,
so they can move their ill-gotten money out of China.
And most of Macau’s residents are, in some way,
connected to the gambling industry—
working in casinos, hotels, restaurants, or related services.
So if Macau loses the support of China’s communist officials,
there would be massive, massive unemployment.
The locals do not want that.
Also, in 2009, the Macau government passed
a Draconian anti-subversion law,
which allows police to easily go after dissidents.
So that’s a big deterrent to protesting as well.
So in Macau, it’s much easier to
“just roll over and accept your authoritarian fate.”
If you want to learn more,
check out the interview I did a few years ago
with Macanese pro-democracy activist Scott Chiang.
Thanks for your question, Shane.
And thank you to all of you watching.
Please be like Shane,
and support China Uncensored by contributing a dollar or more per episode
on the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Go to patreon.com/ChinaUncensored.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.