It all began in on March 31, 2019 when 12,000 protestors came down on the roads
of Hong-Kong protesting the extradition bill and by July this number was 270,000.
Clashes, tensions, police barricades, arrests and even a death – Hong Kong, a gorgeous
city, seems to have been caught amidst a turmoil ever since the protests have erupted.
Apparently the prime cause is indeed the
implementation of the controversial bill, but the
protests also have other concerns which include its strained relationship with China.
Protestors demand for democratic reforms and
look forward to a higher level of autonomy.
The Protests mimic the 1967 skirmishes
The escalating violent street protests impersonate
the riots that had erupted back in 1967.
Amidst the hullabaloo, it is quite amusing that
Beijing considers itself the colonial frontrunner
and main target of turbulence this time is a clear arraignment
of its slant to governing the lands of Hong Kong.
It is also an indication of a major flaw in the ‘transfer of sovereignty of Hong
Kong to China’ as it ended its 156 years of colonial rule in Hong Kong in 1997.
For the Hong Kongers the agreement that was
made between Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and
the then British Prime Minister of 1984, Margaret Thatcher was that people
of Hong Kong would continue to live their life as it is even after 1997.
What was the 1997 Arrangement?
The 1997 arrangement said ‘one country, two systems’
and that there wouldn’t be any communist annexation,
subdued transfer of sovereignty and protection
of basic freedom rights for the next 50 years.
Deng Xiaoping had then said that Mainland China
may gradually espouse a liberal capitalist system
so Taiwan and Hong Kong would slowly and flawlessly merge in with the ‘motherland’.
Commemorating 1984, China was almost at its peak to becoming open-minded.
However, things did not go accordingly and the change was brought
down to its knees pitilessly with the June Fourth Incident
or what the world better remembers as Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989
– thousands were killed and thousands more were injured.
Political liberalization was nowhere in the scene although
there were delayed economic reforms that took place.
Intentions of Beijing
All was lost when Xi Jingping became the Chinese President in 2012.
Jinping was a dictatorial and soon took to governing China is a totalitarian form.
This made the position of Hong Kong fragile and questionable.
Hong Kong is a place where capital flows liberally,
people have freedom to speech and there is
judicial impartiality – to Jinping, Hong Kong
was a hurdle to his vision of ‘transformation’.
Beijing doesn’t seem to have kept their word on leaving
the economic structure of Hong Kong untouched.
It has in fact farmed out the control of Hong Kong to a small
group of oligarchs that are dominating the local economy.
Is Hong Kong Really a Free Economy?
The Heritage Foundation of America for the 25th time named
Hong Kong the freest economy once again in 2019 this year.
However, every year when the declaration is made it prompts disdain
from the ones that actually have tried to start a company,
that could impinge the business of the already business tycoons of Hong Kong.
The richest of Hong Kong are the ones that deal in real estate and property.
Hong Kong has the world’s most expensive real estate market.
The average salary of a person working in Hong Kong is
almost equivalent to the price of one-bedroom flat here.
The exorbitant rents for houses, inequality at its
prodigality and inflow of visitors from China
are all causes of the protests that have been continuing
despite the extradition bill being formally withdrawn.
Around 1 million people of the total 7.4 million population
of Hong Kong are people that have come from China recently.
When the handover of Hong Kong took place in 1997,
Beijing diligently flattered the rich business families
by liberally giving them entrée to land and investments
in China, so they could have their allegiance.
The business families, in turn, were expected to keep the
influential and common population of the city inert.
A salient thing about the current uproar is that none
of Hong Kong’s garrulous moguls are publically visible.
Irrespective of the fact where their compassions lie, it
is obvious that they cannot anger the ones in Beijing
that have given them abundantly nor can they rage the common people
of Hong Kong because of who they are enjoying the immense riches.
Before the handover of Hong Kong, Beijing had also made
associations with Triad organized group of criminals
that were mounting in the Hong Kong societies and were asked to
remain ‘patriotic to them’ if they wanted to exist peacefully.
This insalubrious history has made the people into believing that the Triads have
been attacking the protestors and that Beijing was stimulating them to do so.
What is the Future of Hong Kong?
Given the recent protests; the question that comes up is
how workable is the ‘one country, two systems’ framework
between China and Hong Kong and would this arrangement last till
2047, as originally envisioned during the handover of 1947?
It is uncertain whether the arrangement that subsists currently
was actually the one anticipated back in the handover of 1997.
It was always a very non-figurative and malleable system, which permitted Hong
Kong autonomy at a very high level where it could preserve its capitalist system.
Although in 1997 this was sketchily Beijing’s concern to preserve.
While People’s Republic has continued the one-party rule and
has emerged as one of the world’s most powerful economies;
Hong Kong has moderated in significance, upholding
some façade to ‘one country, two systems framework’.
Hong Kong has been gnawed and conceded, all cleverly done
in a concealed way that has made her frail and infirm.
It is rather sad to see Hong Kong diminish sluggishly!
What the future holds for Hong Kong is blurred –
do they people get what they want or does Beijing overpower
her, is something that future will unfold with time to come.