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Opinion | An angry Hong Konger to Western politicians: Leave us in peace

By Philip Yeung, A Chinese-Canadian Contrarian and university teacher

The West is at it again. This time, holier-than-thou G-7 and NATO leaders are posturing to take a united stand against China.

Frankly, as a Hong Kong resident, I am sick and tired of the same old geopolitical game of the West ganging up on China. Haven't you got better things to do? This is a game of futility and negativity.

Once again, Hong Kong is being used as an anti-China weapon for its alleged trampling of rights.

Where were you when our city was paralyzed by petrol bombs and flying bricks?

Where were you when our university campuses, the last bastions of freedom, came under attack, with Mainland scholars assaulted and multi-million-dollar lab equipment smashed and education brought to a standstill?

Where were you when twelve-and thirteen-year-olds were pressed to man the barricades?

Where were you when shops and restaurants were boycotted or trashed simply because they were suspected of being in the other camp?

Where were you when a man was savagely set on fire merely for disagreeing with the protestors?

Where were you when my city was cowering in fear?

Now, let's count what all this ugly and dirty sabotage has accomplished.

Hong Kong is now color-divided into "yellow" and "blue"—for anti-and pro establishment camps. Life-long friends and even family members are no longer on speaking terms.

There is another subtle collateral damage. The city is changed forever. Before, Hong Kongers were known for their civility, sense of fair-play and law-abiding behavior.

Now, our university students, male or female, swear like sailors. They took their cue from foul-mouthed democratic gurus. They are rotten role models for the young.

They did not bring us democracy. They brought us terror and brutality.

It is time to challenge the moral premise of this fight.

Before you give trouble-makers a halo or a Nobel Peace Prize, ask yourself: what exactly are these rioters fighting for?

The short answer is: very little. And very trivial. It turns out they are fighting only for a mirage.

They claim to be fighting for universal suffrage, i.e. for one-person-one-vote and to get rid of the Election Committee. But they don't ask themselves: what if the slate of candidates are no good? Without capable candidates, they are fighting for a hollow victory. What is the real difference between voting for Donald Tsang and for Henry Tang, with or without the Election Committee? I don't see any.

You see, after 150 years of colonial rule, Hong Kong has no leaders who know how to govern. Under the British, senior civil servants merely obeyed their colonial masters. Hong Kong was handed peacefully back to China, without political fights to free the city from the British. In short, we have no homegrown political talents.

We cannot produce a single politician who knows the art of governance. Our leaders are either pampered civil servants or business leaders whose expertise extends only to running their own business.

This is a serious flaw in the Basic Law. Despite our dearth of local political talents, Beijing can't appoint a capable official to run the city. When the late Sir David Aker-Jones, the last Colonial Secretary saw the parade of inept leaders, he lamented: "Why doesn't Beijing simply send us someone who can do the job, just like London did?"

So, activists have been barking up the wrong tree. They have fought violently but uselessly for the right to choose a good leader who doesn't exist.

Universal suffrage tops the so-called five non-negotiable demands. The rest is about immunity for protestors and an independent commission to investigate the unrest. In the larger scheme of things, these are trivial demands. And for that, the entire city has been turned upside down and inside out!

The protest movement is insanity itself. Fed a daily diet of lies that poisoned their minds on social media, protestors became consumed by hate. The same hatred that has divided America now bitterly divides Hong Kong.

You accuse China of breaking its promise to let "Hong Kong people run Hong Kong". But China did that for 23 long years, until the city was seized by anarchy, until the local leader was stymied.

Doesn't a sovereign nation have the right to respond to an existential crisis? If not, what is a government for?

I couldn't imagine what brute force Boris Johnson, or Scott Morrison, or God forbid, Donald Trump, would have summoned to squash prolonged, organized street violence. Trump, you will recall, rushed the troops in to crush a one-day peaceful protest.

Throughout 10 months of utter lawlessness, there was not a single fatality related to police action--unheard of elsewhere. And yet, you accuse Hong Kong of police brutality.

This is a double standard. We don't need or want your protection. We need our lives back.

Before you point another finger, do us a favor, lower yourself to learn the facts. Don't lecture China on the basis of your bias or second-hand reports.

For over two decades, Hong Kong enjoyed unfettered freedom. Some called for the downfall of the Central Government. Others even profited from publishing books that libel state leaders. Where was the respect for "one country"? Beijing left them in peace, but they didn't leave Beijing in peace. Where was the reciprocity?

For rioters, "one-country-two systems" means only "two systems".

To them, "two systems" is a moral and political absolute. "One country" is a nuisance and an inconvenience.

They broke the rules of the game, wanting to have it both ways.

Beijing's only "sin" is to decisively but rationally react to the violent chaos and restored order. The same apparently happened in Xinjiang where China had long celebrated its ethnic diversity. It took decisive steps to de-radicalize murderous Uyghur terrorists. But the West is too blind and too biased to see that.

So, keep your nose out of our city. Stop using us as a weapon against China. I suggest you take your finger-pointing elsewhere and leave us in peace.

 

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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