
Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China - musashiway
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53412598
======
fermienrico
I've been to HK several times for business, always had great conversations
with people of HK and enjoyed their vigor for life, freedom and resiliency.
They fought hard for a year. I would say the same for China as well, except
when I asked people about what they feel about not being able to vote, not
being able to criticize the government, I always got "That's something that we
don't usually discuss." I asked anyways despite of the taboo, for personal
curiosity and understanding China. Probably was rude of me, but I never
pressed on.

It is even more chilling to look at the timeline of the fall of HK. In one
year, HK changed from caution to complete dismantling of the law. It happened
in 1 year long slow motion picture of protests, black umbrellas and tear gas
dispersions. Surreal. If someone asked me about the future of HK in 2017, I
would have said it is going to take 20 years from now, nothing to worry about
it. They've got time.

Taiwan should be extremely cautious and start to prepare for defenses, war and
stronger alliedship with its neighbors. Before you know, Taiwan will need to
surrender to China in 2023.

~~~
mamborambo
Perhaps the most remarkable outcome of last year's protest was this: a
government can lose all credibility and social support, and still use law and
civil institutions to prop up the hated regime. Isn't this proof that
democracy has a huge Achilles' heel?

The way modern democracy works is ultimately easy to corrupt:

\- People's power is only exercised once every few years at election time.
Weaknesses: Hacking the election process, stacking the field, disqualification
of candidates, using the media to spread disinformation.

\- Power is concentrated at the top. Once the election is stolen, the
"representatives" in parliament and chief executive office can carry out bad
agendas to pass evil laws and steal national reserves. There is no longer any
effective people's power to restrain them.

\- The expression of people's disagreement with the government is normally
through free press, arts, civil society interaction, protests, strikes, and
petitions. A bad government willing to use police force and ignore
international questions can crush dissent.

\- Even when the bad government went too far, like in HK, and caused thousands
of political victims, it can hide behind the grand facade of "internal
affairs". This is a loincloth that no longer has any effective meaning in
today's connected, borderless world.

\- finally, why are the citizens of a bad country not allowed to obtain help
from a third country? The UN's mandate is to set up orderly diplomacy between
states, but increasing non-state players also need a voice to be heard at the
UN.

~~~
htfu
Your points are all well and good, but given HK has never been a proper
democracy it's hardly an appropriate example. This mixup, willful or not,
makes your post come off really weird in my eyes.

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godzillabrennus
Terrifying time to be a Hong Kong resident.

Hopefully they can afford to leave for the UK.

~~~
rickdangerous1
Or Australia. Which just announced new visa rules and pathways to residency
for Hong Kong people.

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jb775
Gotta wonder how this would have played out if they had an equivalent to the
2nd amendment. HK citizens found in possession of a gun without a license
(very difficult to get) could be fined HKD$100,000 and imprisoned for up to 14
years[1].

[1] [https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-gun-laws-in-Hong-
Kong?sha...](https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-gun-laws-in-Hong-Kong?share=1)

~~~
solveit
I really don't see armed revolt going well in any scenario.

~~~
fermienrico
Yea it failed spectacularly with Indian independence from the british and
Gandhi's way of peaceful protests prevailed to the point where he became a
role model for many others (Mandela, MLK, etc). There was an alternative
violent mob in India seeking independence from the British which was
unsuccessful:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh)

------
sradman
The HN headline for a BBC link excludes the key nation; this is about a change
in U.S. trade policy towards Hong Kong:

> US President Donald Trump has signed an order to end preferential economic
> treatment for Hong Kong, after China enacted a new security law there.

