Hong Kong International Airport was shut down by protesters over police abuse of the island’s inhabitants. The airport, one of the world’s busiest in both human and cargo traffic, canceled all flights Aug. 12 as thousands of protesters occupied the main terminal. Clashes between authorities backing the mainland and police versus large portions of the population have been ongoing for months. They began when the Communist Party of China (CPC) sought to enact an extradition bill allowing the mainland government to punish those critical of the regime.
The demonstrations have since expanded to include wider demands for democratic reforms, a call for Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam to resign, and an independent inquiry into police conduct during the protests.
Special Status
Twenty-two years ago, when the United Kingdom passed sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, the island became part of a special administrative region of China, along with Macau. Residents are permitted the maximum level of autonomy allowed by the People’s Republic of China, meaning allowed by the CPC. But the Chinese government is trying to turn back the dial on that autonomy.
The Communists in China are fine with their citizens making a dollar, or a yen, as that part of communism is alive only in the minds of Bernie and A-O-C. With a horrible human-rights record and a history of arresting those who discomfit the regime, however, they are not okay with freedom of speech or thought. That’s why the people of Hong Kong have resisted, passionately, Beijing’s attempts at eliminating political problems in Hong Kong by trying and imprisoning the outspoken on the mainland. The protests over the power grab have been the largest in the island’s history, bringing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, into the streets in opposition to Beijing and the CPC.
Chinese or Hong Kongese?
While you may think of the residents of Hong Kong as being Chinese, a staggering number of the residents do not think of themselves as such. According to a survey taken in 2017 at the 20th anniversary of the change in sovereigns, “41.9% considered themselves solely as Hong Kong citizens compared to less than 20% seeing themselves as Chinese citizens.”
These people are not happy about being roughed up by the police on orders from Beijing. The Hong Kong police are acting to support the CPC, and brutally so. The Hong Kong Free Press reports:
“A Hong Kong police officer was seen shooting pepper balls at close range against protesters on Sunday as they were leaving the scene via Tai Koo MTR station. The police also shot a protester with an apparent bean ba(g) round in Tsim Sha Tsui, causing rupture of her right eye.”
Meanwhile, authorities seem poised to crack down harder on the protesters, invoking terrorism in their quest to stifle the independent voices of Hong Kong:
“Hong Kong’s radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging.”
That is from Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press briefing in Beijing on Aug. 12. Al Jazeera reports that “two state media outlets — the nationalistic tabloid Global Times and the People’s Daily — published a video of armoured personnel carriers purportedly driving towards Shenzhen, a city bordering the territory.”
We will continue to cover the events in Hong Kong and pray liberty and freedom win the day.
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Read more from Scott D. Cosenza or comment on this article at Liberty Nation.com.
