{"id":17898,"date":"2021-03-10T13:40:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T21:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=17898"},"modified":"2021-03-10T13:40:04","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T21:40:04","slug":"the-new-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/03\/10\/the-new-hong-kong\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/david-leonhardt\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/05\/01\/multimedia\/David-Leonhardt-Headshot-The-Morning\/David-Leonhardt-Headshot-The-Morning-thumbLarge-v3.png\" alt=\"David Leonhardt\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/david-leonhardt\">David Leonhardt<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>March 10, 2021 (NYTimes.com)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"link-5eaa1755\">Good morning. Our colleague Vivian Wang helps you make sense of China\u2019s crackdown on Hong Kong.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/03\/09\/slideshows\/10-THE-MORNING-NL-ss-slide-BFMN\/10-THE-MORNING-NL-ss-slide-BFMN-articleLarge-v2.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Protesters clashed with the police in Hong Kong in 2019.\"\/><figcaption>Protesters clashed with the police in Hong Kong in 2019.Credit&#8230;Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>China\u2019s crackdown on Hong Kong has happened swiftly: A rising power has&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/06\/world\/asia\/china-hong-kong-arrests.html\"><em>asserted its authority<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;over a global financial capital, through a harsh national security law enacted last summer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It\u2019s one of the world\u2019s most consequential stories, yet one often overshadowed by the pandemic. This morning, I\u2019m focusing on Hong Kong, with help from my colleague Vivian Wang, who\u2019s based there. Our exchange follows.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>David: Britain handed over control of Hong Kong to China&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1997\/07\/01\/world\/china-resumes-control-of-hong-kong-concluding-156-years-of-british-rule.html\">almost 25 years ago<\/a><\/strong><strong>, and there has long been a pro-democracy movement there. Why did Xi Jinping and the rest of China\u2019s leadership decide to act now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Vivian:<\/strong>&nbsp;The short answer is the enormous antigovernment protest movement in 2019, in response to a government proposal that would have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/10\/world\/asia\/hong-kong-extradition-bill.html\">allowed extraditions<\/a>&nbsp;to mainland China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scale of the protests really shook Beijing. All the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/05\/10\/world\/asia\/hong-kong-protest-rally-handover-day.html\">previous<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/02\/22\/magazine\/hong-kongs-umbrella-revolution-isnt-over-yet.html\">protest<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/10\/01\/world\/asia\/in-hong-kong-clean-and-polite-but-a-protest-nonetheless.html\">movements<\/a>&nbsp;had lasted a few months, at most. This time, there was huge support, and it wasn\u2019t dying down on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials in Beijing also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1645766\/how-china-daily-advertiser-in-us-media-reports-hong-kong-protests\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hated<\/a>&nbsp;that foreign politicians, like those in the U.S., were so vocal in support of the protesters. Beijing is really worried that Hong Kong could be a base for foreign powers to try to topple the Chinese government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>From Beijing\u2019s perspective, has the crackdown worked? And has it created any problems for the central government?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In many ways, it has absolutely worked. There are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/chinas-campaign-to-crush-democracy-in-hong-kong-is-working-11614268174\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">no more street protests<\/a>. There\u2019s extensive self-censorship. Virtually every prominent pro-democracy activist is in exile, in jail, awaiting trial or has disappeared from public life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there\u2019s a lot of simmering anger among Hong Kongers, even if they don\u2019t dare express it publicly anymore. They still shop at stores and restaurants they think support the democracy movement. That\u2019s why we see Beijing continuing to apply pressure. It clearly, and I think rightly, doesn\u2019t think the threat is past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as consequences, the crackdown has brought international condemnation, and the U.S. has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/12\/08\/world\/asia\/hong-kong-china-us-sanctions.html\">imposed sanctions<\/a>&nbsp;on Chinese and Hong Kong officials. The question is how much China cares. At the moment, it seems to think that it is ascendant enough to weather this.ImageGolden Bauhinia Square, a symbol of Hong Kong\u2019s return from British to Chinese rule.Credit&#8230;Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is the goal to turn Hong Kong into another Chinese city \u2014 one that\u2019s politically indistinguishable from, say, Shanghai \u2014 or does the leadership still want Hong Kong to be distinct?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The framework that has always been used to describe Hong Kong post-handover is \u201cone country, two systems.\u201d Many people understood the \u201ctwo systems\u201d part to be twofold: Not only was Hong Kong capitalist while China was socialist, but Hong Kong also was relatively politically free, while the mainland was not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chinese officials still insist that they\u2019re committed to \u201cone country, two systems.\u201d But their focus seems very much to be on keeping Hong Kong as a separate, hypercapitalist system, not on keeping its separate political identity. Many Hong Kongers have long said that they expected their city&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2021\/01\/hong-kong-arrests-national-security-law\/617563\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to become<\/a>&nbsp;just another mainland metropolis eventually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I have a hard time seeing how this story ends with anything other than victory for China\u2019s leaders and defeat for the pro-democracy movement. Do people within the movement see any reason for optimism?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ever since&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/backgrounder\/hong-kong-freedoms-democracy-protests-china-crackdown\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the security law<\/a>&nbsp;was enacted, the mood within the pro-democracy movement has been bleak. I expected at least some people to offer fiery defiance and remind people that there is still hope \u2014 if only just as a rallying cry, whether they believed it or not. But pretty consistently across people I talk to, the consensus is that there\u2019s not much they can do to change the situation, at least for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why you see many people making preparations&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-55357495\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to go abroad<\/a>. And not just wealthy Hong Kongers with dual citizenships \u2014 people with no experience outside Hong Kong or who don\u2019t speak much English are doing so, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>China\u2019s leaders also consider Taiwan to be part of their country. But Taiwan, unlike Hong Kong, has an independent government. How do you think Hong Kong affects Taiwan?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people see Beijing\u2019s actions on Hong Kong as a harbinger of, or a laboratory for, more aggressive actions on Taiwan. It\u2019s all part of an increasingly confident Chinese government that feels it can take these risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, the crackdown is likely driving public opinion in Taiwan&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/07\/01\/world\/asia\/taiwan-china-hong-kong.html\">further&nbsp;<\/a>from Beijing. In the past, Beijing has also proposed reunification with Taiwan under a model of \u201cone country, two systems.\u201d Many Taiwan residents can look at Hong Kong and see how that has turned out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more:&nbsp;<\/strong>Edward Wong, a Times correspondent who spent nine years reporting on China and has covered Hong Kong protests, recommends two episodes of \u201cThis American Life\u201d \u2014 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisamericanlife.org\/686\/umbrellas-up\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Umbrellas Up<\/a>\u201d from 2019 and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisamericanlife.org\/710\/umbrellas-down\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Umbrellas Down<\/a>\u201d from 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By&nbsp;David Leonhardt March 10, 2021 (NYTimes.com) Good morning. Our colleague Vivian Wang helps you make sense of China\u2019s crackdown on Hong Kong. China\u2019s crackdown on Hong Kong has happened swiftly: A rising power has&nbsp;asserted its authority&nbsp;over a global financial capital, through a harsh national security law enacted last summer. It\u2019s&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/03\/10\/the-new-hong-kong\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17899,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17898\/revisions\/17899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}