Hong Kong is Asia's city of the world. The city that remained under more than a century of British protection, and capitalist prosperity, is unlike China is so many ways. When the lease between Great Britain and the People's Republic of China expired, and Hong Kong was handed over to the communists, the countdown towards unrest began.
Communism uses capitalism like a parasite, or virus, uses a host. Communism needs capitalism to steal from, as the socialist philosophy declares it abhors capitalism. Unable to exist without the economic prosperity of capitalism, communist countries act like parasites, sucking the wealth out of the free market system in order to keep the viability of the communist system in place, but destroying its host as it does so.
A center of international trade from the very beginning as a British Colony, Hong Kong's long history of prosperity is also owed partly to its ideal location on the Pearl River Delta at the edge of the South China Sea. Hong Kong rapidly became a manufacturing hub, serving as a gateway into the world's markets. Now, as an important part of Communist China's evolving economy that surrendered to Hong Kong's prosperity, Hong Kong inspired China to inject a little capitalism into its own system, in order to take advantage of the changing global economy.
Under the concept of "One Country, Two Systems," Hong Kong has enjoyed a certain autonomy since its return to China 1997. The agreement with China has allowed Hong Kong to retain its capitalist system, independent judiciary, free trade and freedom of speech. However, China has been slowly encroaching on Hong Kong, infesting the city with its system of control, and attempting to remind Hong Kong who really rules over her.
Hong Kong is at a crossroads, and so is China.
China's plans of cracking down on the freedom enjoyed in Hong Kong is being met with protests and unrest. The tense standoff is being met with force, and the Chinese government in Beijing has been warning the outside world to stay clear.
The protesters accuse China of trying to gain political control over the region, after China seized the power to weed out candidates in Hong Kong not loyal to the Communist Party.
China blames The West for the unrest, saying that U.S. media outlets are trying to “stir up Hong Kong society” by drawing parallels with the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations that were crushed by Chinese authorities.
As the police attempt to intimidate protesters with force, the protesters have increased in number. Tens of thousands have confronted the riot police, using umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, pepper spray and tear gas. Some have dubbed the uprisings the "Umbrella Revolution."
The bulk of the protesters are students, a younger generation that doesn't even have a memory of British rule. The Umbrella Generation is organized, idealistic, and determined, and reveals what happens when a lifetime of liberty is threatened by authoritarian rule.
Though China wants to quell any comparisons to Tiananmen Square, the connection is clear. The latest show of popular dissent in Hong Kong represents one of the biggest threats to Beijing's Communist Party leadership since its bloody 1989 crackdown on anti-communism student protests in and around Tiananmen Square.
The protests have included citywide boycotts of classes, and the storming of a barricaded public space in the city's Admiralty government quarter. Thousands of protesters have confronted police at barriers to try to reach the students hemmed in at Admiralty, and they were met with pepper spray, batons and, later, tear gas. The unrest, as a result, gained momentum, and an increased number of people willing to stand against Chinese rule.
"Stay safe," warned a twitter message on Sunday night from the Hong Kong Federation of Students, a 60,000-strong union of university students. "This is a long battle."
Two years ago, students that call themselves Scholarism, forced the Hong Kong government to shelve plans to introduce a pro-China national education scheme in the city's schools.
Both Scholarism, and the new wave of "Federation" protesters, are using the Internet to spread their message.
The unrest may very well spread into the rest of China, for in an attempt to take advantage of the prosperity of Hong Kong, small injections of capitalism have been introduced into the Chinese economy on the mainland. The result has been a growing economy, and a growing middle class. The boom, however, has been held back by the ruling class, fearful that too much growth in the emerging private sector may compromise the rule of the Communist Party.
What China has done is transition from a system of communist control over the means of production to a system where a private industry is emerging. While the emerging industries are now privately owned, China has not let go of all control. Rather than using government control over the means of production, China has allowed the economy to privatize, but they continue to control their economy through an iron fist made up of heavy regulation, and a staunch demand for continued allegiance to nationalism. The tactic is reminiscent of a system that emerged in Italy and Germany less than a century before. Back then, a private system under heavy regulatory control by a nationalistic central government was called "fascism."
A taste of liberty by the population, however, has stirred a hornet's nest. The people of China want more. They have touched freedom with the tips of their fingers, and they now want to follow Hong Kong towards embracing more freedom. Beijing, in the end, will have two choices; embrace the change and let go of communism and fascism, or they will be forced to close their fist on the cries for liberty which will result in a bloody revolution, and the slaughter of millions of lives.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
In battle to stop encroaching Chinese rule, protesters in Hong Kong ready for long haul - Washington Post
History of Hong Kong - Hong Kong Tourism Board
Beijing Warns Against Foreign Intervention, as Hong Kong Protesters Block Roads - Christian Science Monitor
Hong Kong's Student Protesters Ignite Campaign Against Beijing - Yahoo News/Reuters
Hong Kong Protests Mark Twist in History of Umbrella Symbolism - Wall Street Journal
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