Umbrellas unfurled again in Hong Kong protest

In a fit of tone-deafness remarkable even for the Chinese Communists, the puppet government of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong chose the week of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre to introduce in the legislative council a new law that would enable the extradition of Hong Kong Chinese (including those resident overseas) to the mainland for trial on any criminal charge. That would include treason, spying, and any act against the state or the Communist Party.

In response, Hong Kongers are turning out in the hundreds of thousands to protest the erosion of the "special status" in matters social, political and legal that Hong Kong was supposed to retain after the handover of the former British colony to Red China in 1997. Organizers say that over 1,000,000 people joined in the demonstrations today, blocking two main highways near government headquarters. Since the population of HKG is roughly 7,000,000, that's a pretty good turnout! Most of the protesters are students and young people. Students were boycotting classes to attend the rallies.

Despite official calls to disperse, demonstrators continued to march today. They overturned police barriers and stood their ground even when confronted with pepper spray and a threat by police to use force if they continued to oppose their orders. Some protesters left umbrellas on the police barricades, an homage to the "Occupy Democracy" movement that began in 2014. "Didn’t we say at the end of the Umbrella movement we would be back?" pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo told the meeja, referring to the name often used for the 2014 "Occupy" demonstrations. The massive, months-long campaign was prompted by constitutional reforms that allowed Beijing to approve candidates for Hong Kong elections.

Many in Hong Kong are also upset by the creeping authoritarianism in Hong Kong, after they were promised autonomy when the perfidious British handed it back to the even more perfidious Chinese in 1997. Before and since, China has promised Hong Kong self-rule under the slogan of "one country, two systems". The move to allow extradition to China is only the latest example of the falsehood of the Communist Chinese "guarantees", their poor human rights record and blatant disregard for the rule of law.

The puppet government is still backing the extradition bill, which is expected to pass its final reading on June 20th. However, the Legislative Council (LegCo) announced late today (local time) that the second reading will be "delayed", the excuse being that the protests have clogged u p the streets around the LegCo building to the point where not enoough legislators were able to get in to attend the session. Agent 78, who knows a thing or two about Hong Kong and how things work in the People's Republic, says this is clearly a face-saving measure, and doesn't mean that the "umbrella revolutionaries" have won. "You can fight the puppets, but you can't beat the puppet-master." Stay tuned.

Further reading:
"Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Revolution' - paying the price for democracy", WWW 29/9/14
"5 things you should know about the Umbrella Revolution", WWW 3/10/14
"Do not forget the martyrs of Tiananmen Square", WWW 4/6/19