The Battle of Hong Kong

I love protests. I love the idea of people leaving the comfort of their homes to peacefully congregate en masse to explicitly communicate their displeasure with the prevailing government, its leader or pending legislation.

Petitions are nice. But nothing beats the visceral impact of hundreds of thousands of people clogging the streets. It's the power of we the people, challenging those who frequently work so hard to subdue it.

Sadly, my fellow Americans rarely agree. Probably because they're jaded. Or because protesting is sweaty. And noisy. And inconvenient. I mean, have you ever tried to find a good parking place near a major demonstration?

We mostly congregate on social media, which isn't quite the same. Unless you're trying to disseminate misinformation about things like measles vaccinations. Or attempting to create panic over fake threats like pink slime or a presidential candidate running a pedophile sex ring out of a Washington DC pizza joint.

But in hi-tech Hong Kong, people understand the power of a good, old-fashioned public demonstration. They have successfully employed them twice in the last decade to beat back the oppressive hand of mainland China.

Most-recently, invasive extradition legislation was suspended after mass protests clarified citizen's feelings about China's would-be ability to pluck residents out of Hong Kong and deposit them in China for any reason the government deems appropriate.

Considering this is a government that has attempted to erase any trace of Tiananmen Square, blocks its citizens from accessing vast swaths of the Internet (aided and abetted by Google) and routinely tramples its citizen's human rights, the good people of Hong Kong decided this wasn't such a good idea and took to the streets in opposition.

Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam backed down and suspended the offending bill. But suspending is different than cancelling. Translated, it means we'll wait until this cools down and then attempt to push it through again.

The Hong Kong Chinese get it. Which is why they're continuing their protests, demanding that the extradition legislation be ripped-up and thrown away.

Hong Kong occupies a unique place within the Chinese hierarchy.

If China were a car manufacturer, Hong Kong would be its halo car; the car it likes to point to when it wants to show off its design and engineering capabilities. China likes to use Hong Kong as proof of its benign treatment of its citizens. A gesture to the world that says “See? We're not such bad guys.”

But this is essentially public relations. And with increasing evidence that China (like Trump's United States) wants to move forward on a path of strident nationalism, public relations will likely be among the first of its political victims.

I salute the bravery of Hong Kong's citizens, and wish them every success. Tyranny is the weapon of the weak. Dissent the weapon of the strong.

Godspeed, Hong Kong.