A boost for Hong Kong's image abroad
Purely from an international perspective, the July 1 demonstration did much to enhance Hong Kong's image, and it did not cost the tourism board a single dollar.
There is nothing more eye-catching on television, in newspapers and news magazines than to see the masses taking to the streets.
What's more, to learn that the gathering was inspired by the call for the protection of civil freedoms makes the entire spectacle even more attractive to just about everyone, apart perhaps from some 'people-powerless' societies.
This is especially true since the participants in the Hong Kong freedom-promoting demonstration were the epitome of respectful, non-violent, and conscientious citizens.
Dr Martin Luther King, one of the modern age's most humanitarian leaders and a staunch protester, a figure whose type is now seemingly extinct, would have been proud.
July 1 was a lesson to the world, Beijing included, in civil action and 'patriotism', albeit not the blind, robotic kind, but a more enlightened sort. Certainly, the stuff of world cities.
Hong Kong must be unique in the world as the greatest diplomatic battlefield. In the one corner, we have the forces of international standards of governance and civil freedoms and in the other corner, the forces of authoritarianism and suppression.
Even the Hong Kong government must know, somewhere in their hearts and minds, whose side we all should be on.
PETER DAIGNAULT, Mid-Levels
