I do not have to be a New Yorker to be disturbed by the lack of protest and outrage about - and of resistance to - Hong Kong's fate in less than a year's time.
I fully agree with S. Brent that Hong Kong people should organise a plebiscite to decide our own fate (South China Morning Post, July 4). The best choice for Hong Kong is independence. For the People's Republic of China, established in 1949, to claim sovereignty over Hong Kong - which it has never ruled - is totally absurd.
Shaped by traditional Chinese fatalism and British colonial oppression, the vast majority of Hong Kong people have been extremely passive facing 1997.
Many Hong Kong people originally came from mainland China, running away from communism. They would only flee when facing dangers. To stick one's neck out has never been a Chinese trait.
In addition to Beijing's brutality and London's spinelessness, Hong Kong people should shoulder some blame for the tragedy of 1997.
We have not stood up and fought for ourselves hard enough. People usually get the kind of government they deserve. And I am afraid this is so in Hong Kong.
