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LettersHow Hong Kong protesters can build on recent victories by learning from Martin Luther King
- Vandalism and violence can only deprive the protest movement of sympathy, while non-violent resistance would do the opposite
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Those in Hong Kong who strive for greater freedom obtained two major victories recently. One was the defeat of pro-Beijing lawmakers at the ballot box, and the other was when the US president signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019.
Hong Kong protesters should capitalise on this momentum through non-violent direct action to advance their cause.
Recently we have seen a sharp increase in vandalism, as well as violence, by some protesters. Such acts play right into Beijing’s line that the situation is out of control and order is needed (“China’s leaders praise Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam but urge her to quell violence”, December 16).
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Instead of throwing Molotov cocktails and smashing private property, the protesters should heed the advice of Martin Luther King Jnr on non-violent direct action.
The case of “Bloody Sunday” in the US, for example, is relevant here, when some 600 civil rights activists were attacked in Selma, Alabama, in March 1965.
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The image of African-Americans walking peacefully and then being attacked by police on horses and in riot gear was viewed as completely unjust.
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