After the extradition protests, Hong Kong must do what it failed to do after Occupy: heal the divisions

Both the Hong Kong and Beijing governments need to step back and carefully consider their next moves. Many missteps have contributed to the destructive protests, and another mistake could have even worse consequences

Alice Wu

Published: 9:00am, 8 Jul 2019

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As intoxicating as the Hong Kong protests have been, the aftermath should be sobering. The city must now rebuild the ruins left from its divisive politics, unresponsive leadership and irresponsible politicians on both sides of the aisle, who have done nothing but feast on political polarisation. We know what needs to be done; without reconciliation, there will be no moving forward.

We needed reconciliation after Occupy Central in 2014 but, unfortunately, we took the easy route. We let the post-Occupy blue and yellow camps’ divisions become a permanent fixture in our politics. Social and political issues and the emotions they elicit continued to fester until we, as a society, basically imploded.

Yes, the extradition bill was controversial. Yes, the way the government went about trying to force it down our throats was despicable. But it takes much more than that to cause what has transpired on our streets. It was heartbreaking to see Hongkongers, yet again, pitched against one another as protesters and law enforcement officers – the perfect fault lines for violent conflict.

In short, Hong Kong needs to find its reset button. Political fatalism and idealism have created a devastating combination: generations of people who feel so distressed and helpless that they have given in to political fatalism, and the glorification of resistance has driven them to risk it all – and even take their own lives – to be heard.

Hong Kong’s dysfunctional politics has not only given birth to disillusionment, it has midwifed a helplessness that fuels and deepens our existential crisis.

Confrontational politics has taken its toll, and Hong Kong cannot afford to see another building besieged. We cannot afford to have more peaceful demonstrators go rogue. The Hong Kong government cannot afford another misstep.

These rifts need to be mended. But there will be no end to our woes as long as we – including former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, who outrageously pinned the blame on liberal studies – continue to indulge in the blame game.

Many have – rightfully – expressed apprehension over how Beijing will readjust its policy towards Hong Kong. If history is any guide, we know that, when presented with indications that conditions are spiralling out of control, Beijing tightens its grip.

Don’t treat Hong Kong as just another Chinese city

While there is no unified goal or message from those who stormed the legislature, their purpose is as clear as the writing on the walls. They not only questioned the authority of the Legislative Council and the legitimacy of the chief executive, they were challenging Beijing directly.

This can be seen in their ripping apart copies of the Basic Law, and spray-painting the emblem of Hong Kong so that “People’s Republic of China” was blacked out while “Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” was left untouched.

A protester sprays the Hong Kong emblem during the storming of the Legislative Council on July 1. Photo: Winson Wong

So far, Beijing has responded with harsh words, condemning the violence and the attack on “one country, two systems”. It should be seen as good news that the task force in Shenzhen that Beijing set up to monitor the social unrest and protests in Hong Kong over the past month still seems to be monitoring. For now, it looks like Hong Kong is being left to its own devices while Beijing watches closely.

And Beijing is wise to be cautious. The Hong Kong government is not the only one hopelessly out of touch with the people. The central government surely must be trying to find answers as to how its Liaison Office, tasked with keeping Beijing informed of the situation on the ground, failed to read public sentiment and anticipate the public outrage.

It must also be gauging how, even with all the deputies to the National People’s Congress and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, it has come to this.

So many things have gone wrong on so many levels that it may be the best course of action for all, including Beijing, to take a step back, wait for at least some of the dust to settle, and survey the new political landscape.

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA

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