The political violence won’t end as long as Hong Kong and Beijing officials keep adding fuel to the fire

Across the world, the roots of political violence can be traced to unresolved grievances, a weak sense of belonging and an unresponsive government
To reduce the tensions in Hong Kong, officials should start listening to people’s concerns, and find new ways to redress wrongs

Ming Ming Chiu

Published: 6:00am, 1 Nov 2019

Why you can trust SCMP

On July 21 in Yuen Long, more than 100 armed men in white T-shirts indiscriminately attacked and injured at least 45 people. Then, on October 13 in Mong Kok, a home-made bomb was remotely detonated. These acts of political violence against civilians demand that we understand their causes in order to prevent them.

Like furious, wronged children whose families have failed them, violent political actors strike out at society. Facing political violence on both sides, Hong Kong can either wrong more people to fuel it further or redress wrongs to reduce tensions.

Political violence is more likely to (a) occur in societies with collectivist cultures, declining economies, societal changes or unresponsive governments – like Hong Kong; and (b) be the work of individuals with unresolved grievances, a weaker sense of belonging, or a superior education or skills.

Collectivist cultures that support personal sacrifices for the sake of the group, like in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Yemen, have produced many suicide bombers, whereas individualistic cultures like Australia have not.

People who perceive their opportunities for employment as being worse than their parents’ are often pessimistic, aggrieved and more prone to political violence. This is seen in countries like Egypt, Somalia and Syria. In contrast, poor people with better job prospects are optimistic and rarely participate in political violence – take Costa Rica as an example.

Societal changes threaten people who prefer the status quo, so they might take extreme steps to maintain it. For example, the emergence of a secular society drove religious zealots – al-Qaeda, Islamic State – to political violence. In Hong Kong, for many, the proposed easing of renditions to China was a reminder of the abduction of five booksellers to the mainland in 2015, provoking fear of political prosecution and the weaker legal protection in mainland China.

When faced with societal change or other issues, a negligent government does not respond. In Hong Kong, people expected Chief Executive Carrie Lam Yuet-ngor to tackle several issues in her policy address on October 16: police brutality, the labelling of protesters as rioters, and inadequate political representation.

These were all issues reflecting people’s fear about living in a typical mainland city. On these critical issues, Lam was silent.

When a family, community or government fails to help a wronged person, he or she might feel compelled to right the wrong regardless of the cost. In the face of risk, a person who dedicates time, energy and money to justice can feel heroic.

In Hong Kong, people have shown their dedication through (a) five months of weekly demonstrations; (b) countless hours on LIHKG and other online forums, where they plan and evaluate their activities; and (c) donations of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars towards international newspaper advertisements about the Hong Kong protests, and towards a campaign to fund lawsuits by victims of alleged police brutality.

When people feel a sense of belonging to a family, their scruples prevent them from harming other members of the family. People without a sense of belonging have no such scruples about engaging in political violence.

In Hong Kong, most people feel they belong; 53 per cent view themselves as Hongkongers, 36 per cent as Hongkongers and Chinese, and 11 per cent as Chinese, according to the latest survey of ethnic identity by the University of Hong Kong. Given that 89 per cent identify as Hongkongers, the implication is that they are unlikely to engage in political violence against other Hongkongers.

However, attempts to make Hongkongers identify as Chinese via threats are unlikely to succeed. Instead, China can make itself more attractive to Hong Kong people and foster a dual Hong Kong-Chinese identity, which 36 per cent of people already claim.

Furthermore, those who engage in political violence are generally better off and more educated, contrary to the popular belief that these people are poor and uneducated, according to a paper by Alan Krueger and Jitka Maleckova on education, poverty and terrorism. This is because such political actors must have both the intellectual rigour to commit to a cause, and the skills to carry out attacks.

Notably, 30,000 students attended a rally at Chinese University on September 2. Meanwhile, the protesters’ diverse, crowdsourced tactics have included (a) using umbrellas in a testudo, or tortoise, formation, (b) applying chemistry and neutralising tear gas with water, (c) organising support rallies in more than 60 foreign cities in the run-up to National Day, and (d) lobbying the US Congress to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act.

While unaddressed wrongs fuel political violence, redressing such wrongs can reduce it. First, we can listen and show we understand such wrongs. To the extent that we can, we should rectify the situation. For example, a responsive government stimulates a weak economy by helping workers keep their jobs or find new ones. In Hong Kong, Lam announced more welfare spending in her policy address.

A responsive government also mitigates societal upheavals or redresses specific grievances. For example, South Africa’s anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela alleviated white South Africans’ concerns by enforcing equal rights and reinforcing their sense of belonging. Whites retained their property rights, were included in government and felt they belonged, so they did not engage in political violence.

After the government of Ecuador announced an austerity package to reduce public debt on October 1, massive protests erupted, in which seven people died over two weeks. In response on October 14, President Lenín Moreno not only withdrew the package but also agreed to work with the opposition on a new package of measures to cut spending.

Government officials in China and Hong Kong, police, protesters and supporters on both sides have a choice. They can wrong more people and create more enemies: physically attack each other, dehumanise each other as “cockroaches” or “dogs”, criminalise otherwise law-abiding citizens by declaring marches and masks illegal, and so on. Or they can stop, listen, understand and find new ways to redress wrongs.

So, Hong Kong, what will it be? Are we going to keep on fuelling political violence?

Ming Ming Chiu is chair professor of analytics and diversity in the Department of Special Education and Counselling at the Education University of Hong Kong

Post