Why Hong Kong is no longer ‘a blessed place’
- The city’s colonial success was largely based on an implicit understanding between Westminster and Beijing to leave it alone. Now, it has become a pawn in the great game of nations
Pro-Beijing news media and politicians have been going gaga over the riot, protest, insurrection, attempted coup, or whatever you call it, in Washington apparently gloated on by Donald Trump, then disowned by him.
“Capitol Hill down: Produced by US democracy”, headlined a story in China Daily. “Capitol Hill riot reminds Chinese of just how restrained HK police were during 2019 social turmoil”, another headline in Global Times claimed.
There is a profound difference between the situations in Hong Kong and Washington; and that’s to our disadvantage. In our city, there is a substantial segment of the population that is pro-Western, pro-American, even pro-Trump, and anti-communist and even anti-Chinese. The last may be puzzling to outsiders but some Hong Kong people don’t consider themselves Chinese or the city a part of China.
There may be some loose talk about California or Texas seceding from the American union but for now, Americans are more united against China than they are polarised politically among themselves. There is no such equivalent in Hong Kong.
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Because of the city’s history and culture, most Hong Kong people don’t feel the same intense patriotism that mainland Chinese feel, even if they don’t share the same antipathy to all things Chinese with radical localists.
The anti-government, pro-Western protest movement provides the excuse for foreign governments, especially Washington, to interfere in Hong Kong, and that, in turn, makes Beijing’s intervention inevitable.
When I was young, we were told Hong Kong was a blessed place, the reason being its good feng shui or geomancy. When I grew older and became more aware, I came to realise the “blessed” status was, to a large extent, based on a political pact. This was an implicit understanding between Westminster and Beijing to leave Hong Kong alone and let it develop and prosper on its own, separately from both the British colonial master and the Chinese motherland. The 1967 riot was the exception that proved the rule, as Chinese radicals wanted to spread cultural-revolutionary chaos to Hong Kong while leaders such as Zhou Enlai put a stop to it.
When one local segment calls on foreign governments to intervene and another demands Beijing to take over, the game is up for Hong Kong. Now, the land is no longer blessed.
