Hong Kong protests: why there’s no sense in blaming ‘both sides’

On November 8 an opinion was expressed by Kristiaan Helsen (“Who are violent Hong Kong protesters hurting? It’s not Beijing”) that both the police and the protesters should de-escalate their violence. I have no problem with this sentiment, but feel I must respond to the underlying reasoning the author advanced.

I must also note that the following is relevant to the events leading up to the first allegations of police brutality. It does not have not so much to do with the recent days’ violence against property and individuals, nor with the relevant police responses.

The fact that the Hong Kong government eventually withdrew the controversial bill, from which the social unrest stemmed, must be seen in the context that a peaceful protest against the contentious extradition bill by over a million Hongkongers on June 9 was openly disregarded by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor the following day.

It is clear, though, that escalated actions were subsequently anticipated by the government, otherwise, the passage of the controversial bill would have been a foregone conclusion.

Your correspondent further alluded to how the European Commission chief or the president of the European Council is not elected by universal suffrage, to conclude therefore that the European democracy is far from perfect.

Whether the protesters’ seeking of universal suffrage equates to a utopian hope for a perfect democracy is open to debate, but the author’s comparison ignores the fact that many of those who selected the European Commission president, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, were themselves democratically elected in their respective countries.

I’m sure most Hong Kong protesters would be open to the idea of an indirect system – like in the European Union or indeed in the US in electing their respective presidents – relating to how the chief executive of Hong Kong would be democratically elected. Nothing utopian in this quest quite apart from what the Basic Law has promised.

Finally, even if it is a fact that “far more people were maimed” in the French “yellow vest” protests, this is not a justification for wrongdoing.

When a peaceful protest by a very significant segment of the Hong Kong community was disrespectfully disregarded and further protest (on June 12) resulted in the misuse of force, justifying the police’s subsequent brutality puts the cart before the horse.

Sadly, the authorities failed to accept their misjudgment and strategic blunder, and instead they have tried to get out of the impasse by force!

Chris Yuen, Sydney