Trump Donates Third-Quarter Salary to Help in ‘Fight Against the Opioid Crisis’
HAYWARD, Calif.—A panel discussion for China and Hong Kong’s future was held on Nov. 24. Encouraged by the landslide victory in Hong Kong’s district council elections, California’s pro-Hong Kong democracy activists urged the continuous overseas support to the grassroots level protesters in Hong Kong.
The panel discussion took place after the district council election closed in Hong Kong. The news of the winning pro-democracy candidates kept coming. But the panelists at the event showed no excitement about the landslide victory and urged continuous support for the upcoming battles for the future democracy of China and Hong Kong.
Mai Jia’an, a pro-Hong Kong activist, said that the current focus is how to provide humanitarian support to the grassroots level protesters. He pointed out that many protesters have been out of work and fighting on streets for many months, and many of them may already have police records of being arrested. It is very difficult for them to find jobs.
He also said that many young protesters have not been home because their parents did not support their protests. These young protesters now need psychological and financial support to go back to their normal lives.
Mai specifically emphasized that the protesters who have been arrested during Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University (PolyU) standoff need assistance. He said the young student protesters have been under the siege of Hong Kong’s police force for more than a week and are enduring difficult living conditions.
The panelists attending the event were all veteran democracy fighters from China. Based on their past experience, they were not as optimistic and excited as the voters who are celebrating the election wins in Hong Kong. They consider the landslide victory as a good start, but believe the path to achieve the goals of universal suffrage would be long and uneasy.
The city’s more than five-month long restless demonstrations have been centered around the five demands made by the protesters:
- Complete withdrawal of the extradition bill;
- Release of arrested protesters without charges;
- Withdrawal of characterization of all protests as riots;
- Independent investigation into police brutality;
- Implementation of full universal suffrage.
So far Hong Kong’s authority has agreed to the first demand, but refused the other four.
Feng Congde, one of the panelists who was also one of the student leaders during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement, said that Hong Kongers need to learn Gandhi’s way of civil disobedience.
He said Gandhi’s way is supposed to be peaceful but confrontational, while some of the protesters in Hong Kong have emphasized too much on maintaining the peace. He highly praised the PolyU protesters who have made a successful standoff while completely sieged by the police.
Feng also believed that the future of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement will largely depend on the changes in international society. He cited that views about the Chinese regime in the Western World have recently turned to the negative direction and encouraged the protesters to make long-term plans.
Feng’s analysis reflects U.S. Congress’ new bill, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which has been passed by both the House and the Senate and waiting for Trump to sign.
The new legislation, if signed in to law, will require periodical review to make sure China keeps its own promise of letting Hong Kong maintain its own political system. If the reviews by the U.S. government are not passed, exports from Hong Kong to the United States may be subject to the same amount of tariff as the exports from China.
Li Xiangyang, a China’s pro-democracy activist, said that people in China and Hong Kong still need to be patient to wait for China’s “Gorbachev time period” to come. Gorbachev was the head of the former Soviet Union who pushed the political reform which led to the end of the communist regime.
Feng and Li both suggested the coming difficult time facing Hong Kong’s protesters.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister of State, Zheng Zeguang, summoned U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad Monday and protested American Congress’ new Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. This was the second wave of backlash from Beijing after the regime’s furious responses last week to the Congress’ new bill.
While it is widely believed that China has wanted to cut a trade deal with the United States, Beijing’s out-of-control anger against the Congress’ new legislation may have just indicated an upcoming bumpy path for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists.
Another panelist Zhao Xin said that Hong Kong authority’s violent crackdown against the protesters has already resulted in more loss of life and psychological damage than the Tiananmen Square massacre.
This article is from the Internet:California’s Pro-Hong Kong Activists Urge Continuous Overseas Support to Protesters
Support for Impeachment Drops Among Black and Hispanic Voters: Poll