As if shutting down for a virus weren’t enough, the police just had to keep up old, bad, dirty habits. Few people question the reasoning behind vandalizing buildings when needed change hasn’t happened. Floyd was killed in a Democratic district. Los Angeles and New York are Democratic districts. Republican and Democratic voters are equally irked; both believe not changing their vote this November is the way to make the needed change, except that Minneapolis seems bound to get a different mayor, which doesn’t leave many party options. Through the partisan divide, other shady things have happened.
Reports of vandals being from out of town smell like rent-a-mob mischief. A construction site just happened to have an unattended pile of bricks, which just happened to be used to destroy the building across the street? Protests must be heard, just as fake protests must be investigated to find out whatever truth tells. At the end of it all, we are likely to find mischief both real and fake.
Dirty cops should be blamed for buildings destroyed. Dirty cops should be blamed for giving rent-a-mobs an excuse. And, dirty cops must be shut down, people are fed up and have been for a long time.
The country will carry on. Peaceful and fair people who look after their neighbors will shine during these times. Those who harbor blame and rage won’t be able to contain it, they won’t even be able to function. The election will most likely continue on schedule. Rioting will only make it harder for Democratic districts to vote and injustice will only make it harder for Democrats to win re-election. We all face a choice.
Reuters broke the story. According to unnamed sources, Beijing refused to let Hong Kong’s government grant free elections, withdraw the extradition bill, and crackdown on police brutality. If this report can be proven in court, a case could be made that Hong Kong is no longer under China’s governance, already. Of course, China would never recognize such a ruling and a military conflict between China and the West would quickly ensue.
The West has slowly been inching forward in support of Western freedoms everywhere the West resides, including Hong Kong, and China has been ill prepared. Had Beijing anticipated the status quo, preventative measures would have been taken long ago. But, China doesn’t understand the West, just as Beijing can’t understand Westernized Hong Kong. So, “suspicion” is the emotional response to expect.
Well past the 79-day record of continued protests from the Umbrella Movement in 2014, the extradition protests are in their 13th week.
Turn of events included protestors setting large fires on police-related barricades and the police using blue die in water cannons, presumably to mark protestors for later action. This is a serious escalation on both sides. Far more importantly, but less likely to be noticed, protestors marched outside the Chinese military garrison, near Central on Hong Kong Island. This is a direct affront to Chinese control and, for that reason alone, the situation has never been more explosive, so to speak.
Hong Kong’s miracle was that it was Western, but it was located in the Far East. This made it an overlap and a gem in the world. It was the convergence of extremes that made Hong Kong special. But, Confucian-Communist Chinese can’t imagine that being Western would make a thing desirable. So, Beijing chalks-up Hong Kong’s “greatness” to the idea that “it is Chinese”.
In attempt to explain the protests, and without evidence, China has repeatedly accused the West of interfering in Hong Kong, which got its very value from already being Western. The greatest Western influence in Hong Kong came from Hong Kong itself. Reports of supposed Western financial backing for Hong Kong protests seem laughable to the West since they have been presented without a shred of anything remotely resembling a “paper trail”; it’s mere surmise.
Far more importantly, since when did Beijing object to Western influence? Communism is Western. But, seeing that requires objective thought, something Confucian culture can’t do.
Beijing supposes their must be someone behind the protests. In Confucian Chinese thinking, no one would oppose their great benevolence unless someone else told them to, and “objective thinking” is a mere myth. But, the West can’t imagine anyone supporting the government of the Tienanmen Square massacre without brainwashing.
As Westerners, Hong Koners don’t want to be brainwashed to support such a murderous government, neither does the rest of the West. So, with this past week, we can’t expect the West not to interpret action against Hong Kong’s protestors as a preemptive attack on the rest of Western civilization. World War veterans remember what happens when the West feels threatened. Still, no matter how much Hong Kong wants to, Beijing refuses to allow the only way to stop making Western culture feel like someone wants it to stop being Western.
