by TCHS senior Charmaine Ng and Burbank High senior Anna Tong
In response to Jimmy Feng’s opinion article about Hong Kong, previously published in Issue 02, Volume 65 of Rampage:
Hong Kong operates under ‘one country, two systems’ and the Sino-British Joint Declaration guaranteed that for 50 years after the 1997 handover, Hong Kong’s way of life would remain unchanged. Hong Kongers have the right to free speech and beliefs, yet the denial of pro-democracy candidates to run is only one example of the gradual diminishing of rights and liberties in Hong Kong at the hands of China. The violation of the rights of Hong Kongers has led many to protest in frustration in an attempt to reclaim their stake in their government, which some characterize as treasonous. However, if this exemplifies treason, then it would not be inaccurate to describe the thousands and millions in America who protest against governmental policies they believe to be infringing upon their rights as treasonous. Americans fight and protest for the protection of their own liberties and rights. Is it not right for Hong Kongers to do the same? Is it not right to fight for what you believe to be just? The protests against the Hong Kong government and the calls for democracy are not treasonous against China. Hong Kongers are not betraying their country nor attempting to overthrow the government. They are fighting for their guaranteed and promised rights.
America celebrates July 4th as the day that the states declared their independence from Great Britain. They celebrate the notion of democracy and often, the patriots who defied the British crown and fought for independence. Why is it that Hong Kong protestors are being shamed for fighting for their beliefs when America only exists because there were “rebels” just like the protestors who were unafraid to stand up and fight for their natural rights? If we want to compare the American patriots and the Hong Kong protestors, the American patriots were the treasonous ones. They declared full independence and separation from Great Britain, raised up an army, and went to war. They were attempting to overthrow their government, unlike the Hong Kongers today.
The wide range of Hong Kongers fighting for the protection of human rights in Hong Kong demonstrates the unity within the Hong Kong community across all walks of life. To assume that the protestors are naive is naive in and of itself. They fight because they genuinely care about the future of Hong Kong and generations to come. If anything, they are the epitome of maturity for understanding that the cause they fight for is far greater than their own personal interests, and perhaps even their own lives. When a government continuously and stubbornly refuses to listen or respond to its people’s cries, when the police continuously commit violent and brutal acts upon the people, filling the streets with tear gas and blood, then there are a small minority that feel as if they must resort to violence, because the only thing the government has taught them is that peace doesn’t work. They tried. The government failed to respond. This is not an excuse for the protestors’ violence. It is an explanation. Despite the mainland’s branding of the movement, the vast majority of Hong Kongers believe in peace. They cling tight to their dwindling faith believing and hoping that the government will regain its humanity and genuine care for the people.
Yet, if the protestors are what one calls ‘violent,’ and ‘beyond reasonable,’ then what do we call the Hong Kong police force? Amnesty International alongside medical professionals and numerous others have voiced concern over human rights violations by the Hong Kong police force. There is video evidence of police harassing a man tied down to a hospital bed, excessive and unnecessary brutality shown in simple arrests, and countless stories of the sexual harassment of young women protestors. The police have refused to listen to first aiders’ advice and pleas, dragging and yelling at a young boy clearly unconscious due to the violent treatment of the police. They have fired expired tear gas directly into the eyes of civilians and protestors, even permanently blinding a medic. Human rights have, without a doubt, been violated. Despite suspicious ‘suicides’ and the police’s dehumanization of humans by referring to protestors as “cockroaches” – a term the Nazis commonly used – and a person they beat up as an “object,” the government stands blindly devoted to the police force. Hong Kongers continue to persevere and put their own jobs and futures on the line for what they believe in. They believe in the future of Hong Kong. They believe that Hong Kong can be more – she is, as she has been for many years, a refuge and a place of safety. A place of freedom and of liberty.
Take Hong Kong as a reminder not to take the vast freedoms and liberties we enjoy on American soil for granted; to not relegate people beneath the economy. Take Hong Kong as a reminder to stand and fight for what you believe to be fair, just, and true.