> Why? Because they are protest only for their own rights, on their own little land that nobody cares anymore. It's not about greater good, not "making the entire China democratic". Just "We're Hongkongers, we are special, so we must have those rights", while don't give a damn when the rest of China is been stripped clean.
Every year on 4 June, Hong Kong people hold a vigil in Victoria Park for the Tiananmen square crackdown [1][2], and one main theme of the vigil is to continue the spirit of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests: to make the entire China democratic (one of the slogans is 建設民主中國, literally to make China democratic). In these years, this vigil in Hong Kong is the largest gathering to demand making the entire China democratic in the whole world.
Given that Hong Kong people are doing that every year on 4 June, I think it is reasonable that in this case--anti extraditions law protests on 9 June and 16 June this year--Hong Kong people are doing something else. But this does not mean that Hong Kong people do not fight for democracy in China or for greater good--to say the least, this anti extraditions law protest also benefits foreigners who stay in Hong Kong, or merely in transit.
Also, there are 6000 PLA troops stationed in Hong Kong, and there were cases of Hong Kong people getting abducted into China for publishing books that some members of CCP do not like [3]. There are not much more that Hong Kong people can do for themselves and for mainlanders... if you have better suggestions, please let us know.
I think they are doing their best.
> Nobody cares about your right if you don't defend the right of the others.
Then what have mainlanders done for Hong Kong?
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=64+hong+kong+vi...
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorials_for_the_1989_Tiananm...
[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearan...
Nothing good, and it will continue to be this way.
And it's NOT out of despision, no, it's simply because it's impossible to do it safely in China. The political climate here is so toxic and dangerous, it is unethical to even think to put people on street.
But, one thing HongKongers must understand is, your future is linked with mainlanders, for better or worse. We may not see each other eye to eye on other many topics, but this, this is the problem we both facing.
Also, many mainlanders is actually quite supportive about some protests. Simply search Twitter with the right keyword you can find many https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%E6%9...
We, Hong Kong people as a whole, understand that mainlanders face much more difficulty in speaking up, and we are sympathetic. We definitely do not despise mainlanders for not speaking up in a way that we can see. The current protest does not mention democratic movement in China because we want to have a focus: on the extraditions law itself.
> But, one thing HongKongers must understand is, your future is linked with mainlanders, for better or worse. We may not see each other eye to eye on other many topics, but this, this is the problem we both facing.
Hong Kong people understand and agree that we are facing the same opposition--the oppressive regime in China--and our time is dated: Hong Kong people are counting the number of years until 2047, which is 50 years after the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, after which the "two systems" may disappear. And we are also questioning if the "two systems", the promised anatomy of Hong Kong from China, may disappear before 2047. One reason you see so many Hong Kong people in the current protest, is the fear that if they don't speak up now, they cannot speak up later.
> Also, many mainlanders is actually quite supportive about some protests. Simply search Twitter with the right keyword you can find many https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%E6%9....
We thank the support from mainlanders given their difficulty, and also for the support from the whole world. Such attention on Hong Kong is very much needed and appreciated.
I read from your comment in another thread that many mainlanders are trying to earn money to trade for freedom: better social status in China, or to move to another country. In fact, I think there are lots of mainlanders who went overseas, and they are enjoying the freedom and protection in another country. If we, Hong Kong people and overseas mainlanders, unite together, there is a lot more that we can do.
Your speaking up here in Hacker News is a good start, and we together can try to do more.
People in HongKong only have this few years left to able conduct protest at that scale while keeping themselves relatively safe.
In China mainland, you do that, you're in prison for life or worst.
You know what, "worst" is not good enough to describe what could happen. There was a case that might show you what could happen if the police got you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Jia
Yang Jia was a man who killed 6 police mans in 2008. Why? Because the police interrogated him for riding an unregistered bicycle. The method of interrogation which the English version of Wikipedia does not fully mention (But mentioned in the Chinese version) including electrically shock this man's genital cause it to dysfunction.
Let me ask you this: Will you risk your life to protest for your right knowing there will be no good end for you after?
So that's why currently, the safest thing for mainlanders to do is focus on earning money, and use the money to trade for freedom (For example: to have a better social status and/or to be able to move to another country etc), and hope for things could change for the better in the future.
I hope now you can understand why I'm so "hypocritical" on this.
No thanks, like one of the other posters said, focusing on earning more money is the best way of making it.
Freedom's overrated when food/shelter/amenities/relaxation options are plentiful. And if these start to suffer, having enough money gives access to other areas of the world.
If you watched this protest and all their other protests, it is very easy to see one thing: Their action is isolated， they don't have the power to unite people other than themselves. Nobody besides themselves will stand for them. Nobody in mainland support them, nobody in mainland understand them. Many mainlanders even developed Schadenfreude when looking at those protests.
(OK, "Nobody" is a bit of over exaggeration, but fairly right if you want to feel the situation)
Why? Because they are protest only for their own rights, on their own little land that nobody cares anymore. It's not about greater good, not "making the entire China democratic". Just "We're Hongkongers, we are special, so we must have those rights", while don't give a damn when the rest of China is been stripped clean.
How many HongKonger protested when Xi changed the Constitution? Not this much.
Nobody cares about your right if you don't defend the right of the others. 50 years, if they don't change China for the better, China will change them, as simple as that.