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Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by Animats on Saturday July 11, 2020 @09:32PM (#23807874)
First Hong Kong, next Taiwan?
Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by stale2002 on Saturday July 11, 2020 @10:47PM (#23808326)
Taiwan is currently its own independent country, regardless of what China believes.

Unless something seriously changes, such as a full scale invasion by China, in which hundreds of thousands get killed on both sides, the situation is not even close to the same thing.

Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by acdha on Saturday July 11, 2020 @09:36PM (#23807906)
That’s what I keep thinking: this is a dry-run sewing if they’ll get meaningful backlash from the next U.S. President.
Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by peteretep on Saturday July 11, 2020 @09:53PM (#23808005)
Taiwan and Hong Kong couldn’t be more different though. Hong Kong legislature (heavily influenced by China) passed this law (edit: this turns out not to be true). Hong Kong is already part of China. You don’t have 200km of water to cross against a country that’s prepared for just that. There’s no TSMC. If it’s a dry run for Taiwan, it’s a really shitty one.
Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by iliveinchina on Saturday July 11, 2020 @10:36PM (#23808264)
This is factually incorrect.

China's legislature amended Hong Kong's constitution to add the new national security law precisely because the Hong Kong legislature - even under heavy influence by mainland China - was unable to pass it.

Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by throwaway1997 on Sunday July 12, 2020 @01:05AM (#23808988)
This is because Article 18 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong allows China to promulgate certain laws related to national security. Taiwan doesn't have this.
Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by peteretep on Saturday July 11, 2020 @10:43PM (#23808294)
Sure. Regardless, legislative means were used, not force.
Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by garmaine on Saturday July 11, 2020 @10:56PM (#23808383)
Legislative means we’re not used. China had no legal authority to do what they did... but no one will stop them.

You are correct to point out that force was not used (n/m the divisions of tanks that have been on the border), and Taiwan is different.

Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by peteretep on Saturday July 11, 2020 @11:08PM (#23808461)
> Legislative means were not used. China had no legal authority to do what they did

You are in disagreement with the BBC on this point:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52765838

> The Basic Law says Chinese laws can't be applied in Hong Kong unless they are listed in a section called Annex III - there are already a few listed there, mostly uncontroversial and around foreign policy. These laws can be introduced by decree - which means they bypass the city's parliament. Critics say the introduction of the law this way amounts to a breach of the "one country, two systems" principle, which is so important to Hong Kong - but clearly it is technically possible to do this.

Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by garmaine on Sunday July 12, 2020 @12:09AM (#23808728)
It is a breach of the one country, two systems non-interference pact which the handoff was conditional on, therefore not legal.
Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by throwaway1997 on Sunday July 12, 2020 @01:03AM (#23808979)
The Central Government did have the authority under Article 18 of the basic law. Let's not kid ourselves here.
Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by acdha on Sunday July 12, 2020 @10:15AM (#23811421)
Taiwan is much harder, but I was thinking more about precedent: if there is not much international blowback, that’s going to tell them that there won’t be major consequences if they try to ratchet Taiwan into their orbit. The U.S. provided a big shield to Taiwan for years but China has built up a lot and Trump has been ceding power as quickly as he can. It’s not clear to me that the other countries in the region or the EU would set a line and hold it for very long. The international businesses acquiescing to expansion in Hong Kong are probably setting the tone.

Remember, this almost certainly wouldn’t just be a straight-up invasion. I’d assume something more like funding pro-China political parties, expanding business and other ties, and then at some point an incident involving a friendly politician asking for help which never leaves. TSMC is important but just one business and not one many people are going to go to war over when business is going to continue mostly as usual.

Re:Britain to give millions of HKers a path to citizenship by lenkite on Monday July 13, 2020 @08:32AM (#23820036)
"US provided big shield to Taiwan...trump has been ceding power as quickly as he can". This is utterly false. Trump has further strengthened ties with Taiwan compared to the previous administrations.

https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/trump-quietly-signs-legislat...

He was also the first US president to speak with a Republic-of-China president. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump%E2%80%93Tsai_call