[1] has no mention of Xi. [2] is in 2021, way after the protests/riots.
I have reliable sources (not mass media, especially not western mass media) telling me that the security law was championed by the Hong Kong government (Carrie Lam in particular). The Chinese Central People's Government was not actively involved until the whole thing spiraled out of control.
I won't/can't tell you how involved I was in the events, but Trust Me Bro ™ I'm not just reading the news and coming to the conclusions that I wrote.
Sure. This was in the open. That doesn't preclude Beijing's feet on the scales, which from everything I saw, in the open and with Trust Me Bros, what clear as day.
There were better ways to handle Hong Kong. Xi handled in a way that made sense for him. It cost China dearly in the medium term, and may prove to have been a geostrategic blunder in the long term.
This is what I'm telling you didn't happen. My sources are not public, and you're free not to believe it.
There was a significant divide within LegCo (local parliment). So no, it was not "championed". For other readers: The head of state (CEO) is hand selected by CCP. (Yes, I know about the elitist voting system to select a CEO, but the choice needs to be pre-approved by CCP.) Saying the person who was pre-selected by CCP is "championing" a proposed law by CCP isn't saying much. That was her job.
What I was responding to was the claim that "Xi ham-fistedly forced through a badly-written security law". This really isn't the case, and if your argument is that "well, everything done by the government is attributed to Xi personally, I rest my case.", I guess you're right then. Whatever you please.
Because Xi ham-fistedly forced through a badly-written security law [1] and intervened in its politics [2]. It’s like stupid Tiannamen Square.
> long-term thinking and patience was essentially the reason China was able to gain back control Hong Kong from the Brits
China was rational under the CCP. It’s myopic under Xi.
> don't know how you'd come to the conclusion that they would forego long term potential for short term gains
They already did.
Hong Kong’s mess was avoidable. Most Taiwanese identifying as Taiwanese and not Chinese was avoidable [3]. The trade wars, and China being reëclipsed in manufacturing by U.S. + Japan + Deutschland, were avoidable [4]. The bank losses on overseas loans were avoidable [5]. The corruption in the rocket forces, which guarantees no Taiwan action until China’s military strength is past its relative nadir, was avoidable [6].
All of these missteps would not have happened under proper CCP leadership. They are expressions of Xi’s personal hubris. China sacrificed the immortality of its state for the favour of its mortal dictator; it’s possibly the luckiest geopolitical stroke for America after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
> during the 1970s, China also threatened to invade Hong Kong if the Brits didn't hand it back to them. They want you to think the leadership is irrational
But they didn’t. That’s rational.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Hong_Kong_extradition_b...
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56264117
[3] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/16/most-peop...
[4] https://www.safeguardglobal.com/resources/top-10-manufacturi...
[5] https://www.ft.com/content/da01c562-ad29-4c34-ae5e-a0aafddd3...
[6] https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-military-rocket-f...