Unless you've been living underneath a rock, it has been just over a month and half since the citizens of Hong Kong first poured out onto the city streets (and it is still going strong). As a peaceful demonstration through protesting, the citizens of Hong Kong participated in large-scale sit-ins in hopes of drawing attention from the Hong Kong and Chinese government to uphold the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China (Sino-British Joint Delcaration) signed by the prime ministers in the day, Deng Xiaoping of China and Margaret Thatcher of the UK, back in December 1984.
The declaration clearly states the following:
3. The Government of the People's Republic of China declares that the basic policies of the People's Republic of China regarding Hong Kong are as follows:
(1) Upholding national unity and territorial integrity and taking account of the history of Hong Kong and its realities, the People's Republic of China, a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region upon resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong.
(2) The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be directly under the authority of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. The Hong Kong Administrative Region will enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs which are the responsibilities of the Central People's Government.
(3) The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be vested with executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication.
(5) The current social and economic systems in China will remain unchanged, and so will the life-style. Rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of the speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of occupation, of academic research and of religious belief will be ensured by law in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
(12) The above-stated basic policies of the People's Republic of China regarding Hong Kong and the elaboration of them in Annex I to this Joint Declaration will be stipulated, in a Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, and they will remain unchanged for 50 years.
An important factor to note regarding the Sino-British Joint Declaration is that this document and its underlying constitutional principle "One Country, Two Systems" was formulated by Deng Xiaoping himself. If you didn't know, Deng was a strong Chinese revolutionary and leader of China who took up post after the great communist Chairman Mao Xedong's death. If such a highly regarded communist leader in China was the one to develop this document, is it appropriate for today's Chinese government to neglect upholding to the very words drawn up by the former leader of China?
The main issue comes down to the incongruency between the Sino-British Joint Declaration above and the proposed framework of the 2017 election in Hong Kong. The Chinese government has pushed for a new election of candidates not truly representative of the Hong Kong people's wishes. Although seemingly given the right to vote, the choice of candidates are ultimately dictated and chosen by the government back in China. As China's National People's Congress Standing Committee states, the newly elected Chief Executive of Hong Kong must meet both the criteria of approval of at least 50% from the pro-Beijing nomination committee AND must be approved to have strong "patriotism" or allegiance to the Chinese central government in Beijing.
How is this in accordance of what was outlined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration? How is this true autonomy and freedom for the citizens of Hong Kong, if the candidates in which they are supposedly free to vote for must be approved first by the government of China?
How is this in accordance of what was outlined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration? How is this true autonomy and freedom for the citizens of Hong Kong, if the candidates in which they are supposedly free to vote for must be approved first by the government of China?
As a result of these conflicts of interest, the Hong Kong citizens, particularly of the younger generation with many being university students, have taken the courage to step up to show the direness of the situation. Calling for true democracy and universal suffrage, they see the real importance and underlying issue at hand. The issue is no longer which candidate a Hong Kong citizen can vote for, but more so regarding the impedance of the Chinese government on the right of autonomy in Hong Kong. Ultimately, this will dictate the way future generations will be governed and because of this, how they will view the world.
This is simply a movement the citizens of Hong Kong cannot lose ground. Once ground is lost at this point and time, ALL will surely be lost.
Is it justifiable for the Hong Kong police to attack their own citizens who are demonstrating by peaceful means?
What does this mean on part of the Hong Kong government?
Are these actions due to the Hong Kong government feeling the pressure from China or their own intimidation by the power at which a large group of Hong Kong citizens can hold?
To mark more than a month and a half long struggle for democracy, I personally salute all the individuals still fighting strong in this conflict. It is in these dark times when news coverage is beginning to lose interest and shift to the next hottest news topic that we need to keep the fire still burning. Although I may be far from my hometown Hong Kong, I pray that we all maintain watchful eyes on the upcoming steps the Hong Kong government chooses to take in response to the people of Hong Kong's cry for democracy. You can follow the live feed here.
It is in these moments I feel extremely blessed to be living in Canada where I have the democracy to exercise my right to vote, take part in free speech and hold my own personal beliefs without condition or fear of being a martyr for society. I encourage others to take a second to reflect on this blessing, as others half-way across the world are still in a struggle to gain what we often take for granted.
#staystronghongkong #umbrellamovement #occupycentral
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