Pro-Democracy protesters led by Jimmy Sham turned violent today breaking into Hong Kong’s legislature, defacing property with graffiti and cheap pro-Democracy slogans. Protesters turned violent because Communist China-appointed administrator Carrie Lam refused to withdraw legislation allowing dissidents to be extradited to Mainland China for prosecution. Sham timed his violent protests to the July 1, 1997 turnover to Beijing from over 100 years of British rule. Hong Kong residents were promised that Communist China would respect the autonomy of Hong Kong when it came to its economic system, but, more importantly, its Western values, affording residents the same civil-and-human rights under British rule. Breaking plate-glass windows at the Hong Kong legislature, protesters crossed the line, occupying the building for three hours defacing property.
Standing on lawmakers desks and spray-painting slogans, demanding that Hong Kong’s leaders be elected by popular vote, not appointed by the Communist Party. Carrie agreed to suspend any action on extradition legislation, allowing Beijing to interfere with Hong Kong’s existing legal system. Estimated 190,000 protesters turned out today, far less that the 550,000 that turned out June 12, when Lam announced she would back Beijing’s extradition legislation. Young protesters see Beijing’s repressive hand reaching into Hong Kong’s progressive atmosphere. Mainland China’s state-run media made no mention of the Hong Kong protests, instead covering a flag-raising ceremony together with Lam’s remarks praising displays of the Peoples’ Liberation Army garrison near Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s young residents see Beijing playing a forceful role in the once British Crown Colony.
Pro-Democracy leader Jimmy Sham overplayed his hand, encouraging protesters to break in and deface the Hong Kong Assembly. “We know that Carrie Lam can be so arrogant,” Sham told protesters. “ She is protected by our flawed system,” Sham said, not admitting that violence crossed the line. Protesters demanded that Lam look into deaths-and-injuries from June 12 protests, where Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Riot police returned to the streets, entering the Hong Kong legislature firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Sham can’t have it both ways: Defacing public property and expecting the police to stand down. Most police departments around the globe are committed to preserving-and-protecting private or government property. Young protesters don’t understand the consequences of destroying public or private property.
Whatever Hong Kong residents think of Beijing-backed administrator Carrie Lam, they know there are consequences to destroying public or private property. When you consider today’s violence, it makes you wonder if Hong Kong needs the extradition treaty for the purpose keeping lawbreakers, like Sham, from encouraging violence whenever they feel like it. Protest leaders like Sham play Hong Kong’s youth like pawns, even when he knows he’ll destroy their lives. Lam promised protesters she’d be more responsive to Hong Kong residents. Lam promised to be closer and more responsive to the aspirations, sentiments and opinions of the community.” Yet if anarchists like Slam exploit young people to destroy property, Hong Kong authorities have every right to use riot control practices. Watching the total blackout on Chinese state TV tells the whole story.
No matter how much Chinese President Xi Jinping likes the show a progressive face to the international community, he’s a brutal dictator, intolerant of free speech and even peaceful protests. Tiananmen Square’s 1987 massacre proved for posterity that pro-Democracy protests won’t be tolerated. Pushing Hong Kong residents to violently protest conjures up the horrific images when Beijing rolled tanks over protesters, killing thousands, injuring countless others. Sham insists Beijing promised “one country, two systems” for Hong Kong in 1997. What he didn’t say is that violence was never part of the deal, distinguishing Hong Kong from the mainland. Sham’s anarchist tactics don’t mirror peaceful protests but only invite more repression by police, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere. Whether Sham can stop extradition legislation is anyone’s guess, certainly not through violence.
Hong Kong’s violent protests do nothing to advance pro-Democracy values when young people are encouraged to desecrate public and private property. No peaceful nation, whether Communist, Capitalist or somewhere in between, can tolerate the destruction of public and personal property. What Sham’s protesters did trashing the Hong Kong legislature shows how pro-Democracy movements confuse violence with promoting human-and-civil rights Protest leaders like Sham need to stop inciting violence and learn to protest peacefully. Washington expects “China, like every other country, to adhere to its international obligations,” said National Security adviser John Bolton visiting UlaanBaatar, Mongolia. China reacted swiftly, telling sovereign nations to refrain from interfering in China’s internal affairs, including any decision to set down violence in Hong Kong.
