Some news from this country where I immigrated almost three years ago. Most of the Hongkongers I meet are quite composed about the political situation of the country. They understood that it was a done deal, that China had moved up its timetable, and whether it was fair or not, Hong Kong would now align itself with China in terms of internal security laws and social cohesion/harmony.
China expects Hongkongers to stand together against the rest of the world, and for those children kidnapped by the evil British during the Opium War to gently come home and hug their beloved mother China. Hongkongers are aware that any public resistance will end up in prison… at best. There are still a few opponents who speak out publicly, but they will soon disappear or be forced to shut up.
The Chinese government is equal to itself and totally predictable: China would not wait 50 years, and once the new laws on internal security are passed, there could be no more opposition. In full view of the world, China took Hong Kong, looking everyone straight in the eye, knowing that nothing and no one could stop them. From now on, any country that wants to come to Hong Kong’s rescue, either officially or by funding resistance groups undercover, would trigger a real and totally unnecessary bloodbath. Hong Kong is a small country wedged between two large political tectonic plates and the slightest mistake by one of the two sides could cause hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Now, what to do? Should we unite and fight to help Hongkongers regain their freedom? The freedom they would have lost in a few years anyway. Seriously, we already can’t unite for our own freedoms in our own countries, we can’t unite to get out of the misery countries where thousands of children die of hunger under our eyes every day, so who is going to unite to help a rich country like Hong Kong where comparatively to the rest of the world, the level of misery is quite low. If we were to draw up a list of countries that absolutely had to be helped, Hong Kong would certainly be last on the list because you have no freaking idea how everyday life is freaking good in Hong Kong even right now, especially right now. It is a bit like France annexing Monaco. Who would come to the aid of this poor oppressed Principality where everyone drives luxury cars?
The new reality is that Hong Kong is now a Chinese city like all the others, and it will follow the Chinese development plan which will transform the Pearl River Delta into a huge and vast economic region. Within 30 years, the cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Macao, Hong Kong, and the surrounding large cities (65 million people on 43000Km²) will form the most dynamic region in the world.
Don’t make me say what I didn’t say that it is certainly better this way for Hong Kong. I think that it is up to the people to determine themselves what they want and that no one can be forced to do anything, even if it is “apparently” for their own good. And let’s be clear for a second: Hong Kong is only a small pawn on a world chessboard, its ass between two chairs serving the interests of the East and the West while making a lot of money in the process. And there is not necessarily one better than the other, because you think that in the West, they give a damn about Hong Kong people?
Who says life is fair? If I were a Hongkonger, I would most likely be rebelling and going undercover. As an immigrant here, I have only one thing to do, wait for all this to settle down, hope for China’s promise of a bright future to come true, and not show off too much…
Love you all and take care.
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