Clashes erupt as Hong Kong protest targets Chinese traders

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Clashes erupt as Hong Kong protest targets Chinese traders

By DAKE KANG and NADIA LAM
July 13, 2019

HONG KONG (AP) — Violent clashes broke out after several thousand people marched in Hong Kong against traders from mainland China in what is fast becoming a summer of unrest in the semi-autonomous territory.

After issuing a warning, police on Saturday moved forward to disperse the crowd of mostly young protesters who say peaceful demonstrations have failed to bring about change.

Police used pepper spray and batons. In panicky scenes, fleeing protesters scrambled over each other, some falling to the ground. Some had donned protective masks and helmets ahead of the confrontation.

Major demonstrations in the past month against a proposal to change extradition laws that would allow Hong Kong suspects to stand trial in mainland China have reawakened other movements in the city. Thousands marched last weekend against middle-aged mainland women who sing loudly and dance somewhat provocatively in a public park.

The protests have a common refrain: Hong Kong’s government, led by a non-democratically elected chief executive, is not addressing the people’s concerns.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/b52c1c7932ee477288e80331fe7eef1c

[soryang]

1. Extradition bill protests: what Hong Kong's history of riots can teach Carrie Lam

SCMP: Extradition bill protests: what Hong Kong’s history of riots can teach Carrie Lam
The best way for the embattled chief executive to find a way out of the city’s present crisis may be to look to its past, historians and former officials say
After all, the British colonial administration weathered far more violent affairs

Gary Cheung July 14

“In 1966-67, young people were discontented because of labour conditions; the police were perceived to be repressive and corrupt; and social policies were generally underdeveloped,” he said. “In 2019, the young have few opportunities for social mobility, the police are seen to be repressive; and social policies increasingly lag demand.”

However, he said there were also “significant differences … in terms of the manifestations of the legitimacy crisis. In 1966-67, there was a far less articulated vision of civil liberties and organised concern about the lack of democracy was in its infancy”.

More on the history of riots in Hong Kong:

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3018433/extradition-protests-what-hong-kongs-history-riots-can-teach

Here's an opinion from Singapore:

SCMP: Harsh truths for Hong Kong: extradition bill protests will not achieve anything

Retired Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan says Beijing will never tolerate any action that undermines national unity and the bill formalises ‘one country, two systems’
Besides, what is really needed is good governance and a sensible housing policy – blame the tycoons for denying the city that
Bilahari Kausikan July 10

...For 155 years from 1842 to the handover in 1997, London ruled Hong Kong as a colony, not a democracy; the people of Hong Kong were subjects, not citizens. It was only on the very deathbed of colonial rule that Britain found religion and raised political expectations that no Hong Kong government can fulfil.

The people of Hong Kong are now citizens – of China. The rights they enjoyed as a British colony were not very different from what they were granted under one country, two systems and substantially more than those enjoyed by other citizens of China. It will not get any better.

More:

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3018003/harsh-truths-hong-kong-protests-will-not-achieve-anything