• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Beijing May Rein in Hong Kong, but Cannot Impose ‘Umbrella Amnesia’

Victoria Hui by Victoria Hui
11/22/18
in Opinion
Activists use yellow umbrellas during a gathering outside the Hong Kong government headquarters to mark the fourth anniversary of mass pro-democracy rallies, known as the Umbrella Movement

Activists with yellow umbrellas during a gathering to mark the fourth anniversary of Umbrella Movement. Photo: Anthony Wallace, AFP

102
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“This trial is the final showdown between memory and amnesia,” declared Shiu Ka-Chun, one of the “Occupy Central Nine” who is put on trial this week for their leadership roles in the 2014 Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.

This belated trial four years later is intended to mark the beginning of the end of the Umbrella Movement. The nine are variously charged for conspiracy to cause public nuisance, inciting others to cause public nuisance, and inciting people to incite others to cause public nuisance.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. The accused –  the Occupy Central’s original trio Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man, and Chu Yiu-ming; student leaders Tommy Sau-yin Cheung and Eason Yiu-wa Chung; lawmakers Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-Chun; and political leaders Raphael Ho-ming Wong and Wing-tat Lee –are widely expected to be convicted and jailed.

The 'Occupy Central' trio are facing charges based on colonial-era law, and could be jailed for years if found guilty
Three leading Hong Kong democracy campaigners pleaded not guilty on Monday. Photo: Anthony Wallace, AFP

A Beijing representative, Chen Zuoer, complained in November 2016 that “the price of committing an offense was too low in some situations in Hong Kong… Taking the Occupy Movement as an example, how many movement leaders were brought to the court up until now? Why were they not in the court?” In two-years’ time, the Hong Kong government is finishing up its assignments.

Beijing hopes to finally stifle Hong Kong’s democracy movement by jailing pro-democracy leaders and disqualifying them for running for public offices. However, Beijing’s heavy hands can only have at most short-term effects because it cannot impose amnesia on Hong Kong.

‘People’s Republic of Amnesia’

It is often said that dictators can lock up physical bodies, but not individual thoughts. Beijing has defied this expectation after the Tiananmen crackdown of 1989. Today’s mainland Chinese either do not know about Tiananmen or defend repressive measures as necessary evils that have contributed to China’s millennial rise. Journalist Louisa Lim dubs today’s China “the People’s Republic of Amnesia.”

Beijing officials have repeatedly lamented that the sovereignty of Hong Kong has been duly returned but the hearts of Hong Kong people have not. Beijing has deployed the same two-pronged policy to impose Umbrella amnesia: while repression is intended to silence pro-democracy forces, economic growth and “patriotic education” are hoped to win over the hearts and minds of the majority.

Yet, just as Hong Kong people have insisted on “never forgetting” Tiananmen for nearly three decades, they will likewise never fall for the Umbrella amnesia.

Overseas parliamentarians and international NGOs call on the Hong Kong government to drop the charges against the “Occupy Central Nine” to demonstrate to the world that Beijing’s promised policy of the rule of law under the “one country, two systems” model is still alive and well.

Thousands of students and civilians staged sit-in at the heart of the Hong Kong Island for 79 days during the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
Hong Kong Umbrella Movement. Photo: AFP

There is little chance that Hong Kong’s hand-picked government would heed this advice. If Hong Kong’s judges (some are still willing to stand up for judicial independence) issue any verdicts and sentences not to Beijing’s liking, the Department of Justice will surely appeal for heavier sentences – as it did with younger Umbrella Movement leaders last year. Most importantly, the central government has the last resort of issuing a decision to stamp its will on local courts – as it did to disqualify “localist” legislators two years ago.

Thus, the only uncertainty about this trial is the length of the jail sentences.

Jail Strengthens Opposition

If Beijing wishes to repress the calls for democracy with show trials and heavy jail terms, it will likely be disappointed. Precisely because so many pro-democracy leaders are persecuted for nonviolent civil protest, going to jail has become a badge of honor. Experiences around the world show that the prison serves only to harden opposition leaders.

Chinese President Xi Jinping
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: AFP

If Beijing also hopes to buy off the majority by promoting economic growth and increasing housing and other social welfare benefits, it will see only limited results. While this sugarcoating has been massively effective in binding mainland Chinese to the Chinese Communist Party, it has failed to infest the Tiananmen amnesia in Hong Kong and will not create a new Umbrella amnesia.

If Beijing intends to make Hong Kong people love the motherland with “patriotic education,” it will only intensify anti-Beijing sentiments. It was the introduction of “national education” in 2012 that politicized teenagers such as Joshua Wong who later ignited the Umbrella Movement in 2014.

The more Beijing emphasizes “one country” over “two systems,” therefore, the more Hong Kong people reject its campaigns to hypnotize them into amnesia.

Last week, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended a review of the “U.S. treatment of Hong Kong and China as separate customs areas.” The Hong Kong government responded by insisting on Hong Kong’s status as a separate customs territory.

If Hong Kong remains different than other Chinese cities these days, it is not because it still enjoys the promised “high degree of autonomy,” but because Beijing cannot impose amnesia on Hong Kong people as it can on mainland Chinese.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
Share102Tweet
Victoria Hui

Victoria Hui

Associate professor in political science at the University of Notre Dame and the author of 'Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement: The Protests and Beyond.' Hui is a native of Hong Kong and maintains a blog on the Umbrella Movement and beyond: https://victoriatbhui.wordpress.com

Related Posts

An AFP journalist views an example of a "deepfake" video manipulated using artificial intelligence.
World

Deepfake ‘News Anchors’ in Pro-China Footage: Research

by Staff Writer
February 8, 2023
A woman undergoing COVID test in China
Featured

Soaring Covid Cases Shine Light on China’s Healthcare Gap

by Staff Writer
January 11, 2023
Members of the Muslim Uyghurs minority demonstrate
World

EU to Ban Products Made Using Forced Labor, Risking China Anger

by Staff Writer
September 14, 2022
China Uyghurs
World

US Says UN Report Shows Xinjiang ‘Genocide’ as China Irate

by Staff Writer
September 1, 2022
A demonstrator sprays paint over an upside-down portrait of Chinese leader Xi Jinping
World

China Use of Psychiatric Hospitals to Punish Activists ‘Widespread:’ Report

by Staff Writer
August 17, 2022
Nancy Pelosi
World

Taiwan Defiant as China Readies Military Drills Over Pelosi Visit

by Staff Writer
August 3, 2022
Next Post
US President Donald Trump

Angry Trump Lashes Judges on Thanksgiving Day

The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

Iran, Foiled Attacks in Europe, and Consequences for Nuclear Deal

Recommended

An AFP journalist views an example of a "deepfake" video manipulated using artificial intelligence.

Deepfake ‘News Anchors’ in Pro-China Footage: Research

February 8, 2023
Syrian rescuers and civilians search for victims and survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building, in the rebel-held northern countryside of Syria's Idlib province on the border with Turkey, early on February 6, 2023. Syrian rescuers (White Helmets) and civilians search for victims and survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building

Quake Kills Over 1,200 Across Turkey, Syria

February 6, 2023
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
A supporter of nurses' strike and NHS holds a placard

UK Faces Fresh Mass Strikes as Wage Talks Derail

February 1, 2023
Israeli security forces in Jerusalem

Palestinian Gunman Kills 7 in East Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

January 30, 2023
The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 23, 2020

‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves Closest Ever to Midnight

January 25, 2023

Opinion

Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines

Eight Billion and Counting…

November 29, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests

Imagining a Free Iran

October 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin

How 18th Century International Law Clarifies the Situation in Ukraine

September 29, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Falling for Putin

September 15, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post