Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-08-19)

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◼ REMARKS

● HongKong’sdemonstratorshave

onebigissue:Theircity’sfatewhen

Chinafullytakesoverin 28years

● ByMatthewCampbell

Protesting L ike It’s 2047

WhenU.K.PrimeMinisterMargaretThatcheragreedin 1984

toreturnHongKongtoChina,it wasn’tclearwhowouldend

upchangingwhom.ThePeople’sRepublicwasstillintheearly

daysofthemostdramaticeconomictransformationinmodern

history,openingforthefirsttimeindecadestomoney,people,

andideasfromabroad.HongKong,freewheelingandprosper-

ous,boastedplentyofwhatChina’sreformersseemedtowant:

wealth,ofcourse,butalsoorderandstability,guaranteedbya

colonialgovernmentthatofferedcleancourtsandsomeindi-

vidualrightswithouteverflirtingwithtrueelectoraldemoc-

racy.“Onecountry,twosystems,”shorthandforBeijing’s

pledgetomaintainthecity’spoliticalcharacterfor 50 years

afterthe 1997 Britishturnover,containedwithinit thepossi-

bilitythatbythetime 2047 rolledaround,thesystemswould

haveconverged—mostly,perhaps,inHongKong’sdirection.

Aftermorethantwomonthsofviolentconfrontation,that’s

decidedlyunlikely.OnAug. 12 pro-democracyprotestersmade

theirmostdramaticmoveyet,floodingintoHongKong’s

gleamingairportandforcingit toshutdowncompletely.The

nextday,protestersdisruptedserviceagain,thoughshorto

closingthingsdown.It wasthelatestepisodeinwhat’sbecome

a summerofrageinAsia’sfinancialcapital,withmillionstaking

tothestreetstoopposewhattheysayareattemptstosteamroll

thecity’sfreedoms.Beijinghasrespondedwithundisguised

fury,suggestingthatsomeprotestershavecommitted“terror-

ism”andhintingatthepossibilityofmilitaryaction.

Topessimists—andintoday’sHongKong,thereareplenty—

theruptureis confirmationthattheCommunistPartyand

a freecitywillneverbeabletopeaceablycoexist.Andyet

theymust.DespitethewishesofsomeofHongKong’smore

passionateactivists,Chineseruleisn’tgoinganywhere.But

neitheris thefuryofmanyinHongKong.“Onthecurrent

trajectory,anotherconfrontationisinevitable,unlessthe

youngergenerationinHongKongcanseethattheircon-

cernsarebeingaddressed,”saysSteveTsang,directorofthe

UniversityofLondon’sSOASChinaInstituteandtheauthor

ofAModernHistoryofHongKong.China’sleaders,hesays,

“justdon’tgetit.Theirdefaultis touserepression,whichwill

onlybreedmoreprotest.”

HongKong’sworstcrisissincethehandoverbeganinJune,

withralliesofunprecedentedsizeagainstlegislationbacked

bythepro-Beijingchiefexecutive,CarrieLam,thatwould

allowextraditiontomainlandChina.Lam,a longtimecivil

servantelectedbya handpickedcommitteeoflocalnota-

bles,hadbadlymisjudgedthepublicmood.Ontheeveof

anotherhugeprotest,sheagreedtoshelvetheproposed

law,laterdeclaringit “dead.”Foremboldenedactivists,that

wasn’tenough.They’venowtakentothestreetsinlargenum-

bersfor 10 consecutiveweeks,clashingwithpolicewhohave

beengiventhegreenlighttouseaggressivetactics.Almost

neveremployedbeforethisyear,rubberbulletsandteargas