Context:
- One Country Two Systems:
Since 1997, when England ceded control of Hong Kong to China, the One Country Two Systems have stood as the precedent and narrative that Hong Kong(as well as Taiwan and Macau) is a part of China but has certain independent institutions related to the government, economy, and judiciary. China often attempts to decrease the independence of these semi-autonomous regions while more liberal forces try to increase it.
- Tiananmen Square:
The book often references the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, where the Chinese military shot and trampled citizens protesting the government in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
- Extradition law and the start of protest:
Carrie Lam, the region’s Chief Executive(like the Chinese-appointed president of Hong Kong), proposed a new extradition law that would expose Hong Kong’s citizens to China’s controversial judicial system, eroding one of the most important aspects of Hong Kong’s “two systems.” Sit-ins protesting this occurred in March 2019, trickling into massive protests in June that included millions of citizens. The five most essential demands of protestors included withdrawing the extradition bill, amnesty for political prisoners, implementation of complete universal suffrage, inquiry into alleged police brutality, and for the protests not to be considered riots.
- National security law and end of protest:
As the protests increased in June, China passed a National Security law that criminalized succession from China, undermining the power of the central government, terrorism, and collusion with external countries. This law was designed to diminish Taiwan’s national identity and protest movements. Ultimately, the COVID-19 pandemic and strict lockdowns caused the movement to die down in the winter.
Key takeaways:
Among The Braves provides insight into how China fundamentally treats dissent, which can be applied to further questions about Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Macau, and internal protest. You could fit it into your background or use it as the A sub point in a past-present-future substructure to predict China’s behavior!
- The 70th anniversary of the Chinese Community Party(CCP )was on October 1, 2019. Since the anniversary represented China eclipsing the USSR, which collapsed at 69 years, as China celebrated the milestone, the country strongly wanted to increase perceived unity and thereby use coercion to decrease protesting. At tournaments, you can consider how China strives to curate the appearance of unity in the eyes of the international community, especially during important events like the Olympics, CCP “elections”, critical international meetings, and more.
- China tried to paint protestors as pawns of the United States, using the term “color revolution,” a reference to the orange revolution in Ukraine and the yellow revolution in the Philippines. These revolutions, according to authoritarian ideology around the world, represent America’s desire to expand economic ties and hegemony through the guise of democracy. There is no evidence that the United States instigated these protests, but China is paying people to attend pro-CCP rallies. China uses this attack against dissent in Taiwan and internally, too.,
- Protestors attempted to increase international awareness of their movement. Hundreds of individuals staged sit-ins at Hong Kong’s International Airport, broadcasting their ideology to a global hub that 60 million people use annually. Diplomatics, activists, and politicians also cultivated extensive, long-running ties with important countries, notably the United States. On August 19, 2019, an ad in international newspapers, translated into nine languages, illustrated police brutality against peaceful protestors. Pro-democracy activists attempted to lobby the international community, especially America and Britain, to take a greater role in protecting them from China(like through sanctions) through the “laam caau” ideology. Translated to “if we burn, you burn with us” ( which is coincidentally a famous line from the Hunger Games movies— agd/ontop material?!), it was the idea that CCP control over Hong Kong would mean that protestors destroy the city; specifically it’s the lucrative banking industry, harming China and the world. The US erroneously assumed China’s dependency on Hong Kong would implore it to give up concessions to end the protests.