25 years ago, as a naive 16-year-old, I watched on TV as the protests in Beijing grew, and were ultimately crushed. It was awful. It was my first time to watch on TV as terrible, terrible events unfolded right before my eyes. Now, as a jaded 41-year-old, I am watching these protests in Hong Kong grow. I dont know how it will end. But there are 6,000 Peoples Liberation Army soldiers stationed in Hong Kong, and they are NOT locals (shades of Gwangju: they are not even from Gwangdong - they are not Cantonese; this is a strategic choice). They have not been used yet, but if they are, I am afraid. Meanwhile, a Dutch-born Chinese citizen and local councillor in Hong Kong, Paul Zimmerman, unfurled a yellow umbrella at an official ceremony to mark Chinas national day. BBC interviewed him, and I found his official website. youtube/watch?v=RBnD2WYoU78 paulzimmerman.hk/about-contact.html I also saw a protester named Jeffrey Hui speaking to BBCs Babita Sharma. Now, I cant be sure, but at times it sounded to me as if Hui had a Northern Irish accent. It was uncanny to listen to (what I thought could have passed as) an Ulsterman talking to a reporter about protests and political demands that were as far away from the Troubles as, well, as far away as Hong Kong. Anyway, back to my original thought: I hope this ends well. I fear that the CCP cannot and will not yield. The grievances of the people of HK are legitimate, but for their own sake, I hope they get out their frustrations through these protests in a cathartic working out, and then go back to business as usual, before things go Too Far.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 16:30:00 +0000
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