College and high school students in Hong Kong are occupying the Central district to demand greater freedom in this territory controlled by China. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it is good to know there are idealistic young people in Hong Kong who are risking everything to advance democracy, not only in HK but perhaps in China. On the other hand, if someone gets seriously injured or even die from this, I don't think this fight is worth it at this time.
First, the issue at hand is the election of the chief executive of HK. Since China took over HK, the CE has been elected by committee, in other words by those loyal to China. There was no direct vote by the people. By 2017, there is supposed to be direct election by citizens of HK for CE. But word came out recently that the candidates have to be vetted by a committee. This means that candidates hostile to Beijing will probably not be on the ballot. This sparks the protest. The problem as I see it, is that being a communist country, Beijing will not meet the demand of the protestors and will use force if needed. The timing is also bad as the U.S. and the UK are all occupied with ISIS and Ukraine. They need China, if not for support, at least do not veto any resolutions in the UN. So far there is no words of support from the western powers to the protestors. Given no international support, this is a road that lead to nowhere. There are reports of injuries already, and given that any change of the mind of Beijing is extremely unlikely, it certainly do not seem worth the risk of life at this time. At the very least, this election in 2017 is not a backward step. People of HK can choose the less of 2 or 3 evils rather than have the evil handed to them by Beijing.
Interestingly, at the same time, Beijing was making overture to Taiwan about negotiation for reunification! President Xi is promising the same one country two system of HK to Taiwan. Not that Taiwan would have said yes anyway, but the timing of this with the protest in HK is peculiar. Certainly Xi would not think that what is happening in HK would in anyway encourage Taiwan to come back to China!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
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That is what I mean about the U.S. and others are occupied with other things so that HK is totally ignored. I saw some coverage on CNN last night but it was 11:30 so it would have been 2:30 in the east coast. Who would be watching at that time?
ReplyDeleteCertainly people will leave but there won't be a mass exodus if the economy is good. China is prospering from HK but their goal is eventually make Shanghai the financial gateway to the rest of the world. When that occurs, HK will be in big trouble and there will be mass exodus.
Since wrestling results are predetermined, it would be perfectly natural for some wrestler to throw the match to the supreme leader of North Korea. So it actually make more sense to me than former NBA players going there.
Interesting that if they were tied in the standings, the Tigers would have to play the Royals in a playoff to determine the division. That seems unfair since Tigers had destroyed the Royals in head to head during the season. The Royals were very good in beating up teams that they should beat. But even if they get by the A's, I don't see them beating anyone else.
The Tigers have a better team on paper than the Orioles. With a predominant right handed batting order, they should be able to beat up on Wei Yin Chen, the top lefty on the Orioles. The question as always, can the bullpen hold a lead? What are they going to do with Sanchez? I think he has only pitched 1 inning since he came back. Will he be replacing a slumping Porcello?
Well, the Tigers should beat the Orioles. Baltimore is limping into the playoffs and that should help.
ReplyDeleteSanchez has been throwing recently. Whether he is ready or not, I don't know. It'll be interesting to see what the roster will be. Do you know if there's a separate roster for the League Championship and World Series? Or do you just go with one roster for the whole post season?
I never understood how they have 4 man pitching rotations in the post season. Why couldn't you go with 5? The Tigers have 5 legitimately good pitchers (if Sanchez is healthy).
-LBOAYM