Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

Another day of violence in Hong Kong as the protest there is on the 17th week.  As China's national day on Oct. 1st approaches, we can expect more violence over the next few days.  As a former Hong Konger who is now an American, I wish to give advice to both the protesters and the authorities in Hong Kong and China.  I know nobody on either side have any interest in what I have to say.  But I am going to say it anyway.  So here is an open letter to the protesters, particularly the young ones.  Later on will be an open letter to the authorities.

Dear Protesters: 

I know the overwhelming majority of you are peaceful people who just want to protest without causing damages to Hong Kong and injuring innocent people.  You also do not want to be injured or arrested.  But the problem is there are people among you who are dangerous and is causing havoc that have led to violence.  While you may believe it is the police who are causing the violence, I don't see it that way.

I live near LA.  If a million people are out in the street of LA protesting and some of them crash their way into the city council building, raise foreign flags, sing foreign national anthems, burn the American flag, shut down LAX, shut down some of the subway (although we don't have those here), throw Molotov cocktails, petrol bombs and bricks, what do you think the LAPD would do?  It would be much worse than the tear gas and water cannon that the Hong Kong police have used.  In 17 weeks there would be death at the hands of the police here for sure.

A few weeks ago French police were using the same tactics against protesters at the G7 summit.  There were only a few hundred protesters at that time, hardly a threat.  Do you remember the tactics the French police used against the Yellow Vests protesters last year?  Way more number of and severity of injuries then than those in Hong Kong now.  But was there complaints by other western nations against the French police?  I think the Hong Kong police have been rather restrained in comparison.

Some of you are worried that Carrie Lamb will use the Emergency Regulations Ordinance against you.  This is a draconian law that basically lets the Chief Executive do whatever she wants.  But you do know this is not a Chinese law but a law left over from British colonial rule?  It was put into law to stop the Chinese seamen who were protesting that their white counterparts were making several times as much money.  This rule was used in 1967 in the leftist riots by the British forces.  If the British were so worried about human rights in Hong Kong, why didn't they repeal the law all these years, particularly when they handed Hong Kong over to China?

I understand that many of you don't like the policies of China.  But I don't understand why you would raise the British or American flags and sing their national anthems.  The rights that you demand from China were not given to you by the British until it was obvious that they are going to hand Hong Kong over to China.  This way they can say China is abusing you.  But to the day of the hand over, the people of Hong Kong had no right to vote for their chief executive.  It was a governor appointed by London.  And I don't know of any instance where the U.S. chastise the UK for human rights abuse in Hong Kong or in any other of its former colonies. 

Yes, there are good Americans who are rooting for you.  But the U.S. government have always look for its own self interests above human rights.  The U.S. went to Vietnam to fight the communists.  But did the U.S. protest French colonial rule in Vietnam?  Sure, China should be called out on human rights issues in Tibet and Xinjiang.  But the U.S. is only giving out toothless protests all over the world over human rights.  China gets hit by western nations more than others because it is their biggest competitor for world power.  But you should not believe that any nation, including the U.S. will be of any real help for you.  If China wants to stop U.S. complaints, it will just give Trump a trade deal.  If you don't think money talks, just ask the family and friends of Jamal Khashoggi.

Most of your families originally came from the mainland to have a better life.  I would say that life in China is way better than that of your ancestors before they made their way to Hong Kong.  I would also say that even though you may not think so, I think Hong Kong today is way better than in the 1960s when I left.  Improvements in China and Hong Kong took place slowly.  Those in power do not give it up easily, whether it is communist China or colonial Britain.  The Western nations will give you verbal support but there will not be concrete help.  You have won the extradition bill battle.  It is time to let things go back to normal because there is a minority who will take violence to much higher levels.  This will eventually lead China to put down the hammer.  This will cause damage to Hong Kong that may be impossible to repair.  Good luck.

AYM