Dispatches from the State Ministry of Truth

[Admiral Yi]

Hong Kong is in many ways China's conduit to the international financial community.  Losing that would hurt them somewhat.

[Tonitrus]

I kinda think that idea is kind of obsolete at this point.  Loss of the special status wont affect finance.  Plenty of places do finance just fine without freedom,

[Monoriu]

Hong Kong is in many ways China's conduit to the international financial community.  Losing that would hurt them somewhat.

Our importance is declining.  They are building up Shanghai to replace us anyway.  We were useful to them in the 80s and 90s.  Now?  Who needs a middleman, especially if he is annoying. 

[CountDeMoney]

Now?  Who needs a middleman, especially if he is annoying.

[Monoriu]

While I support and sympathize with the protesters, Mono is kinda right.  The two realistic outcomes of all this is either:

- No change
- The one nation/two systems idea goes to the wall, and China dumps ther special status.


There really is no down side for China to go with option 2 (outside some economic turmoil in HK and elsewhere), and no one in the international community will do anything about it except express some mild regret.

HK will never be the same after this.  The showdown is kinda necessary for the population to realise that the idea of democracy is truly dead.  The rioters will have to leave sooner or later, and there is no question that they won't get what they want.  The real question is what next.  The relationship between the government and the people will be changed forever.  The pan-democrat legislators will block everything the government proposes.  "Unless you give us part of the pie, we won't let you have yours either."  There will be widespread disobedience.  Refusal to pay taxes, etc.  Lots of people will leave for other places.   

[derspiess]

Do they still drink a lot of cognac in HK?

[Monoriu]

Do they still drink a lot of cognac in HK?

No clue.  What do you mean?

[Admiral Yi]

I kinda think that idea is kind of obsolete at this point.  Loss of the special status wont affect finance.  Plenty of places do finance just fine without freedom,

Not many do without rule of law.

[Razgovory]

Now?  Who needs a middleman, especially if he is annoying.

Yeah, kind of an odd thing for a Bureaucrat.

[Monoriu]

Robert Chow, ex-talk show host who collected over a million signatures (out of a population of 7 million) that oppose the Occupy Central movement, has said that he will organise ordinary folk to remove the rioters from public roads.  I don't have high hopes but let's see how this plays out.  In any case, individual cases of shopowners and anti-riot citizens who try to remove the road blocks on their own are on the rise.  They desperately need better organisation. 

[Monoriu]

100 people have smashed into the rioters' camp in Mongkok and are tearing down the tents.  The rioters' reaction?  Call the police 

[Monoriu]

Police separating the angry residents and the rioters in Mong Kok.  If the police can't clear the rioters, I don't understand why they won't let us do it ourselves. 

[Tamas]

Rioters  Some pics of real rioters, for comparison, Mono:

[Monoriu]

Rioters  Some pics of real rioters, for comparison, Mono:

Actually, the term that I use in my head is "scumbag".  Would you prefer that instead? 

The mainland PR machine has started calling them "criminals".  I think this signals that Beijing is determined not to provide any political exit for them.  You don't call the counterpart on the other side of the negotiation table criminals. 

[Tamas]

Rioters  Some pics of real rioters, for comparison, Mono:

Actually, the term that I use in my head is "scumbag".  Would you prefer that instead? 

The mainland PR machine has started calling them "criminals".  I think this signals that Beijing is determined not to provide any political exit for them.  You don't call the counterpart on the other side of the negotiation table criminals.

It's the likes of you Mono who have destroyed my homeland. I guess the difference is that Hong Kong never had a realistic chance of escaping being under Politburo boots, so I should be lenient on you.