Dispatches from the State Ministry of Truth

[Monoriu]

That's the point. It's not Beijing. Yet.

PLA troops stayed in their barracks (there are 10,000 of them in HK).  HK police alone handled the situation.  Not sure what more do you want. 

[jimmy olsen]

mono's hostility toward the protestors doesn't mean he's unreasonable. the protestors are causing mayhem and violence in his home. no civilized government would allow thousands of protestors to prevent an important sector of a city from functioning. whether they're protesting for a valid reason is kind of beside the point. police brutality does occur, and many times black people are targeted or receive the brunt of that brutality. but, i don't think many languish posters would like mayhem in their own neck of the woods caused by thousands of black protestors.

there's a lot of disrespect and shit-throwing in this thread over a situation that's a lot more nuanced than some seem to think.

Context matters and by and large people will decide whether to support or crush the protestors based on whether they think they have a valid reason for protesting or not.

[Monoriu]

The rioters have called for all students to skip class.  Seems so far only about 10 schools have participated out of 1,000, and out of those 10 schools, only part of the students have responded to the call.  I think for us ordinary citizens, the best way to oppose the savages is to get on with our lives normally. 

[Jacob]

Oh yeah I always think wow such restraint has been shown when police don't slaughter their citizenry.

I wonder to what degree the HK police is sympathetic to the protestors. After all, they recruited in HK and are not necessarily part of the elites that Mono has thrown his lot in with. It's not like the HK government can do what they do in the mainland and pull in police and military units from the countryside who are less likely to identify with the protestors.

[Ed Anger]

I do love the pre prepared police signs. STOP CHARGING.

 

[LaCroix]

Ah yes a nuanced situation. Thanks for being a voice of sanity.

Also, thanks for getting racial on us. Appreciate it.

this protest is unlike the 2003 protest which actually accomplished something feasible. there, the hong kong government wanted to pass a restriction on speech, and protests resulted in the government permanently shelving the idea. here, the protests are aimed at the national government and are not in response to anything new. they wish to change what has existed for some time. it's not a simple black and white, and the references to 1984 or comparisons with north korea are just asinine.

the "getting racial" was a direct reference to a prior languish thread a few months back. if you'd like, replace black with a much, much larger occupy wall street.

[Camerus]

That's the point. It's not Beijing. Yet.

PLA troops stayed in their barracks (there are 10,000 of them in HK).  HK police alone handled the situation.  Not sure what more do you want.

:shrug: Hope you enjoy your increasing de facto status as just another part of Mainland China.

[LaCroix]

I wonder to what degree the HK police is sympathetic to the protestors. After all, they recruited in HK and are not necessarily part of the elites that Mono has thrown his lot in with. It's not like the HK government can do what they do in the mainland and pull in police and military units from the countryside who are less likely to identify with the protestors.

the hong kong government has shown that it's sympathetic mild (edit: i can see languish freaking out over that word ) toward its protestors, here and in the past. while mono says people are arrested by the boatloads in these protests, of the 100,000~ protestors last july, only 500 were arrested.

[Monoriu]

Oh yeah I always think wow such restraint has been shown when police don't slaughter their citizenry.

I wonder to what degree the HK police is sympathetic to the protestors. After all, they recruited in HK and are not necessarily part of the elites that Mono has thrown his lot in with. It's not like the HK government can do what they do in the mainland and pull in police and military units from the countryside who are less likely to identify with the protestors.

From what I have seen on camera, the police did everything they could.  They didn't just pepper spray the rioters.  They actively fought with the rioters, grabbed their umbrellas and goggles with their bare hands, THEN sprayed them.  Something which you may not understand is that civil service jobs (including police ones) are hard to get in HK.  The average joe can't become a policeman. 

[Jacob]

The mainland Chinese rumour mill has (amongst others) the following rumours going right now:

1) The HK democracy movement is being encouraged by factions within the Chinese Communist Party who are dissatisfied with Xi's attempt to take control and the various purges being enacted in the name of fighting corruption. They hope to leave him with a Tiananmen Square type embarrassment and blood on his hands to sully his image.

2) Xi has in fact, at a recent meeting with HK leaders, said that the goal for Hong Kong is more democracy and that the current restricted list of candidates is not necessary, but this has not filtered out through the party and press communication channels due to various factional struggles, and due to the number one principle of the CCP - "we present a united front, dissent is handled behind closed doors" - it may not.

I'm not sure how credible I find those rumours, but I find their existence interesting in and of themselves.

[Eddie Teach]

That's the point. It's not Beijing. Yet.

PLA troops stayed in their barracks (there are 10,000 of them in HK).  HK police alone handled the situation.  Not sure what more do you want.

:shrug: Hope you enjoy your increasing de facto status as just another part of Mainland China.

Don't blame Mono for being short-sighted, his vision is blocked by the heads of everyone around him.

[Jacob]

From what I have seen on camera, the police did everything they could.  They didn't just pepper spray the rioters.  They actively fought with the rioters, grabbed their umbrellas and goggles with their bare hands, THEN sprayed them.  Something which you may not understand is that civil service jobs (including police ones) are hard to get in HK.  The average joe can't become a policeman.

The average joe may not be able to become a policeman, no, but he may have a number of average joe friends and relatives which may make it less than a sure thing that they'll follow a "mow 'em down" order.

[Monoriu]

From what I have seen on camera, the police did everything they could.  They didn't just pepper spray the rioters.  They actively fought with the rioters, grabbed their umbrellas and goggles with their bare hands, THEN sprayed them.  Something which you may not understand is that civil service jobs (including police ones) are hard to get in HK.  The average joe can't become a policeman.

The average joe may not be able to become a policeman, no, but he may have a number of average joe friends and relatives which may make it less than a sure thing that they'll follow a "mow 'em down" order.

HK is divided.  It isn't "the dictatorship vs the people".  It is "half the population against the other" and "haves vs have-nots".  It is difficult for me to explain this, but it is really difficult to describe a policeman as being a "have-not".  Their circles of friends will tend to be haves. 

[MadImmortalMan]

If only Her Majesty's Government had returned HK to the correct China. Blame the UK. 

[garbon]

here, the protests are aimed at the national government and are not in response to anything new. they wish to change what has existed for some time.

Were the Civil Rights protests a response to something new?