A series of events in Hong Kong has grabbed the international media attention. Following the news of the disappearance of staff and shareholders of Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong, civil unrest — rare in Hong Kong over the past several decades — broke out in Mong Kok during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Two other events that are likely to irritate Beijing made front page news in Taiwan over the past few days.
The first was when Althea Suen (孫曉嵐), Hong Kong University Students’ Union Council president voiced her support for Hong Kong independence (港獨) in an interview, saying that it was possible that in the future Hong Kong would leave China and become an independent nation and that “debate about Hong Kong independence should be open, and we should all continue to think about and discuss [it], without any self-imposed restrictions.”
In addition, the student union at the Chinese University of Hong Kong not only held a referendum to abolish the system by which the Hong Kong chief executive is appointed to university chancellor, they also elected a new “localist” student union.
The incoming president, Chow Shue-fung (周豎峰), said that “localization” is the trend among students and that he would not rule out adopting the same “brave” opposition methods used during the Mong Kok civil unrest.
Hong Kong has been seen as highly efficient and law abiding, and it used to be an international metropolis for freedom that was envied by Taiwanese. However, times change, and Beijing’s increasingly oppressive rule has caused Hong Kong to regress in recent years. After more than 20 years of democratization, Taiwan has been transformed and is now envied by Hong Kongers.
Beijing, its Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) and his government have failed to learn any lessons from the Occupy Central movement two years ago, started when Beijing blocked universal suffrage. Instead, Beijing has further restricted freedoms extended to Hong Kong by the “two systems” policy and continues to suppress pro-democracy forces.
Nevertheless, this has not weakened Hong Kong’s opposition forces. As all their peaceful opposition and democratic demands fail to solicit a positive response, the constant suppression of discontent has pushed the opposition toward the radicalization that Hong Kong’s mainstream society hoped to avoid.
This is why unrest in Mong Kok was not a surprise, nor is it likely to be the last of such action — the government has referred to the event as a “riot.” While it is true that mainstream Hong Kong society does not agree with radical localist faction taking their opposition to the streets, the fact that they could mobilize hundreds of supporters in the middle of the night implies that the faction is not shrinking, but has grown to become a force that can no longer be ignored.
The younger generation’s ideas are no longer restricted to an ineffective struggle for democracy; they are also abandoning the low-key and restrained approach to making demands that in the past were considered taboo. During the “Umbrella movement,” leaders proposed ideas such as “determining our own destiny” and “peaceful non-violence.” Today, the way students think is very different.
Hong Kongers, and especially the young generation, are becoming more radicalized and moving toward localization, which only serves to show that the government’s approach during the “era of post-political reform” has been a failure. It also shows that Taiwan is not alone in not doing what Beijing wants.
“Complete the last mile” — part of the slogan “complete the last mile of the localization renewal” used by the Spark student union leadership led by Chow Shue-fung during the campus election — was originally part of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) presidential election campaign.
Over the past three years, we have witnessed a campaign against educational reforms in Hong Kong, the Sunflower movement in Taiwan and the “Umbrella movement” in Hong Kong. Although Beijing fears cooperation between Taiwan and Hong Kong over independence, the development over the past two years seems to imply that Beijing might be unable to prevent such cooperation from becoming reality.
Beijing created this problem, and only Beijing can resolve it. The key to resolving these problems would be Beijing abandoning a restrictive mind-set that places power above all else and instead turn toward democracy and opening up.
John Lim is an associate research fellow in the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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