Despite reportedly securing 80 percent of electoral support, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has found his “victory” heavily challenged by the public. Since the Aug. 9 presidential election, Belarusians have taken to the streets demanding that Lukashenko step down.
After 26 years of iron-fist rule, the people are looking elsewhere for leadership. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the main opposition candidate, garnered only 10 percent of the votes, but many know that the numbers were the result of fraud. She has since fled to Lithuania for safety.
According to the online newspaper The Moscow Times, up to 7,000 people have been detained with hundreds injured and two deaths since the protests began. Scenes from Minsk are not for the fainthearted: They show tear gas, rubber bullets and bloodied protesters.
However, for many of us, it seems that such scenes have become the norm, and protests in Hong Kong or the US paint a similar picture.
Governments and the people that they are obliged to serve are at odds with one another. Until the contradictions that cause the conflict are resolved, violence and chaos will likely continue.
However, the people of Belarus enjoy something that the people of Hong Kong lack. Belarus is in a region of democratic countries — Belarusians are part of a community of nations that seek to uphold justice and human rights.
Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius wrote in a tweet: “Lithuania is ready and considering the possibility of accepting Belarusians, suffering from the ongoing brutalities, on humanitarian grounds.”
The EU has come together to denounce the legitimacy of the election results and the security forces’ violent crackdowns.
There is an united effort to stand in solidarity with Belarusians. Can Hong Kongers say the same about their neighbors?
Taiwan has been the only government that has tirelessly supported the people’s struggle in the territory. Although the US has taken steps to sanction Hong Kong officials — with long-term effects remaining to be seen — Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) has said that she “will not be intimidated.”
The people of Belarus and Hong Kong desire the same thing: a legitimate government representative of the people, fair elections, the rule of law and, above all, freedom.
“We want changes! It’s the demand of our eyes. In our laughter, in our tears and the pulse in our veins. We want changes!” says a Perestroika-era song, which has become Belarusians’ protest anthem.
The details of what “freedom” is, might be up for debate, but I can say for sure that freedom is not built with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The European community has taken a stand against Lukashenko, while many Asian countries have turned a blind eye to the destruction of Hong Kong’s democracy.
The changes that we witness in these two regions are starkly different. One is trying to prevent the consolidation of authoritarian rule, the other supports it by omission.
Those in Hong Kong who still continue to wave the banners of protests in their hearts should not forget that their battle is not theirs to fight alone. There still remain dark corners of this Earth that await the liberating light of freedom.
The Chinese Communist Party can only shield Hong Kong from the light for so long.
It is waiting in vain for the people of Hong Kong to exhaust themselves, but as long as the people remain true and honest to themselves and the cause, we have nothing to fear.
In Minsk, at least 50 security personnel have dropped their shields and embraced the protesters. It is, hopefully, a matter of time until the security forces in Hong Kong realize who they should be protecting.
G.K. Chesterton said: “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
Nigel Li is a student at the Moscow State Institute of International Affairs.
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