Wang Yi, a State councilor and foreign minister of China, when recently responding to questions from Japanese journalists in Tokyo, stated that no matter what changes take place in the situation in Hong Kong, one thing is very clear: Hong Kong, as a special administrative region, is a part of Chinese territory, and any attempt to destabilize Hong Kong and undermine Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity will in no way succeed.
This is a clear message sent to those in Hong Kong who could have miscalculated the situation and are plotting to step up their actions to further challenge the Hong Kong SAR Government and to separate Hong Kong from China. The Central Government and the 1.4 billion Chinese people are resolute and unswerving in safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The “pan-democratic” camp is intoxicated by its “landslide” victory in Hong Kong’s district council elections Nov. 11, calling it a “show of Hong Kong’s popular will.”
Well, it must be admitted that to some degree it is a reflection of Hong Kong’s public opinion, which is the aspiration for democracy, freedom and a better future.
But it is highly questionable whether the sincere desire will be satisfied to the benefit of the fundamental interests of the Hong Kong people. The prospect is gloomy based on the initial responses from the violence-supporting “pan-democratic” parties and groups and Western media that have been inciting unrest in Hong Kong.
Their possible further escalation of violent confrontation with the Hong Kong SAR Government and the mainland derives from a series of miscalculations and misjudgments of the situation, as they have always done.
They thought the outcome of the election would shock the mainland, and an overwhelmed authority would be at a loss as to how to respond in the face of the popular will.
The fact is that perhaps the extent of the failure of the pro-establishment parties was beyond expectation, but the result had been fully anticipated given the current political and social sentiment in Hong Kong. After all, the anti-establishment camp has been brainwashing the young generation with demagogic anti-mainland propaganda for many years and successfully stoked fear and hate in the general population of Hong Kong by depicting the mainland as an evil monster that would strip Hong Kong of its freedom and rights.
No sober-minded person would be frightened by a manipulated and distorted popular will, particularly when such a will is used to undermine the nation’s core interests.
In addition, no one should be so naive as to hijack the local public opinion to threaten the interests of the nation as a whole. Over the past months, hundreds of millions of people on the mainland have witnessed the hideous brutalities of Hong Kong mobsters against innocent citizens, including many from the mainland, and all such crimes were committed or supported by those “pro-democratic” protesters.
If they think their victory could serve as public support to justify their violence, then such public opinion is equal to fascism, which deserves condemnation and a crackdown.
I advise those who have an obsession with “popular will” to do some homework on the histories of the American Civil War and Hitler’s rise to ultimate power.
With the former, 11 Southern states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America (CSA) in 1861, triggering a bloody four-year war with slavery-abolishing Northern states, claiming over 600,000 lives.
The defeat of the independence-seeking CSA by the Lincoln-led, union-defending USA laid a solid groundwork for the birth and flourishing of a strong America.
The latter involved the creation of the world’s most evil butcher: Hitler. The common thing between the two historic events was that both the secession of the CSA and Hitler won massive support from their own people. So there is no need for glorification of popular opinion.
In recent years, we have witnessed too many instances of unrest, bloodshed and even slaughter taking place around the world under the name of democracy and freedom.
Therefore, as long as the “pro-democratic” parties don’t discard their goals of “liberating” Hong Kong and gaining independence from China, no matter they conduct “peaceful protests” or resort to violent destruction, they will end in failure.
There is no room for separatism in Hong Kong.
(The author is an English tutor and freelance writer)