Colonial Policy by Other Means: Losurdo on Hong Kong’s Supposed ‘Self-Determination’
18 june, 2019 by stalinsmoustache,
A small number of former colonial powers are fond of trotting out the mantra of ‘self-determination’ for parts of the world they would like to control. Hong Kong and Taiwan are good examples (even though the USA has the world’s strongest measures against self-determination of its own states). In the last few days, deliberate misinformation concerning Hong Kong has been peddled in a small number of places. If you want to get a fuller picture, see the reports here, here, here, here and here.
So it is worth recalling Losurdo’s observations on such a matter. The first comes from his essay, ‘Lenin and Herrenvolk Democracy’ (2007):
Colonial domination has left its mark: on the economic level, the inequality of development among different regions has been accentuated; while the hegemonic presence at every level of the great powers and the policy of ethnic engineering, often promoted by them, has accentuated cultural, linguistic, and religious fragmentation. Secessionist tendencies of every kind are once again lying in wait, regularly fed by the ex-colonial powers. When it wrested Hong Kong from China, Great Britain certainly did not conceive of self-determination, and it did not remember it even during the long years in which it exercised its dominion. But, suddenly, on the eve of Hong Kong’s return to China, to the motherland, the governor sent by London, Chris Patten, a conservative, had a species of illumination and improvised conversion: he appealed to the inhabitants of Hong Kong to claim their right to ‘self-determination’ against the motherland, thus remaining within the orbit of the British Empire.
Analogous considerations are true for Taiwan. When, at the beginning of 1947, the Kuomintang, which had fled from continental China and the victorious People’s Army, let loose a terrible repression that provoked about ten thousand deaths, the United States was careful not to invoke the right to self-determination for the inhabitants of the island; on the contrary, it sought to impose the thesis according to which Chiang Kai-shek’s government was the legitimate government not only of Taiwan but also of the whole of China. The great Asian country had to remain united but under the control of Chiang Kai-shek, reduced to a simple pro-consul of Washington’s sovereign imperialism. As the dream of reconquering the mainland slowly faded away, and the stronger became the aspiration of the whole Chinese people to achieve full territorial integration and independence, ending the tragic chapter of colonial history, so the presidents of the United States experienced an illumination and a conversion similar to that of Chris Patten. They too began to caress the idea of ‘self-determination’. Incoherence? Not at all: ‘self-determination’ is the continuation of imperial policy by other means. If it was not really possible to get their hands on China as a whole, it was, meanwhile, convenient to secure control of Hong Kong or Taiwan (249-50)
And as he writes in one his last books, Class Struggle (2016):
Perhaps it would be better to learn the lesson of old Hegel, who, with the Sanfedista and anti-Semitic agitation of his time in mind, observed that sometimes ‘courage consists not in attacking rulers, but in defending them’. The populist rebel who would be bound to consider Hegel insufficiently revolutionary could always heed Gramsci’s warning against the phraseology of ‘primitive, elementary “rebellionism,” “subversionism” and “anti-statism,” which are ultimately an expression of de facto “a-politicism”’ (337).
https://stalinsmoustache.org/2019/06/18 ... rmination/
'here':
American hand’ seen behind HK bill protest
By Zhao Junxi in Hong Kong Source:Global Times Published: 2019/6/17 22:33:40
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Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces on June 15, 2019 that the HKSAR government will suspend the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance until further communication and explanation work is completed.(Photo: Xinhua)
The American hand behind the radical forces in protests against Hong Kong's extradition bill, has launched all-around attacks to obstruct the regional government's legislative process, a Hong Kong alliance convener who supports the bill said.
The alliance's website has been attacked several times, and investigations showed that most attacks were from the US, Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, convener of Safeguard HK, Support the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders Legislation, told the Global Times on Monday.
The alliance, with over 1 million members from 360 Hong Kong organizations, launched an online petition to support the bill in April. More than 930,000 Hong Kong residents have signed in support as of press time.
The US was the first foreign country to comment on the bill after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government submitted it to the Legislative Council, or LegCo, in March.
The US State Department expressed "grave concern" over the bill and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to review Hong Kong's special trading privileges if the bill gets passed. US allies, including Britain, Canada and Australia, followed suit.
In the latest move, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump would raise the issue of Hong Kong human rights with Chinese leaders during the G20 summit in Japan this month.
Those moves come as radical opposition figures had gone to the US several times for help against the extradition bill, Wong said.
"Radical Hong Kong forces have spread leaflets everywhere that distort the bill and incite students who did not read the bill to join their protest," Wong, also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said.
One such leaflet obtained by Wang said that the bill could lead to unemployment, suppression of religion and cancellation of visa-free policies to other countries.
However, none of those were actually mentioned in the bill.
The SAR government has suspended the exercise to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance, which aims at plugging loopholes in Hong Kong's overall judicial mechanism.
The amendments, which allow Hong Kong to transfer fugitives to Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, were originally scheduled to be discussed at a LegCo meeting on June 12, but were postponed due to riots around the LegCo building last week.
"Pressure from radical forces did not force the SAR government to suspend deliberations, but rather out of concerns over possible growing confrontation and public safety," Wong noted.
Wong said the frequent US "concerns" over the bill have nothing to do with concern for Hong Kong, and Americans in Hong Kong are only interested in making money.
"Only the SAR and central governments really care for Hong Kong, and Hong Kong residents have to identify who are our people and who are outsiders," Wong said.
Wong believes that the protest will eventually die down, and said he is confident in Hong Kong's future and the SAR government, as the past 30 years have proven that Hong Kong is strong and able of resisting pressure.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1154645.shtml
'here':
HK residents slam violence against extradition bill
By Yang Sheng Source:Global Times Published: 2019/6/13 0:03:40
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Passing the bill will weaken US influence in Hong Kong
A view of Hong Kong's Peak Tram, one of the world's oldest and most famous funicular railways, April 22, 2019. A project to upgrade the tram will involve a significant investment of HK$684 million, replacing the current tram cars, which have a capacity of 120 passengers, with new 210-passenger tram cars. The first suspension of the Peak Tram service will begin on April 23 and last approximately two to three months. Photo: China News Service
Violent activities continued in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and have caused the city's Legislative Council to postpone a meeting to scrutinize the extradition bill that could allow the Chinese mainland to extradite criminals from Hong Kong.
A South China Morning Post report on Wednesday said many masked violent activists "armed with umbrellas and goggles are occupying all roads leading to Hong Kong's legislature as the government was forced to delay debate on the extradition bill."
These violent activists are mostly young people who had camped there overnight. They built metal barricades and walls of loose bricks in a face-off with riot police bearing shields and batons. Police used pepper spray on the crowds earlier, the Hong Kong-based newspaper said.
Hung Wai-man, a deputy of the HKSAR to the National People's Congress, told the Global Times that although the extradition bill is contentious, both sides of the bill strongly oppose violence.
"Those violent activists are a group of extreme and radical people who do not represent the mainstream of the city at all," Hung said.
Hung said local citizens believe the police is capable of controlling the situation using legal measures, and he suggests that the police should take more effective and direct action to stop the violence in the city.
Chan Cheuk-hay, a Hong Kong member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that the lack of knowledge of both the bill and national security among the locals has allowed protesters to radicalize many people.
"This has made reasonable dialogue very difficult. Many people distort the extradition bill… in fact, the bill is necessary and can guarantee the rights and freedom of Hong Kong citizens, so if protesters know the details of the bill, I think most of them will change their minds," Chan said.
Presidents of 10 Hong Kong universities issued a joint statement urging the different groups to consult each other to solve the dispute on the extradition bill as the situation became more intense on Wednesday, Mingpao reported.
Many Hong Kong web users on Hong Kong news portal websites like mingpao.com and stheadline.com criticized those who oppose the extradition bill and the violence in recent days.
"The mainland cannot extradite criminals from Hong Kong? Is there anything that can be more ridiculous than this? We are in one country! Those criminals should oppose the bill, not ordinary people of the city," said one named Charles Choy on stheadline.com.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a routine press conference on Wednesday that the Chinese central government firmly supports the HKSAR to push forward the work of the legislation amendment on extradition, and any behavior that harms Hong Kong's prosperity and stability would be opposed by the mainstream public opinion of the city.
Geng also said China expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to US figures for their irresponsible statements on the Hong Kong issue as this is a purely Chinese matter that no country or individual has the right to interfere in.
One reason why the US interrupts China's affairs in Hong Kong is that if the extradition bill is passed, Washington's inappropriate influence in the city will be weakened and proxy foreign forces in Hong Kong that created trouble and conflict between the citizens and government will be punished by law more effectively, Tian Feilong, an associate professor at Beihang University in Beijing and an expert on Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1154056.shtml
and 'here':
US using Hong Kong unrest as bargaining chip
Source:Global Times Published: 2019/6/17 22:11:00
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Photo: IC
Heightened interference by external forces including the US and Europe in fomenting unrest in Hong Kong has encouraged protesters to create more trouble in the city.
These forces claimed that if the amendment to the extradition bill is passed, rights and legal protection to their personnel and institutions based in Hong Kong will be weakened.
At the same time, the US and Europe took advantage of the concern among Hongkongers to play the Hong Kong card, aiming to pressure China. Washington apparently wants to use Hong Kong to strong-arm Beijing.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) tried to restore calm by announcing on Saturday that it will suspend the process of amending the bill. The HKSAR government wants to prevent turmoil, injuries and defend fundamental national interests.
The suspension was a compromise, but the opposition wouldn't necessarily buy it. A protest on Sunday demanded the bill be scrapped. Such being the case, whether the suspension will lead to the protests folding up depends on how the opposition and external forces behind it treat Hong Kong.
The revised extradition bill will have no real impact on Hongkongers who abide by laws. The reason society in Hong Kong reacted so strongly was that the opposition used it to create fear among citizens.
Many Hongkongers don't understand that the amendment helps improve the rule of law in Hong Kong. Because of their distrust of judiciary and rule of law on the mainland and their scarce knowledge, they were full of fear of someday being handed over to the mainland and sentenced there. Young people, in particular, accepted opposition propaganda without going into details of the proposal.
The episode showed that Hong Kong lacks quality national education. Many people's knowledge of the national system and rule of law on the mainland is still superficial. This is what both central and HKSAR governments should take seriously because it is related to Hongkongers' national identity. Otherwise, any legislation and decision in the future that involves national integration may meet the same fate.
The central government has adopted many policies, such as developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, to help solve livelihood problems in Hong Kong and promote the development of the city and the mainland. But not many Hongkongers hail the policies.
Due to Hong Kong's colonial history of more than 150 years and a sense of superiority complex, most Hongkongers don't have the urge and opportunity to visit the mainland and thus don't really know about it. This means that even though the central government has a set of proactive policies, the actual effects accrue slowly.
Authorities' previous work has overlooked that Hong Kong itself needs to make some changes. Current measures to integrate Hong Kong with the mainland's development could have certain limitations.
Hence, some changes are needed. Authorities should consider how to let Hongkongers be part of integrated development and what changes Hong Kong itself should make. If the city's education system and sociocultural atmosphere don't change, policies from the outside will have limited effect.
Many liberals in Hong Kong admire US-style liberalism. However, many of them were disillusioned after US President Donald Trump took office, and then became lost. The violence during protests is an outcome of such confusion. The Hong Kong elites have values consistent with those of the West. When they were motivated and supported by the US, they would participate in the protests more enthusiastically.
Resorting to violence during demonstrations has actually jeopardized Hongkongers' own interest. Hong Kong's society inherently had zero-tolerance for violence, but now people have learnt to tolerate and indulge in it. This signals that social movements in Hong Kong are becoming increasingly radical and populist.
The street movements in Hong Kong have shown a tendency to damage the "One Country, Two systems" policy and hurt prosperity and stability. These movements abused liberalism; they conform neither to traditional British liberalism nor to the striving spirit of Hongkongers, but bring about deterioration of rule of law.
Not only the HKSAR government but also elites in Hong Kong should be vigilant and work jointly to restrain such a tendency. They must be aware that the rational nature of their society is changing.
The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Xu Hailin based on an interview with Tian Feilong, associate professor at the Law School of Beihang University and member of Beijing-based Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
xuhailin@globaltimes.com.cn
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1154636.shtml