[ad_1]
Frances Hui poses for a photo at the Emerson College Library in Boston. The student wrote a column heading "I'm from Hong Kong, not China," which provoked negative reactions among Chinese students. (Andrew Baicker)
HONG KONG – Sitting on a bus in Boston, thousands of miles from her home in Hong Kong, Frances Hui, a student, crossed the path of a curious passenger.
Where are you from? the passenger pressed.
When she finally answered "Hong Kong," the man began to become aggressive, Hui told. He insisted that she define herself as "from China", who took control of the former British colony in 1997.
"He did not stop telling me," You are Chinese, you have to correct your identity, "said Hui, a junior at Emerson College, in an interview. "I felt really insulted. The identity is really personal. That's my thing.
Hui wrote a column in Emerson's student paper titled "I come from Hong Kong, not from China." She stated in these terms: "I come from a city belonging to a country to which I do not belong."
This was quickly followed by a violent and sometimes threatening reaction on the part of Chinese students from his continent to his college.
The quarrel was far from Hong Kong, but it reflected broader issues that arose in the former colony about identity in the face of the rapid erosion of territorial autonomy and the relationship "one country, two systems' promised.
Five years after the mass protests in the streets of Hong Kong against Beijing's controls, China has gradually tightened its grip on the territory and its young pro-democracy movement. Many people now fear that Hong Kong's special status, including its political and trade freedoms, is no longer endangered.
And they wonder how to react – by evoking the possibility of new manifestations.
A boat enters the dock while a woman is sitting on the wharf in Hong Kong Central District on May 15, 2019. (Isaac Lawrence / AFP / Getty Images)
The conditions for the transfer of British power were intended to guarantee a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong, enabling the Territory to maintain its own political, judicial and economic systems until 2047.
But Beijing's checks intensified after the 2014 street protests, which saw hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets for months in one of the Chinese Communist Party's biggest acts of defiance in decades. The protesters hoped to extend their democratic rights and put an end to China's plans to select candidates for the city's top leadership position.
In recent months, the Hong Kong courts have charged and imprisoned leaders of the democracy movement for up to 16 months while the protests were extremely peaceful. A court of appeal decided Thursday that Joshua Wong, 22, one of the symbols of the movement, would return to prison.
Last year, a party that advocated Hong Kong independence was banned and an editor of the Financial Times was expelled. No official explanation was given for the expulsion of the editor, but he had led a discussion with the founder of this independence party a few weeks previously at the Foreign Correspondents Club.
The Hong Kong government has also passed a bill insulting the Chinese national anthem with a criminal offense. Across Hong Kong, commercials and posters market the "Great Bay Area", a plan developed by Beijing that will bring the city closer to the continent.
The most controversial is that the Hong Kong government is calling for a draft law on extradition that would allow fugitives to be transferred from the enclave to any jurisdiction in the world, even without formal agreement – effectively extending the powers of Beijing to Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong legislature fell into chaos on May 11 because of the bill. Scuffs erupted between lawmakers and one of them was rushed to the hospital.
A congressional commission in Washington said the extradition law, if passed, "could create serious risks to national security and US economic interests in the territory" and could violate a law. US-Hong Kong Act authorizing Washington to treat the city distinctly from China.
[Trumpian rhapsody: Hong Kong opera is about history and the long red tie]
"At the heart of each of these projects and efforts is a political calculation from Beijing, which asks: What can we do to reduce Hong Kong as a place," said Jeffrey Ngo, democracy activist in Hong Kong and PhD candidate at Georgetown University. "It's really sad, but it certainly motivated people to assert, even more strongly, the identity of Hong Kong."
Earlier this month in Washington, the US Congress held a hearing on the future of Hong Kong's independence and how the US government should react. Streamed live on YouTube, commentators flooded a newsgroup while the live video aired comments such as "Hong Kong is not China" and "Free Hong Kong."
In this context, Hui's text was published in late April on the website of the Emerson College newspaper, the Berkley Beacon. She cited experiences of students like herself from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet and other countries that have struggled to assert themselves in the face of China.
A Taiwanese friend, she wrote, felt compelled to adopt a "Chinese" identity despite her love for Taiwan, too scared to "fight for her identity" with her Chinese friends.
Articles in the student journal usually get between 20 and 40 views. Hui's text quickly became viral – attracting hundreds of comments and thousands of readers.
"I had a lot of attention, which I really did not expect," Hui said.
S
A group of pro-Beijing protesters hold placards in front of the Legislative Council during discussions on extradition laws in Hong Kong. (Philip Fong / AFP / Getty Images)
Students from Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries such as Singapore have launched messages of support and encouragement, she said. Among them, Natalie Law, a 22-year-old student from Hong Kong and a student at Boston University, who connected to Hui via Instagram. They have become friends since.
"She can speak for us all, or maybe a majority of us [who are worried about Hong Kong], Says the law.
The article began to appear on all Chinese forums, including the WeChat messaging application, shared on Facebook and Instagram pages and distributed to Boston's distant students. Chinese students started tagging their accounts on social networks, with comments such as "shame on you" and "your parents should be ashamed of you".
A person from a WeChat group with over 200 Chinese students referred to it as a "psychopath". Another person said to have seen on campus and to be aware that she was a "little girl" without real power.
"It made me very uncomfortable, as if I was being watched," she said.
The most shocking comment came from a Chinese student from Emerson, who published Hui's personal publications on Facebook. In an article, he wrote a comment that translated: "All those who oppose my biggest China, no matter how far away, must be executed."
"I panicked," she says.
Hui has not suffered any physical harm since the publication of his article.
His experience, however, reflects that of other Hong Kongers in foreign universities.
Kacey Wong, visual artist in Hong Kong, recalls several events at an exhibition at which he participated last year at the University of Essex, near London. The exhibited works were about the 2014 Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong – the name of the umbrellas worn by many protesters – and showed pictures of the police's hostility.
"They said my show was biased. They asked why we only showed students beaten by the police and not the other way around, "said Wong. "They created Facebook groups at events. It looks like a pretty standard procedure.
Hui was a student activist when she was in Hong Kong, with countless other young people inspired by leaders like Joshua Wong, who was only 17 at the time of the protests.
"It was the moment of rebirth," said Wong.
However, the pressure on Hong Kong and its quest for greater freedoms are only intensifying.
"It's like trying to fight the weather," said Wong. "What can you do, maybe you can bring an umbrella or a raincoat, but you can not scream in the sky and tell it to stop raining."
Read more
Hong Kong court sentences leaders of "Umbrella Movement"
The longest bridge in the world brings China even closer to Hong Kong. Not everyone is happy
It may be the worst assault ever against the rule of law in Hong Kong
Today's coverage of Swiss Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay informed about foreign news
[ad_2]
Source link