HONG KONG IS BOILING.
If you look closely at the Hong Kong protests, you’ll see flashes of red, white, and blue, and hear battle cries that were first proclaimed in Boston in the 1700s and then again in Alabama in the 1960s. America and our freedom have, in part, inspired the Hong Kong protestors to fight for their own freedom.
But why has America become a symbol of hope for the Hong Kong protestors? To understand that, we must first understand their fight.
In 1997, after decades under British rule, Britain relinquished control of Hong Kong back to China. But the change in government was unique. Hong Kong is technically a part of China, but it has a semi-autonomous government, its own set of laws, and its own currency. The relationship between Hong Kong and China is defined as “One Country, Two Systems,” and it’s been a tumultuous—but prosperous—relationship for both countries. Today, the Hong Kong and Chinese economies are among the most influential in the world.
But wealth is a poor substitute for freedom.
Since 1997, Hong Kong residents have fought many battles to expand the individual rights of the Hong Kong people and to limit the control China wields over their city. Political turmoil is nothing new to Hong Kong, but in early 2019, when Hong Kong’s Chief Executive attempted to pass a bill that would allow extradition of Hong Kong residents to China for criminal prosecution, the turmoil became a war.
The Chinese justice system is an oxymoron, so the prospect of extradition to mainland communist China could literally be a death sentence for many Hong Kong residents.
For months, millions of protestors filled the streets demanding that the extradition bill be killed. But Hong Kong’s leadership fought to keep the bill alive while the city’s police force battled the protestors. Eventually Hong Kong’s leaders abandoned the extradition bill, but the movement that it started has become a war for Hong Kong’s liberty.
Today, protestors are fighting for universal suffrage and the right to have a voice in the direction of their city, and they’re using the U.S. flag—and the liberties and rights that it stands for—as their banner.
America isn’t perfect, but our country is the shining city on a hill for the world, and we have striven to make our country better and fight any threat to our rights with conviction.
There are differences between America’s founding and the protestors’ fight for liberty. But there are many more similarities. America’s founding fathers were willing to risk their livelihoods and lives for the freedom of their country—Hong Kong’s protestors are no different. The fact that America is inspiring others around the world to fight for their liberty is special, and should not be overlooked by Americans living in the freest and most prosperous country in the history of the world.
Hong Kong will change, and only time will tell whether that change will be toward or away from liberty. It’s an honor to be, even symbolically, part of their fight.