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Ronin posted an update 6 years, 8 months ago
Well, this was a VERY interesting read:
“Hong Kong is a classic, fifty-year controlled social experiment, a Trial Spot, and the PRC will not crack down on the protests because that would ruin an experiment before it reaches halfway. If, by 2047, Hong Kong becomes the best city in China with a better living standard than other Chinese cities, Beijing will copy Hong Kong wholesale across China and, if it is found that is the secret of Hong Kong’s success, will require all judges to hold foreign citizenship.”
The Giza Forum (Legacy)
Closed Archive of The Old Forum
“…But Hong Kong’s population went from five million to seven million and all hell broke loose! Yet Hong Kong controls its own territory, its own population, its own businesses, its own laws, and doesn’t even pay taxes, not a cent, while Shanghai pays enough taxes to support forty percent of China! That’s why Shanghai is the “Lady of the House” and Hong Kong is the “High-Maintenance Girlfriend.” After twenty-two years of marriage, she still acts superior, complains about everything, expects you to pay for everything, and keeps talking about her previous boyfriend…”
Hong Kong is like Singapore, they both have “very old” Chinese money. Stand on the main street in Singapore and you will see more Rolls Royce’, Porsche’, Lambos and exotic cars by the dozen.
The UNZ article is very interesting; but what it says about HK is complete nonsense. The essential point to grasp is that HK is not China. In 1997, HK did not suddenly become part of China again. HK has been a separate jurisdiction from China since 1841, and remains so to this day. There is a physical border between HK and the PRC. HK has its own immigration, customs, passports, currency, police, courts/judiciary, legislature, etc, etc, etc. Essentially, all that happened in 1997 was that the sovereign changed from UK to PRC.
Not surprisingly, in the years since 1841, the Chinese in HK became different from Mainland Chinese. The vast majority of Chinese living in HK today (or their forebears) went to HK to escape communist China and think of themselves as HKers, not Chinese.
However, HK’s separateness has been systematically eroded since 1997. Slowly at first, but the pace has quickened under Xi.
The problem for the PRC is the risk that the unrest in HK spreads over the border. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cannot run that risk. If the situation is out of control before 2047, the CCP will not hesitate to take day-to-day control of HK. Freedom of speech is already history. Elections are rigged, the “government” is corrupt, the courts are politicized and corrupt. The Mainland will not become more like HK. HK will become more like the Mainland.