What binds Hongkongers?

From ChinaFile:

What binds Hongkongers as a human collective to speak truth to power?

Generations have experienced Hong Kong as a land of opportunities and refuge. The proposed extradition bill would discourage participation in the life of the city out of fear, thus shrinking the social connections and diverse cultural resources Hongkongers have used to forge distinctive identities, livelihoods, and lifestyles. This collective is now united to defend their cherished humanity.

The rapid erosion of “two systems” is given much attention. What about the “one country” side of the formula? China today is not the country that many Hongkongers and mainland Chinese pinned their hopes on back in the 1980s. Its authoritarian presence to mold society is felt in every aspect of life in China, tested in the jailing of Occupy Central activists in Hong Kong, and insinuated in different parts of the globe. The extradition bill enhances China’s power of calculated arrest and prosecution. Once adopted, an isolated Hong Kong could be the frontline of China’s global reach rather than a space for mediation. The world community must seriously reflect on this conceivable scenario.

“Hong Kong In Protest: A ChinaFile Conversation”, ChinaFile

Photograph by Studio Incendo via Flickr (cc)