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if you support decolonization, you shouldn't oppose Hong Kong's reunification with China. The British Empire stole HK at gunpoint, used it as a base to inflict generations of misery upon the Chinese, and only gave it up contingent on the "one country two systems" policy. [THREAD] https://twitter.com/FT/status/1326344494837587968
the working class of Hong Kong would probably benefit significantly from abandoning the British-imposed regime and becoming "just another Chinese city". Hong Kong is the MOST EXPENSIVE CITY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD TO LIVE IN, with sky-high rent and poor career prospects.
compare the rate of homeownership between Hong Kong and mainland China:
before you express support for the Hong Kong "independence", consider which class has an economic incentive to resist reunification. wealthy landlords and real estate barons stand to lose from reunification and stand to gain from maintaining the status quo.
the story of the Hong Kong protests is a sad but familiar one...proletarian anger arising from the conditions imposed by the landowning elites was manipulated and redirected onto racial scapegoats, with a lot of help from the United States propaganda machine.
the protests were co-opted by provocateurs who would violently assault mainlanders or sometimes just anyone caught speaking Mandarin. here's a video of them burning a non-violent counterprotestor alive (TRIGGER WARNING) https://hksar.org/dfnzvm-hong-kong-man-set-on-fire-in-gruesome-act-police-call-attempted-murder
it sounds a lot like Trumpism because it is a lot like Trumpism. that's why the far right around the world felt affiliation with the protests. Joey Gibson of US cryptofascist "Patriot Prayer" group and members of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion both went to Hong Kong to take part.
the leaderless nature of the protests made it increasingly difficult for organizers to disavow and expel these bad actors. the US and British media, however, downplayed or ignored the violent and nativist aspects of the protests to a western audience.
the true antagonism of wealthy elites vs. disenfranchised workers was erased. instead, by keeping their audience ignorant of how HKers live and who oppresses them, the western media sold a misleading narrative of "pro-democratic" dissidents vs. the "authoritarian" Chinese state.
why go to such lengths? the United States has no hope of preventing reunification between Hong Kong and the mainland. instead, the US government uses the conflict to demonize China and manufacture OUR consent for a new cold war. Don't fall for it.
