Hong Kong Protests Continue in Full Force
Jose Nino
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ZeroHedge reports that citizens of Hong Kong have been out in the streets protesting an extradition bill put forward by City Executive Carrie Lam.
This bill, the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019, which was introduced on February 2019, would have made it easier to transfer fugitives to Mainland China and subject them to Chinese law.
Many of the demonstrators worried about the increased risk of Hong Kong citizens and foreign nationals passing through the city being shipped off to mainland China, where they would stand trial in Chinese courts.
Some analysts such as Agnes Chow argued that if this bill were to pass, Hong Kong “will be over.”
Lam actually yielded to the pressure and has suspended the extradition bill indefinitely. However, there is reason to believe that this bill will be making a comeback in the near feature. There is tremendous pressure from China to ram this bill through, which could put Hong Kong independence in jeopardy.
Despite Lam’s concession on Saturday, June 15, 2019, protestors continued to come out in force. On Sunday, 2 million people marched in protest demanding that Lam resign for introducing such a bill.
Since Hong Kong’s sovereignty was handed over to China in 1997, it has maintained considerable autonomy in economic and political affairs. In fact, it is ranked as the world’s freest economy according to the Heritage Foundation’s 2019 Index of Economic freedom.
However, the Beijing regime has always had plans of fully incorporating Hong Kong into its political system and turning into an appendage of the Chinese state.
Under Xi Jinping’s regime, China has undergone a politician transformation featuring some of the most advanced censorship schemes in human history. In efforts to consolidate his rule, Xi is cracking down on dissent and trying to put autonomous regions like Hong Kong under his thumb.
Should China succeed, Hong Kong could lose its vaunted status as one of the freest regions in the globe.
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