Hong Kong: What's going to happen?

The Godless Chinese commies are gassing and greasing up their tanks as we speak. The Satanic forces of darkness are about to be unleashed on those that believe in freedom of thought and expression. Woe to those that believe Xi is a nice fellow.

Meanwhile tech giants Apple, Google, etc. will downplay any role they have in helping this evil regime suppress the truth and horror about to be let loose on those who oppose this authoritarian evil empire.

T.M.A.D.D.D.H.A.S.F.N.E.

.Trump2020OP-the real one........ wrote:

The Godless Chinese commies are gassing and greasing up their tanks as we speak. The Satanic forces of darkness are about to be unleashed on those that believe in freedom of thought and expression. Woe to those that believe Xi is a nice fellow.

Meanwhile tech giants Apple, Google, etc. will downplay any role they have in helping this evil regime suppress the truth and horror about to be let loose on those who oppose this authoritarian evil empire.

T.M.A.D.D.D.H.A.S.F.N.E.

So if Xi crushes the protests do you think Trump will say anything or impose consequences? No, he won't. Just as he turns a blind eye to Kim, Putin, the Crown Prince, and every other oppressor of freedom and democracy.

I guess this had to happen. This was just a matter of time.

Lots of Hongkong Chinese left before the country was given back to China in 1997.

This is not good of course but China is just relentless.

Lefty liberals always like to blame our wonderful President Trump for the woes in the world all the while he's the first leader in a long time to stand up to these repressive regimes by imposing economic sanctions that have had a substantial impact. He is also wiley in using the strategy of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Democrats seem to blame America first for almost everything that goes wrong in the world. Dems are ill-educated and if let back in power they would slowly lessen our freedoms with their socialist ideology and love of big government control. Yeah, admit it you lefties, you love the Chinese and all that green tea.

T.M.A.D.D.D.H.A.S.F.N.E.

Nothing major. It would be stupid for the government to use violence. The protests will eventually die down and things will go back to normal. Same as the yellow vest protests in France. There's nothing the Hong Kong people can do to stop the mainland government from taking away their freedoms. H.K is a small portion of the Chinese economy now and I don't think they're supported by the rest of the country. Not much they can do other than slow down the decline. People will either move away or accept their fate.

I've read that some radical conservatives--I'm conservative and a 2A supporter--believe that if a Dem is elected president all the guns would be taken away. That never happened under President Obama. Some claim that they'd be willing to fight the government.

However, the US Military is the best and most advanced in the world--and even a lightly armed guerilla force would be no match for them, even on US soil. The military learned its Vietnam lessons.

Born and raised in Beijing. Moved stateside at six; then relocated to Hong Kong early 30s. Now, couple years later, currently reside across the border in Shenzhen.

Personally, I think the current protest will peter out just like previous mass movements. There is a very powerful silent minority in HK that will prevent any meaningful systemic changes from happening - irrespective of any resistance from mainland China. The divide is along class and generational lines.

Due to the nature of my work, I was able to interact with many blue blood locals. I was shocked by how many of them were sympathetic to mainland concerns and even met several that were secretly Communist Party members. These ppl are the industrialists, finance guys, successful entrepreneurs with institutional/private mainland clients, factories in the Pearl River Delta, etc and overall, have powerful incentives to see a greater integration of Hong Kong to mainland China. Hong Kong's increasingly reductive, monopolistic economy, with finance and real estate as its main drivers, will mean these folks will remain in positions of power with their loyalty tempered by business interests.

Then you have older Hong Kong folks who still have family ties in Guangdong province and definitely see themselves as Chinese first and not, like many of the young protesters, Hong Kongers. They have historical and cultural sympathies to the mainland that are very different from the younger generation.

I was working in HK during the height of the 2014 protests, and while I was in full support of the issues, I was not impressed by the movement. I consider myself staunchly leftist (worked for a trade union straight out of college due to our efforts organizing university workers at UCLA), but some of the blatantly racist peripheral messages coming out of the movement against Mainlanders really turned me off. I had a conversation once with an otherwise sharp, local protestor (with an Aussie MBA) who told me, in support of an independent Hong Kong, that Hong Kongers and Mainlanders are genetically different because they can't squat the way that Mainlanders often do. I was shocked.

Such views on Hong Kong protest message boards are, to be fair, perhaps fringe, but is still very much visible and a huge stain on the movement. I don't understand how certain educated Hong Kong people, whose family most likely emigrated from neighboring Guangdong province across the border only two/three generations removed, could believe such drivel.

The current protest is big news sure, but the movement is structurally isolated. The mainland government knows this and will wait it out. I don't see a repeat of Tiananmen as the CCP and the PLA have greatly evolved thirty years on. What happened in 1989 showed Beijing's lack of experience in riot control by using regular military troops to quell protestors in an urban environment. You see troop movement across the border in Shenzhen now because the PLA garrison in Hong Kong is mainly comprised of regular soldiers in the armed forces. The troops amassing in Shenzhen are the PAP (People's Armed Police) - China's paramilitary police force specifically trained in riot control and have been deployed in places like Tibet and Xinjiang. Sure, the image of Chinese troops on Hong Kong streets will be a pretty sh@tty PR move, but I doubt it will be the bloodbath people make it out to be. There has been extensive formal exchanges between PAP forces and their European/US counterparts over the years, so I'm sure these guys have the knowledge and experience to deal with Hong Kong protestors short of major injuries or fatalities. Though admittedly, a pretty low standard.

Anyway, call me a pessimist, but I'll still be rooting for the protestors. Just don't tell me I squat different than them.

I live in Hong Kong island (I.e. not Kowloon nor DB). Did not see a demonstration so far. I saw a lot on the news but nothing personally there so far. I know it has happened but I escaped everything pretty easily. I did encounter a King Cobra going back from work last week, but nobody seemed to care. Go figure.

Anyway, my take is that we have 2 sides with very different objectives and it does not look like they want to talk. It will finish badly for one side of course. Pick your winner.