This is not Hong Kong anymore

Not Hong Kong any more?


Effective 1997 during the hand over Hong Kong to China, the territory begins to change if you are an optimist or started to die slowly if you are a pessimist.

One country, Two systems is just the euphemism of making Hong Kong become like Southern China taken over a long time frame, long by the political calendar and not the historical one.

A similar but more positive change is also happening to Singapore. We are changing from a regional node to a global city.

This is the fate of city states, i.e., they keep changing constantly to stay relevant. Beijing wants Hong Kong to be relevant to China and then the world. On the other hand, Hong Kong wants to be left alone and be globally relevant on her own terms. This is a affront to Chinese sovereignty and will not be tolerated as China rises.

These young Hong Kong people are naive. They are using western methods against an authoritarian government in Beijing. It doesn't work. On the other hand they mustn't take Beijing reneging on universal suffrage by 2017 quietly.

What does China fear most about Hong Kong? Twenty years ago they had much to fear especially when she wasn't even a member of the WTO. Today you have little leverage against Beijing. Now Beijing not so much fear but is most worried that the best and brightest of Hong Kong leave.

The Hong Kong you people love is going away and never coming back. The China that is coming isn't one you can live with. You have chosen not to leave quietly but I am sure eventually you will realize you can't do much except make a new home somewhere else. After all it is not Hong Kong anymore.

Perhaps you once thought you could make China like Hong Kong but you never succeeded selling this to China's leaders. They couldn't get as rich or as quickly on the Hong Kong formula. China never learned from Singapore how to be incorruptible either. Like everywhere else its leaders are selfish and power hungry.

Hong Kong is an after thought or a pawn in Beijing power play that is getting less and less important to them. Compared to the courage and genius Deng came up with One country, Two systems, Hongkongers never realize Beijing took the laziest way out over the 2017 universal suffrage issue. Of course it won't work.