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Why are Hong Kong people protesting for democracy?

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  1. #1

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    Question Why are Hong Kong people protesting for democracy?

    I was asked: Why are Hong Kong people protesting for democracy?
    Before its handover from Britain to China,
    they were pretty satisfied the life without any democracy.
    Now, they have more democracy, and they want more?


  2. #2

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    Before the handover (17 years ago), there were plenty of calls for more democracy. The then governor, Patten, did try to increase levels of democratic participation through increasing the number of voters in the functional constituencies, but that was fiercely opposed by China.

    As for wanting "more democracy", part of the answer is that it is 17 years since 1997. Hong Kong now has a highly educated population, who are more than capable of choosing their own leaders. The ones being chosen for them at the moment are certainly not up to the job.


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    Drumbrake, Thanks for your reply, it helps my understanding, although it may not be quite convincing. Honestly, 17 yrs educational improvement after 1997 compared to 150 yrs before 1997 is not significant enough to make this argument.
    If it is still true, one should blame British government not providing high level education to HK before 1997. But in fact partially looking at many well established universities before 1997 in HK, it seems to me they did pretty good job in this field, which you may not agree. (my personal opinion)

    Last edited by songqsh; 05-10-2014 at 10:53 PM.
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    Plus they were promised it. Please don't forget that bit.

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    Hong Kong was highly educated before 1997 and wanted democracy. Look at the numbers in Hong Kong who demonstrated in support of the Beijing students in 1989. Hong Kong should have had full democracy decades ago. It didn't, but that is not a reason why it shouldn't have it now.

    My point about the 17 years is that there are students now who have grown up post handover, have no connection with Britain, and who are more than capable of deciding their own leaders.

    songqsh - what do you think? Are people in Hong Kong capable of choosing their own leaders?


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    Drumbrake, well, I fully agree with you. Surely, HK ppl have their capability, more importantly their right to choose their governor. You may misunderstood the question, it's all about the timing. HK should have their own democracy a decade ago, but why not two,three, or more decades ago?


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    I think the issue is more that hk people aren't happy with the influence beijing has now and realise that a pro beijing CE will make things even worse.

    Without a free vote in 2017 - and a CE that will prioritise the needs of hkers over the desires of rich mainlanders - hk will continue its decline into just another chinese city.

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    That makes sense to me.


  9. #9

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    There are other underlying factors causing widespread discontent as well, not just political ones. Lack of affordable housing, increasing disparity between the rich and the poor, rising costs of living, the decline of small businesses etc etc.


    Sent from my iPhone using GeoClicks

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  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by songqsh:
    Drumbrake, well, I fully agree with you. Surely, HK ppl have their capability, more importantly their right to choose their governor. You may misunderstood the question, it's all about the timing. HK should have their own democracy a decade ago, but why not two,three, or more decades ago?
    Good question. Why didn't Britain give Hong Kong full democracy decades ago?

    In the 1960s when Britain was granting many of its colonies independence, China was in turmoil (culture revolution) and that spilled over into Hong Kong with rioting in the late 1960s.
    I think during the 1970s and 1980s there was a mixture of British policy of status quo, and Chinese pressure not to allow much in the way of direct elections that prevented any democracy. So, I'd say that during those decades both Britain and China were to blame for stalling democratic development.
    During the first half of the 1990s there was movement towards more democracy with the 1995 elections the most democratic to that date. However, even this limited movement faced strong opposition from China. Since 1997, progress towards full democracy has been very slow.

    So, what you have is Hong Kong people never being consulted. Instead it was either Britain, or China, or a combination of Britain and China, deciding that Hong Kong should not be allowed to choose their own leaders.

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