Tens of thousands in Hong Kong are spending the night occupying a major highway, demanding free and fair elections independent of Beijing’s influence. Beijing has responded with militarized police, and is censoring photos of the protests on social media.
Jesus christ!!!
the world is on fire
these kids are the future
Starting on Monday, thousands of university students in Hong Kong have been gathering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Tamar Park (outside the government offices) to protest the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China’s decision to restrict the right to vote...
I feel like very few, or at least not many of the people of tumblr are aware of what is going on in my home country Hong Kong right now.
You guys gave alot of coverage and support when Scotland was voting for its independance, so I’m hoping you’ll all support the people of Hong Kong as well.
Right now, many of us are in a mass demonstration of pro-democracy against China. But wait a sec, isn’t Hong Kong China? This is a big misconception amongst foreigners, but please, we are far from being similar to China at all.
A little history class: Hong Kong used to be colonized by the British, and before you white-knights begin going all “them damn white racist ppl taking over another asian country” please don’t. We are thankful Britain took us under its wing and instilled in us values that I feel made us what we are today; that is, a democratic people with respect for free speech, amongst many things.
On the other hand, China is communist, with government controlled media and news. Google, instagram, facebook and many tv shows are blocked in China. It really is just a few steps from North Korea imo.
So what’s the problem here? Britain unfortunately had to hand back Hong Kong to China, but one of the requirements is that Hong Kong be allowed to operate as ‘one country two systems’, meaning Hong Kong should be able to have its own democratic government. But China has broken its promise. A while back, China tried to put a mandatory ‘national education’ curriculum in all our primary schools. We all know what that is; a communist brainwashing regime. And now, they have announced that in 2017 Hong Kong will be able to vote for its president; BUT only from 3 candidates hand picked by its PRO-BEIJING legislation.
As you can see, China is trying to takeover completely and turn us into another communist state.
Of course, we have taken to the streets. In a mirror if the Tiananmen protests, students have also stepped up to fight for our rights and our future, albeit in a peaceful protest of course. But the police force who have always been a friend of the people, are now responding with force, something that had never been done before in Hong Kong.
First it was pepperspray, then teargas. Then, armed forces came in qith rubber bullets. They warn they will come out with live ammunition soon if we do not get off the streets but the people continue to sit tight, disrupting businesses China so strive to takeover and make use of. It’s been 2 days now, but the people plan to continue at least till 1st October or even beyond. The significance is that October 1st is China’s National day, not ours, Hong Kong has not been granted it’s own National day.
Please spread the news. This is a country we’re talking about. These are my people.
You can join this event to wear yellow in support of my people on October 1st.
You can also read a more detailed explanation of what’s going down here and watch a live feed here.
Just to add on- Hong Kong is one of the rare examples where it did kind of end up being better off under colonial rule. And before I get jumped on for being a neo-colonialist- I’m saying that as a person with Chinese ancestry whose great grandparents left China because of the accumulated poor situation caused by the Opium Wars and political strife in the early 1900s. Do not dichotomise conflicts outside the world as “White people oppressing POC”. Yes Chinese people have been victims at the hands of the British, then the Japanese- but today the Chinese government is culpable in corruption and human rights abuses- even against its own citizens in the mainland. There were thousands of disturbances last year in China over various issues like land grabs, corruption and pollution. The government has also been oppressing ethnic minorities like the Tibetans and Muslim Uighurs. What you see happening here in Hong Kong is another pattern in the behaviour of an authoritarian government that really needs to be held more accountable.
Yes, the Opium Wars fucked China up, but the Communists really ruined the country during the 1950s onwards with the disastrous Great Leap Forward. There was a horrible famine caused by state mismanagement- and by the end of it all, it’s estimated anywhere from 18 million to 45 million Chinese died. Far more than died in WW2. And then of course, the infamous Cultural Revolution where there were basically witch-hunts which just caused enormous upheaval and strife, where people were “outed” as “bourgeois” or capitalists or whatever and imprisoned, tortured and publicly humiliated. University students and professors were accused of being traitors. Even the Communist Party today acknowledges it was a complete disaster. While all of this was going on, by comparison, Hong Kong flourished under British rule.
The China you see today that is the world’s second largest economy is a product of Deng Xiaoping’s reform in the 1970s- which involved throwing out huge parts of the Communist economic policies to embrace capitalism- and putting a stop to the blind and rigid adherence to Communist ideology. Economically, China is in many ways very open to capitalism BUT politically, the government is pretty authoritarian still. And quite capable of oppression.
Do not lionise the Chinese government as this heroic “POC” country standing up to “white supremacy”, give them a free pass, or somehow think whatever they do cannot be as bad as Western imperialism. People with my skin colour are perfectly capable of oppression when they have institutional power. And they darned well better be called out for it.
^^^^ YES
![zkarl:
“ […]And on Sept. 29, in front of Hong Kong government headquarters, a remarkable scene took place. A young protester standing near a riot policeman was attacked, apparently unprovoked, with a bolt of pepper spray across the face and in the...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e37b86514e3a08b56d64274cb2a339b8/tumblr_ncqt4cmpSt1rn2llbo1_1280.jpg)
[…]And on Sept. 29, in front of Hong Kong government headquarters, a remarkable scene took place. A young protester standing near a riot policeman was attacked, apparently unprovoked, with a bolt of pepper spray across the face and in the eyes. He screamed out “We are unarmed, how can you attack us like that?”
Behind the helmet and face mask, the policeman’s expression could not be seen, but he seemed moved and said “I know, I know.” He beckoned the man over, turned around and retrieved his own water bottle, and proceeded to wash out the man’s stinging eyes.
Hong Kong Policemen Apologize
"The police officers that have been called upon to be Hong Kong’s shock troops—firing and tossing tear gas canisters into crowds of protesting students, and soaking them with pepper spray—have come forward recently to express their frustration and regret.
Tens of thousands of students continue to ambulate through Hong Kong’s central business district each night, as police attempt to contain and repel them. The students are protesting recent moves by Beijing to limit Hong Kong’s ability to hold independent elections.
“Once, I felt I was the luckiest person in the world, because I could fulfill two of my childhood dreams at the same time,” wrote Arnold Wai, a member of Hong Kong’s auxiliary police force, on Facebook, on the evening of Sept. 28. “Before, I was very proud when I personally brought criminals to justice,” he said.
“However, I just phoned my superior tonight, quitting this job. I don’t want to be a political tool for someone,” he wrote, in a post on Facebook that was widely shared among Hong Kong Internet users.
[…]
Eris, the goddess of discord
Ooh, oh this is from Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
here’s the wiki link…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad:_Legend_of_the_Seven_Seas
Michael Brown Jr. (May 20, 1996 – August 9, 2014)
We should make this the most reblogged image on Tumblr.
instead of a pissant supernatural kid, yes…let’s make this the most reblogged image on tumblr. Every time u see it, reblog without hesitation. No matter if u love or hate the person u reblog it from. We will never forget Michael Brown, no matter what happens.
I find the lack of Ferguson posts on my dash disturbing. Guys, DO NOT LET THIS DIE. Don’t let this be another Kony 2012 where we all just post and talk about it for a few days to make ourselves feel better. This is so important. A revolution is happening, keep the word alive, keep talking about it, keep doing EXACTLY what they don’t want us to do. Don’t succumb to complacency just because it isn’t directly affecting you at this moment.
