Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/25/from-292-seats-to-60.html
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From the same paper/edition, an opinion:
“Beijing, which requires patriots to form most of the city establishment, is understandably worried by the outcome. It needs to fully appreciate the underlying issues and also adjust its policies as appropriate. The vote should not be seen as the public seeking to break away from China, but it does reflect worries and dissatisfaction with the way “one country, two systems” is implemented. It is up to Beijing to make use of the carrots and sticks it has in shaping the city’s development. But an approach that reflects majority wishes will go a long way in winning support and fostering stability and prosperity.”
Lets see what these “patriots” do in the coming days and weeks:
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Hey, United States voters…take notice.
You want change? Show up and fucking vote!
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Is there any reason why boingboing keeps making posts about the Hong Kong protests and not the Chilean protests? Both protests are notable, and obviously you can’t post about everything, but it’s weird that one has been reported on since its inception and the other hasn’t received any mention. To be fair, the mainstream media is doing the same, but it’s not as if that decides what you post about.
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It’s just they figure Hong Kong generates a greater level of interest among Americans. It’s logical: More people here do business with HK than with Chile. What happens in HK has much more effect on world markets and stocks. More people of Asian descent here than people of Chilean descent.
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The government in Beijing cares about power and control, and nothing else. The apparent electoral victory in Hong Kong is a heartwarming story but in reality it’s just the doorway to another Tiananmen Square.
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The results come as a shock to Beijing.
They’re having their King George moment, although that’s no guarantee this will end with independence for pro-democracy forces.
The change in local governments means that beleaguered city executive Carrie Lam will struggle to get her agenda through council and will find her situation even more precarious
I’m sure we’re all feeling sorry for this lackey. If I were her I’d have my go-bag ready and whatever millions I skimmed already squirreled away in several off-shore banks, because the pickle she finds herself isn’t unprecedented.
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I just want to say that we were recently had (are still having?) a conversation about choosing not to vote as a form of protest in another topic. This right here is why you vote. All predictions that your vote won’t count are based on this time being the same as last time. The future resembles the past right up until the point it doesn’t, and no one knows when that point is coming.
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I read this news late last night and i’m pretty elated. There’s still plenty to be cautious about for the pro-democracy folks in HK, who knows what new ways China will devise to strong arm its will onto the area but for now i hope this win will re-invigorate the protesters into keeping up what they’re doing.
To the international community/leaders. What the fuck are you doing about this and the Uighur Muslims?
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China’s influence on a global scale?
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This. Even when the election is rigged turning out in sufficient numbers can still bring change because there are limits to how much insiders can manipulate the votes if they still want to maintain even the thinnest veneer of a legitimate election.
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I’m from Venezuela and i empathize with what’s going on in Chile. That being said what China is doing to its own citizens is on a totally different scale of magnitude, and they are trying very hard to export their methods to other countries. But yes i think Chile deserves attention and BB should talk about it to educate everyone, i am occasionally frustrated over how BB reports about international news although i appreciate the diversity in things the site posts. When they do speak about Venezuela it is often incorrect on some levels so i try to re-contextualize with what i know.
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While we can. I’ll do what I can with my vote, but after the 2016 meddling and lack of any motivation of the “winning side” working to fix it so it can’t happen again, I don’t have strong faith that our democracy isn’t already terminally compromised. I guess we will see. The other thing to take notice of is flooding into the streets to protest.
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A rare example of “good news.”
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The results come as a shock to Beijing.
They really believed that HK would be easily folded into the PRC in a generation. The fact that young people which have grown up in “one state, two systems” are even less supportive of integration than their parents should give them pause. As a dress rehearsal for Taiwan this has been an UTTER failure. Despite the difficulty that they are having integrating HK, Tibet, and other regions into the PRC, they are doubling down on their agenda that any place that was at one time ruled by the middle kingdom MUST be part of the PRC. My fear is that they will draw the conclusion that tougher measures, like those being used on the Uighurs, Tibetans, and others will be required. And make no mistake, they absolutely will do that if the unrest in HK threatens to spread.
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Is there a “disappointed in BoingBoing BBS” list ?
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I think it also helps/hurts that Hong Kong is somebody else’s problem, but from Chile’s pesrpective, the U.S. is Beijing.
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This very concept is idiotic. This kind of “protest” is self-destructive because it plays right into the hand of the worst of the candidates. The Republinazis would LOVE it if lots and lots and lots of Dumbocraps “protested” like this, so the election would be entirely decided by their hard-core Neanderthal thug supporters. They’d love to have a handful of voters in Kansas carry the election and spare them the expense of having to hire KGB hackers this time around.
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Great news for the people of HK, very happy for them. As a sidenote though, there are far better news sources to link to on this issue. SCMP has been essentially a CPC mouthpiece for a while. They’re not as overt about it as several others, and still have a few reporters with integrity on the staff, but they were bought over by Beijing-friendly money years ago.
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Sources inside mainland Chinese news organisations have reportedly said that stories about a victory for pro-Beijing parties were written in advance:
(thread)
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