Democracy in China? | Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Claudia Rosett
3rd October 2014 - The Weekly Standard -
The People of Hong Kong want a real say
Should it matter to the rest of us that Hong Kong has erupted this past week with demonstrations for democracy? China’s rulers say this is an internal matter. Western leaders, while expressing concern, seem inclined to agree.
In the streets of Hong Kong, tear gas and arrests have not stopped the protests; they have fueled them. The growing turnout has raised the specter of China’s Tiananmen Square uprising 25 years ago, and its grim suppression with the bloodshed of June 4, 1989. Many are warning that Hong Kong’s bid for its basic rights cannot end well.
Let us set aside for a moment the temptation to second-guess the tactics of Hong Kong’s democrats. It is important to understand what’s at stake. For 25 years, the world has admired the photo of a lone man standing up to a column of tanks in Beijing. Different time, different place, and a new cast of characters. But fundamentally, this is the same confrontation. The desire for democratic rights is again colliding in the streets with the interests of China’s powerful dictatorship.
China will draw fresh lessons from how this shakes out. So will China’s fellow tyrannies around the globe. Hong Kong is protected—at least in theory—under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration
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