Xi Jinping’s hardline tactics have come up against the strong will of citizens who won local polls

Results of the district council elections in Hong Kong, which saw pro-democracy parties scoring a landslide victory, have dealt a severe blow to China in the perception war that it so convincingly wins. It may try to dismiss these local polls as inconsequential, considering these form the lowest political tier that is responsible for neighborhood issues like garbage collection and public transport. But because China allows these self-governance elections to be fully democratic unlike legislative elections, they become a barometer of the popular mood. One that ensured scrapping of an extradition law and will now push for release of political detainees and the removal of Chief Executive  Carrie Lam. No wonder she is making the right noises about an “open mind.”  Protests in the city-state are still making headlines across the world and China’s spinmasters are failing to contain news of police brutality leaking out. A British Consulate employee gave an interview to the BBC where he alleged that the Chinese authorities had tortured him. And when the city’s riot police surrounded the Polytechnic University, images of students trying to escape from barricades went viral. Worse still, the continuing impact of events over there is not just hurting China’s image in the West, it is impacting Chinese investment plans. Global leaders, too, are watching the news and are not liking what they see. As it is, China’s Belt and Road Initiative is facing huge problems as nations across the world realise how it is trying to strangulate them economically by trapping them in debt. The Hong Kong crisis in the middle of all this is, therefore, egg on Xi Jinping’s face.

Even if Hong Kongers may not consider themselves fully Chinese, they are, as the authorities keep reminding us, citizens of the People’s Republic of China. Xi’s attitude towards their problems sounds similar to those leaders of the Communist Party of China, who led the nation into the Tiananmen Square debacle. He needs to learn from the attitude of Deng Xiaoping and his immediate successors that led China towards the path of immense growth and helped lift millions out of poverty. He harks back to history and wants China to retain its stature as the “Middle Kingdom” between heaven and earth. But his current attitude is leading to a war-like situation. That’s not good for either China or the world.

(Courtesy:  The Pioneer)

Xi Jinping’s hardline tactics have come up against the strong will of citizens who won local polls

Results of the district council elections in Hong Kong, which saw pro-democracy parties scoring a landslide victory, have dealt a severe blow to China in the perception war that it so convincingly wins. It may try to dismiss these local polls as inconsequential, considering these form the lowest political tier that is responsible for neighborhood issues like garbage collection and public transport. But because China allows these self-governance elections to be fully democratic unlike legislative elections, they become a barometer of the popular mood. One that ensured scrapping of an extradition law and will now push for release of political detainees and the removal of Chief Executive  Carrie Lam. No wonder she is making the right noises about an “open mind.”  Protests in the city-state are still making headlines across the world and China’s spinmasters are failing to contain news of police brutality leaking out. A British Consulate employee gave an interview to the BBC where he alleged that the Chinese authorities had tortured him. And when the city’s riot police surrounded the Polytechnic University, images of students trying to escape from barricades went viral. Worse still, the continuing impact of events over there is not just hurting China’s image in the West, it is impacting Chinese investment plans. Global leaders, too, are watching the news and are not liking what they see. As it is, China’s Belt and Road Initiative is facing huge problems as nations across the world realise how it is trying to strangulate them economically by trapping them in debt. The Hong Kong crisis in the middle of all this is, therefore, egg on Xi Jinping’s face.

Even if Hong Kongers may not consider themselves fully Chinese, they are, as the authorities keep reminding us, citizens of the People’s Republic of China. Xi’s attitude towards their problems sounds similar to those leaders of the Communist Party of China, who led the nation into the Tiananmen Square debacle. He needs to learn from the attitude of Deng Xiaoping and his immediate successors that led China towards the path of immense growth and helped lift millions out of poverty. He harks back to history and wants China to retain its stature as the “Middle Kingdom” between heaven and earth. But his current attitude is leading to a war-like situation. That’s not good for either China or the world.

(Courtesy:  The Pioneer)