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China withdraws extradition bill that sparked Hong Kong protests

The Hong Kong government today announced that it is withdrawing the extradition bill demanded by China that sparked Hong Kong protests.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Wednesday that the government would withdraw a contentious extradition bill that ignited months of protests in the city, moving to quell the worst political crisis since the former British colony returned to Chinese control 22 years ago.

The move eliminates a major objection among protesters, but it was unclear if it would be enough to bring an end to intensifying demonstrations, which are now driven by multiple grievances with the government.

“Incidents over these past two months have shocked and saddened Hong Kong people,” she said in an eight-minute televised statement broadcast shortly before 6 p.m. “We are all very anxious about Hong Kong, our home. We all hope to find a way out of the current impasse and unsettling times.”

Her decision comes as the protests near their three-month mark and show little sign of abating, roiling a city known for its orderliness and hurting its economy.

The article suggests that the protests will still go on, that the “genie is out of the bottle.” I am not so sure.

Regardless, what this means is that, as of now, China is admitting that its effort to eliminate Hong Kong’s democratic systems and fold it completely into the communist power structure of the mainland has failed. This does not mean that China will stop trying, merely that they will now pause in this effort.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

4 comments

  • m d mill

    It does seem that if you stay resolute China will eventually back down, when it is in the wrong.
    But that kind of resolution is rare in the world today, especially from liberals who seem to think that when the U.S.(which is always in the wrong) backs down it is some kind of virtue.

  • Phill O

    Here are some insights from a friend, whom I tend to agree with on many issues:

    “The world can thank President Trump.

    I have no idea what – if anything – was said beyond his public statements that “it would be bad for Beijing to resort to violence”. But those words were enough. The Chinese knew Trump would have to respond to Tiananmen-like incident, and his only practical option would be to sanction (stop) trade with Communist China. That would put them in the same international piranha category as Iran; meaning any company that did business with China would no longer be allowed to do business here.

    And following reports of protesters being killed and Trump taking action to cut off trade, it would be enormously popular in the US. It would guarantee Trump’s reelection.

    Of course, it’s yet to be seen whether the protesters will leave the streets. But my guess is this will have turned out to be a very important day.”

  • wayne

    People’s Republic of China
    > Body Count: 73,237,000 <
    1949-Present (57+ years and counting)
    "R.J. Rummel originally estimated China's body count between the years of 1949-1987 to be 35,236,000 (Rummel 1994). This excluded 38,000,000 million that died of famine during the Great Leap Forward. After the release of Mao: The Unknown Story, Rummel became convinced that the Chinese government was directly responsible for the famine, thus increasing his original estimate by 38,000,000 (Rummel 2005). 1,000 was added for Tienanmen Square in 1989 (Courtois 1999)."

  • Cotour

    This is rich.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/coming-soon-in-china-social-credit-for-companies-too-11568713871

    The Communist Chinese government who steals technology and everything else with abandon will be instituting a corporate monitoring system along with the social rating system for companys that do business within China.

    You will be “good”, or else.

    Know the game, play the game, win the game. And when America allows China to make all the rules, then China wins the game.

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