{"id":21192,"date":"2019-09-14T18:05:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T10:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=21192"},"modified":"2019-09-15T00:59:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T16:59:05","slug":"is-the-us-behind-hong-kongs-protest-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2019\/09\/14\/21192\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the US behind Hong Kong\u2019s protest movement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese regime\u2019s propaganda is riddled with contradictions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info<\/p>\n

Since Hong Kong\u2019s mass revolt erupted in June, the Chinese dictatorship (CCP) has pumped out propaganda about a \u2018colour revolution\u2019 fomented by the US and other western actors. This is straight from the CCP playbook. The aim is to mobilise nationalist sentiment to support state repression while at the same time putting protesters, foreign media and governments on the defensive.<\/p>\n

Internationally there also some \u2018lefts\u2019, mostly with a Stalinist outlook, who parrot Beijing\u2019s line. Mass protests two years ago in more than 100 Iranian cities against the dictatorship in Teheran were also dismissed by these groups as a \u201cUS backed\u201d movement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

These social media warriors are now among the most ardent defenders of police brutality in Hong Kong. \u201cPolice in America are much worse\u201d, they say. We agree up to a point, but genuine socialists are consistent. We oppose police violence in Ferguson, in Paris, and in Sheung Wan.<\/p>\n

Those who subscribe to the colour revolution scenario focus a lot on the role of pan-democratic politicians like Joshua Wong, Martin Lee, and media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-Ying, who all have connections with the right-wing political establishment in the US. But these political figures did not initiate the current mass movement and the truth is they\u2019ve been side-lined by the more militant youth since the beginning of the movement. One of the reasons the current Hong Kong movement is \u2018leaderless\u2019 \u2013 which is problematic as the struggle becomes more complex and drawn out \u2013 is precisely because of the backlash against the timid and compromising \u2018leadership\u2019 of the pan-democrats in the past.<\/p>\n

Fairy stories<\/strong><\/p>\n

We can see the CCP\u2019s \u2018colour revolution\u2019 narrative is false because the regime itself doesn\u2019t believe it. If they really believed Trump was trying to stage regime change in Hong Kong, as a first step to unseating the CCP in China, why is Beijing still discussing how much soya to import, and which parts of China\u2019s financial sector it will allow Wall Street companies to take over?<\/p>\n

This is what they\u2019re discussing in the two countries\u2019 stop-go trade negotiations. You don\u2019t negotiate on this stuff with a foreign power that you seriously believe is conducting a covert war (colour revolution) inside your territory.<\/p>\n

Read more \u27b5 China\u2019s ultra-repressive agenda is fomenting revolution<\/a><\/h5>\n

Last week, Beijing and Washington agreed the stalled trade talks would resume in early October. The timing is highly significant as the talks were originally supposed to take place in September. The delay is a peace gesture by Trump\u2019s administration to push the talks back so they don\u2019t interfere with Xi Jinping\u2019s plans for a massive, nationalistic and militaristic celebration of Chinese power on 1 October, the 70th anniversary of the CCP coming to power.<\/p>\n

This is not just about honouring history. For Xi, who is under mounting pressure within the regime, and whose \u2018strongman\u2019 mantle has been dented by several setbacks including Hong Kong\u2019s protests, the 70th anniversary pageantry is a badly needed nationalistic vitamin shot. This aims to strengthen the regime that is repressing Hong Kong. The US wouldn\u2019t go along with this timetable if it really wanted to mess with China over Hong Kong. But it only wants to mess with China over soya and financial deregulation \u2013 there\u2019s a big difference.<\/p>\n

Young \u2018Maoists\u2019 persecuted<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CCP regime uses the \u2018foreign agents\u2019 bogey every time it faces a significant political challenge. The Jasic Support Group, which suffered brutal repression, arrests and disappearances last year, for campaigning in support of trade union rights for factory workers in Shenzhen, was also accused in China\u2019s state-controlled media of being financed and manipulated by foreign forces.<\/p>\n

The youth involved in the Jasic campaign were mostly \u2018Maoists\u2019 and other left wingers, and some had a degree of illusions in Xi\u2019s regime. Nevertheless, after months in detention under conditions we can barely comprehend, they \u2018confessed\u2019 in forced video confessions to trying to \u201coverthrow\u201d the CCP and being manipulated by \u201cforeign forces fixated with China\u2019s bad side\u201d. It is worth repeating: These are \u2018Maoists\u2019. The idea they were acting in league with Trump or Britain\u2019s MI6 is ludicrous. But under torture you can get people to confess to the most fantastic crimes.<\/p>\n

The truth is that the US, Britain and other Western powers have no interest in supporting democratic or workers\u2019 rights in China and Hong Kong. Their sole focus is to fight for their imperialist economic interests, the biggest possible share of global markets for their banks and big companies.<\/p>\n

Because the global crisis of capitalism means the economic \u2018cake\u2019 is not getting bigger this brings these governments increasingly into conflict with China. This is the basis for the trade war and also explains why some of these governments make more noise today over what\u2019s happening in Hong Kong than they did five years ago. But this doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019ve changed their standpoint and are now on the side of the protests. It\u2019s still a diplomatic chess game with Hong Kong\u2019s protest movement seen as a possible pawn by Washington and to a lesser extent by London.<\/p>\n

Britain and the US<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five years ago at the time of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong the UK Foreign Office issued a statement saying China\u2019s proposed election reform offered a \u201cgenuine choice\u201d. This refers to the CCP\u2019s infamous \u2018831\u2019 ruling, which stipulated that only candidates approved by the dictatorship could compete for the post of Chief Executive.<\/p>\n

Read more \u27b5 Five years since notorious \u2018831\u2019 ruling<\/a><\/h5>\n

The then Conservative Party foreign minister Hugo Swire conceded that \u201cproper democracy\u201d was not on the table in Hong Kong, but said Beijing\u2019s offer was \u201cbetter than nothing\u201d. This pro-CCP line was dictated by the British government\u2019s desperate hope for Chinese capital to invest in Britain\u2019s rail, nuclear and financial sectors.<\/p>\n

The US position is similar. When former US Consul General Kurt Tong gave his farewell speech to Hong Kong on July 2, he said the US government was \u201cdisappointed\u201d to see violence and vandalism by protesters. Tong, the senior US official in Hong Kong, praised Chief Executive Carrie Lam\u2019s apology as \u201cvery sincere\u201d (this was two months before Lam made her tactical concession to withdraw the extradition law).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the best thing going forward is to communicate sincerely and for everyone to talk to one another,\u201d Tong said. This is hardly a rallying call to support the mass protests.<\/p>\n

Tong\u2019s boss, Donald Trump, has made even more Beijing-friendly statements, calling the Hong Kong protesters \u201crioters\u201d and declaring the crisis to be an \u201cinternal matter\u201d for the Chinese dictatorship. This is consistent with Trump\u2019s longstanding position as an admirer of authoritarian regimes (Putin, Kim Jong Un, al-Sissi). On the subject of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, Trump also said the workers and students were engaged in a \u201criot\u201d and praised Xi Jinping\u2019s predecessors for the way they handled the crackdown:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength… That shows you the power of strength.\u201d [Playboy, Donald Trump interview, March 1990]<\/p>\n

In the current situation, the Trump administration is primarily and cynically concerned with reaching a trade deal with China before the 2020 elections. Hong Kong and its incredible protest movement are therefore just small change in their eyes.<\/p>\n

Still, a few misguided Hong Kong youths continue to bring British and US flags to demos, probably unaware they are the victims of a political hoax.<\/p>\n

Read more \u27b5 Is the US promoting a \u201ccolour revolution\u201d in Hong Kong?<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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