Hong Kong

[rain_gryphon]

To my great surprise, it looks as though the d̶e̶m̶o̶c̶r̶a̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶e̶l̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶g̶o̶v̶e̶r̶n̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶H̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶K̶o̶n̶g̶ Chinese government has backed down on that extradition treaty. That seems an unusually secure act for them, the type of thing that a government who are certain of their control of the situation would do. I had expected them to insist on letting it expire with the end of the current legislative session without ever actually withdrawing it, then end up angry and frustrated and intensely paranoid because the opposition (angry, frustrated, and paranoid themselves, with much better reason) wouldn't accept that as a magnanimous gesture of goodwill.

I tend to wonder if Trump had something to do with that. He and Xi seem to be able to talk pretty freely.

In general, I admire the Chinese, but honest to God they can behave like self-destructive jackasses when there's even a hint that their sovereignty or judgement might be questioned.

Comments

[rain_gryphon]

Edit: Or not. Initial report was apparently wrong.

[gremy.livejournal.com]

I don't care much for mainland China, but I do have a bit of an affinity for Hong Kong since it's consistently rated as the most economically-free (pseudo) country in the world.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

Well, the initial report was wrong anyway. They're gonna just let it time out.

[allaboutweather.livejournal.com]

Until 2047 when the 50-year guarantee of "one country, two systems" expires... not that Beijing haven't already tried skirting that or anything.

[gremy.livejournal.com]

Yeah...why hasn't communism fallen in China yet, exactly?