Threatening freedoms provokes revolt

You don’t know how important your freedoms are until you start to lose them.

That’s what is behind the protests going on in Hong Kong.

In April the government in Mainland China passed an extradition bill that would allow officials to take persons suspected of crimes to court under Chinese government rules.

The former British colony has been operating under “one China, two systems,” allowing a great deal more freedom than residents of Mainland China are allowed. 

When Britain turned over the Hong Kong colony to China in 1997, it was with the understanding that the systems of government in place would continue. But last spring, residents there saw the new extradition law would take judicial authority away.

Protests were immediate, with up to a half million Hong Kong residents flooding the streets and literally bringing things to a standstill.

The Chinese government relented and withdrew the extradition law in September, but by then the protests had become violent, and protesters indicated they wanted more, holding out for a democratic government.

While I was in Hong Kong on one of my Far East trips, I had a conversation with a Chinese man who was lamenting that the colony was trying to impose an income tax. He stated that he was going to refuse to pay it.

I explained that we had an income tax in the United States and that if you refused to pay it you would be in trouble. I told him that this was the method we used to pay for government services.

He was still adamant about the proposed tax.

The case in point is that people rebel when what they consider their rights being taken away.

This is what happened in Hong Kong.

Under good leadership, and the right cause, it has become a major problem for Chinese officials.

The colony and New Territories is home for 7.5 million people. Hong Kong has been a major international city, allowing people to come and go without interference, with English just one of the many languages spoken.

It is difficult to imagine the Chinese government giving way to current protest demands.

This speaks to our own freedoms. You can only imagine, if the government would try to take away things we are used to, how much of an uprising you would see.