Opinion | Here is where the next revolution may take place in Hong Kong
- Locking up troublemakers and throwing away the key would only breed revolutionaries
- Political reform that gives our young a sense of ownership must be part of the solution
I have no idea when and how this festering unrest in Hong Kong is going to end, but I do have an ominous inkling of where the next bout might begin.
All the mess is left to the city’s police, who have to bear the brunt of public anger. Once considered the pride of Hong Kong and the finest in Asia, the force is now a public enemy in the eyes of many. Trained and equipped to tackle law and order problems, they are now being used to resolve what is essentially a political crisis. Given growing public criticism of the police’s handling of the protests, the odds are stacked against them for a job many believe to be a fool’s errand.
There is no hope for compromise. Lam, after vanishing from public view for two weeks, called a press conference on Monday. She was not there to make a peace offer. Instead, the Hong Kong chief executive warned that the nature of the protests had changed: it was no longer a popular movement against her government or the now-abandoned bill, but a challenge to the principle of “one country, two systems” and national sovereignty.
A day later, Beijing had its own press conference and backed Lam in unequivocal terms.
