Sitting on the Tarmac and Pondering the Future of Hong Kong

Apologies for the long lag in posts - it's not for lack of desire to update everyone!  But it was a hectic week last week as I ended up going to Beijing for a last minute business trip (then getting stranded for an extra day because my return flight was canceled and I had to make my return flight work around an important call that I had).  I wrote this blog post while sitting on the tarmac in the Hong Kong airport, about to head to Beijing on Wednesday night, the day Hong Kong erupted in one of the largest day of protests of recent times. 

I had great intentions to post it, but while in Beijing, the censors slow down the internet so much that it is a real pain to blog, especially because blogger, google, whatsapp, etc. don't really work.  I also hesitated to publish the post while there - it seemed a bit like poking the bear in his native habitat, which, while I have no delusions that the long arm can reach me in Hong Kong, felt a bit too cavalier in light of the seriousness of the recent political events.

Since I wrote this post last Wednesday, the protesters in Hong Kong were successful in repudiating the vote.  The chief executive of Hong Kong has pulled back the extradition bill and issued an apology.  However, despite the retraction, there was yet another protest this past Sunday - perhaps the biggest one yet - demanding her resignation and many other reforms.  I will cover this in another post, as Michael, Lola and I unwittingly found ourselves smack dab in the epicenter of the protest march!

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Hong Kong has been in the media spotlight for its demonstrations and protests for the first time since the umbrella movement in 2014.  I can’t believe that all took place nearly five years ago.  Seeing the metal barricades, the battalions of Hong Kong police, and most of all, the crowd equipped with goggles, face masks, plastic wrap and posters flooding into the streets near the Hong Kong legislative offices, brings back all of those memories.  My office building is situated right in the heart of all of the action.  It looks very sensational on the news but in practice it feels very routine.

The first big protest took place this past weekend, on Sunday June 9, due to the pending extradition law that would allow the transfer of fugitives to mainland China.  Today, June 12, was expected to be a very tumultuous day because the Hong Kong legislature was due to have a second reading on the bill mid-morning.  As of this afternoon, the protestors succeeded in preventing the government representatives from meeting, effectively postponing it.  Many large institutions situated in Admiralty and Central, like HSBC and Standard Chartered, had already issued notices last night to their employees to work from home today.  Our office sent out a message right after lunch on the day, asking everyone to go home due to the uncertainty of transportation options to get home.  I missed it because I was at the airport preparing to depart for my flight to Beijing.

I am now sitting on the tarmac in Hong Kong, and have been for the past two hours, and likely will for another two hours, in the familiar purgatory of any Beijing-bound traveler: completely subject to the merciless whim of the Chinese Communist Party.  We were already about half an hour delayed (not surprising at all) when our pilot came on with the dreaded announcement: after a lot of negotiating with the air traffic controller in Beijing, our flight would be delayed for another 2 hours.  Honestly, I would not be at all surprised if this were related to the huge protests that are taking place concurrently - perhaps Beijing is mad and seeking its vengeance in any shape or form!

Only time will tell how successful the Hong Kong people will be in this latest development.  This appears to be one of the many slow and steady encroachments on Hong Kong's independence, well ahead of the agreed handover date. I see it as a very troubling indication of its future, and a perfect example of China's classic behavior:  slow, steady encroachments to push beyond permissible boundaries - if they misjudge and push too hard, then they retreat but have lost no ground; but if they judge correctly or are lucky, then they have won an important victory and are closer to domination.   

The chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, has been getting a ton of criticism and flak for her role in supporting the extradition bill.  I find her excuses for needing this extradition bill extraordinarily flimsy.  She used the example of the murder case earlier this year: a man accused of killing his girlfriend in Taiwan, who then fled to Hong Kong.  Taiwan has come out in no uncertain terms that they would not sign any extradition treaties with Hong Kong if it has any potential knock on effects for Taiwan's own principles of sovereignty/policies (another much more complicated and ongoing skirmish), so I fail to see how this extradition bill addresses what it purports to fix.  I don’t know if Lam will change her stance, but so far her position has been to stand firm and insist that the extradition bill must be passed.  People largely believe she is in the pocket of the Communist Party and essentially a puppet.  Latest news reports are that she has been getting death threats.

Interestingly, just last night I went to a fundraising event for the Asian Women’s University, an all-women’s university based in Chittagong, Bangladesh, with one of the most diverse student bodies in the world.  Some of the recent graduates were present, representing their home countries of Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam… I found it so inspirational.  I had heard about some issues/infighting with the establishment and administration of the university, but I found it easy to forget all of that in light of the eloquent words of gratitude that these young women expressed for the independence, knowledge and freedom that their education provided to them. 

I mention this because the honorary speaker at the event was none other than Carrie Lam!  All of the attendees, myself included, were speculating whether she would actually show up.  There was a formidable security team (likely especially now, given all of the heightened tensions) but they managed to blend in very subtly with all the other suit-wearing male attendees.  But, to her credit, Carrie Lam did attend.  She gave a speech about being a civil servant (albeit quite mechanical and rote).  She apparently was born into a very average family in Hong Kong but was the lucky beneficiary of a good education.  She has been in the public service of Hong Kong her entire career – now spanning 39 years.  She is the first female to serve as the chief executive of Hong Kong.  She also touted some impressive statistics (impressive only in relation to the rest of the world) about Hong Kong and gender equality. 

I only warmed up to her at the very end when, done with her prepared speech, she relaxed a bit and got a little more personal.  With a twinkle in her eye, she admitted that she used to engage in protests as well, when she was a student.  Given the recent political backdrop, this confession drew a very surprised chuckle from the crowd. She said she went into civil service because she wanted to be an agent of change.  But when it came time to decide whether to change matters from the inside or from the outside, she thought she could try to effect that change from within.  This all struck me as so trite, and it was all I could do to refrain from rolling my eyes.  

But then she listed the characteristics that she thought important to being a successful civil servant – tenacity, integrity and courage.  She finished her speech by taking a deep breath and saying that courage was essential - as she braces herself to enter the fight of her political life, she needs to draw deep and find courage to face the challenges that are about to come her way.  That was such an honest admission that I couldn’t help but admire the break in her usually stoic (some might say robotic) veneer.  I may not think that she has acted properly or with savvy in this delicate and volatile dance between the "one country two systems," but I can absolutely see how her job requires an astronomical amount of courage.