The Heroes Of Hong Kong
The foreign Freedom Fighters
On March 15th of 2019, an uproar began. This small fight has since snowballed into one of the largest protests in the last century, a fight known simply as “the Hong Kong protests”.
A bill was proposed in February of 2019, allowing the transfer of Hong Kong fugitives to jurisdictions outside of those that have signed treaties with Hong Kong. This bill was met with criticism and anger from citizens who feared unusual and cruel punishments, unfair trials, and lack of basic human rights for their people. With fear of their fellow citizens being extradited to Chinese territories, anger began to build and a retaliation began to brew.
Things really started getting intense in early June of 2019. Over one million protestors showed up to fight the bill. Since then the protests have expanded to retaliate against Beijing's power as a whole in Hong Kong territory. These protestors have been met with police and government interference. Thousands are being arrested and some even disappearing. The protestors are being treated so harshly that it has begun common for them to yell their full name and announce that they will NOT be committing suicide as they are being arrested, this is done out of fear that they will be killed by police forces once away from the public eye. Due to a ban on firearms and similar weaponry, they have been forced to resort to rudimentary methods of defending themselves in their fight for liberty. Pictures of protestors wielding bows and arrows, bo staffs, martial arts weapons, and even rocks have recently surfaced on the internet. A group recently took on police forces armed with nothing but high powered laser pointers in attempts to blind them. Anywhere from targeting airports to stop international travel, to gluing bricks to major highways to disrupt traffic flow, the citizens of Hong Kong have used every weapon in their limited arsenal to fight for their freedom.
These protests can almost be compared to the revolutionary war in early American history. As millions of people faced with government tyranny fight for their rights and liberty. Many protestors have spoken about how they wish to see American freedom in Hong Kong one day. So what exactly is it that these citizens want? Currently there is a list of five demands being fought for through these protests. The basic theme in these demands is democracy and police restraints. These five demands are as listed.
1 - Withdrawal of the extradition bill that started these protests.
2 - A commission of inquiry into alleged police brutality.
3 - Retraction of the classification of protestors as “rioters.”
4 - Release and amnesty for arrested protestors.
5 - Universal suffrage for the legislative council and chief executive.
As these protests carry on and more citizens of Hong Kong join in their fight for liberty, we can only hope that their government steps down and fulfills their demands. These modern day freedom fighters can be seen as an inspiration, and their fight shows all of us that we must be wary of overreach in our own government. When power is left unchecked, it becomes dangerous. We as a people must remember our fundamental rights and fight back against those who wish to take them away. We are blessed to live in a country where we have the freedoms we do, but always remember what we had to do to acquire these freedoms. Because the minute we forget, we will see our country fall into chaos.
Stand with Hong Kong 2019
- Braden Schmidt 11-24-2019
