This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
A few days ago, I received a letter from a person in Hong Kong. Not from a fan of my writing; on the contrary, or should I put it more precisely: "from a person who is standing clearly at the other side of the barricade".
She tried to explain why some people in Hong Kong are "losing trust in the government", and why "Hong Kong does not want to be like Mainland China, where internet is censored and some topics are not allowed to be discussed."
Generally, she addressed things that are commonly tackled by those who are running around the streets, clad in ninja-style outfits, brutalizing Hong Kong for already several months. But at least, she wanted to talk, to explain, in a polite way. Although, the end of her email was banal and, should I say, "bizarre":
"Hong Kong people are losing hope and trust towards the government, people are afraid of the Chinese government of all the things that they have done and been doing. And some try to get foreign countries' attention, not as a friend, not because Hong Kong people admire them, but because the Chinese government see them as the enemy, and the involvement of foreign countries, as well as the call of HK independence, can piss them off."
*
This email arrived in the same time when the entire world rose, in outrage, against the cold-blooded murder of an African-American person, Mr. George Floyd.
Tens of thousands were marching in Tokyo and Buenos Aires, in London and Paris. In the West, protesters clashed with the riot police, and many people were badly injured, while thousands were arrested. Water cannons were used, streets got barricaded.
I have been writing on the topic constantly, from the start, also giving interviews to various media outlets, all over the world. And I kept repeating that what occurred to Mr. Floyd has been happening to people in countless countries, ever to the countries themselves, in all corners of our world: Western neo-colonialist powers have been kneeling on their neck, killing them, cutting their flow of oxygen. In many poor nations, people are kept in unimaginable misery, or being killed so the West can get raw materials and labor almost for free. I worked in some of the toughest, most desperate parts of the world, making films, writing books and reporting. Therefore I know.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
