"One Country, Two Systems." This ostensibly continues to be the semi-official motto of Hong Kong. At the British hand-over to China in 1997, the hope for the West was that China would gradually become more like British-lead Hong Kong. Today in 2019, the reality for Hong Kong, by force from Beijing if necessary, is to become more like an increasingly autocratic China. The goal of U.S. national security strategy should be to flip this narrative.
So I guess the only hitch in that solution is getting China's brutal communist rulers to go along with it.
Still, for Taiwan which otherwise might need nukes at one point to deter a Chinese invasion, flipping the narrative might be the only option Taiwan has in the long run to avoid being conquered and absorbed by a communist dictatorship.
And Hong Kong, too, might find that its only salvation.
To speak nothing of the large Chinese population. They are no doubt grateful for the vast improvement in standards of living. But eventually that will wear off as memories of dirt poverty wear off, perhaps among their children who never knew that poverty. Then desires for more freedom might grow.
Perhaps Taiwan and Hong Kong democracy advocates should get together on that League of Democracies that I suggested.
Also, that initial article says China is going to surpass America's economy. Maybe. Maybe not. And if so maybe not for long.
UPDATE: China's communist tyranny continues to try to discredit the protesters:
In mid-August 2019 Twitter and Facebook announced that they had shut down hundreds of accounts that were being used by China to spread false and disparaging news about the millions of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong. ... This effort to find and cripple the Chinese Information War operation on Twitter and Facebook confirmed earlier estimates that about half a million Chinese were working for this Information War operation. The Chinese effort was not just directed against the Hong Kong protestors but also sought to boost China’s image among the worldwide Chinese speaking social media users.
Don't fall for Chinese misinformation efforts.
