One of the interesting aspect of the soft curfew in Hong Kong (early MTR and bus system closures) is that it's extended each day, very quietly. You have to read the fine print on the MTR website. It's been 16 days and the government is still pretending this is about repairshttps://twitter.com/VerbatimHKG/status/1185592679528222721 …
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Tomorrow there will be a major march in Hong Kong, sponsored by the Civil Human Rights Front. The three CHRF marches to date have been peaceful and turned out millions. Their leader was brutally attacked on October 17 and left bleeding in the streethttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50073583 …
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Police have refused to issue a "letter of no objection" to tomorrow's march, which under Hong Kong's colonial laws means anyone participating faces prison time. The MTR closures and violent attacks on organizers have the same goal: to deter large protests like we saw in August
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So far, these tactics have worked. Shutting down the city's transportation network makes people think twice about going to Hong Kong island, where they might get stranded. Police and triad violence against protesters suppresses turnout, too. The last giant march was August 18
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But authorities know that if they relaxed the pressure, three million people would be in the street next Sunday. Their approach is pure chutzpah—destroy the city's economy by stifling lawful protest, then blame the few protesters left for the self-inflicted crisis
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(And by 'few protesters' left I mean the tens of thousands of people who still march, at great personal risk, even after 20 weeks and in conditions where travel around the city is risky and difficult)
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Carrie Lam, whose approval rating may soon be in the single digits, has achieved something no other Hong Kong CE had been able to do—she unified her city and created a feeling of common cause and solidarity in its people. Unfortunately, she unified everyone against herself.
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In a rational society, if the only way you can keep a third of the population from taking to the street to demand your resignation is to tank the economy by shutting down the transport network, somebody resigns. But there have been no resignations in Hong Kong, and there won't be
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