Liaison Office in Denial on HK

The liaison office in Hong Kong is governing the city, or is it Carrie Lam?

The liaison office in Western is aggressively asserting itself in Hong Kong politics because it claims it can, but still does not understand the situation on the ground. Or it's in denial.

In advance of May 1, the Hong Kong Police had already not approved a march to mark Labour Day, though there were reports of possible flash mobs in several parts of the city, including Causeway Bay, Sai Ying Pun, Mongkok and Tai Po.

However, that never materialized.

Police use pepper spray on protesters in New Town Plaza

But that evening, the liaison office's statement through a spokesperson claimed "extreme radicals" had staged "unlawful gatherings during the Labour Day holiday", though in reality, none were held, unless it was referring to a peaceful gathering in New Town Plaza in Sha Tin.

In that incident, police moved in quickly to clear the shopping mall, even using pepper spray and harassing journalists for not respecting social distancing, when they are exempted because they are working.

The spokesperson also claimed some opposition politicians hyped up the "yellow economic circle", where protesters patronize shops and services supporting the movement, and that it such acts created "social rifts" and "disrupted market order".

Hong Kong is a capitalist city. According to the 2020 Index of Economic Freedom, Hong Kong ranks second (Singapore is no. 1), with an overall score of 89.1. Consumers are free to choose wherever they want to purchase goods and services; this is what capitalism is.

Some people choose to support the "yellow economic circle"

If they choose to support businesses in the "yellow economic circle", that is their right. How this disrupts market order is bizarre. And anyway there has been social rifts for years, most notably dating back to the 2014 Umbrella Movement.

On another point, the spokesperson at the liaison office said opposition politicians have taken the "burn with us" tactic to extremes, claiming it has paralyzed the Legislative Council, destroyed the economy and incited street violence, pushing Hong Kong into a "bottomless abyss" and ruining Hong Kong's future.

How much more dystopian can the liaison office get, when it and the Hong Kong government did not listen to the people back in June when over 1 million people came out to protest against the extradition bill?

If they did, we would not be where we are today. It was only after protesters became more violent and prevented legislators from voting on the bill in the Legislative Council that it was finally withdrawn months later.

The 2014 movement has yet to be resolved on both sides

The protests have yet to be resolved, let alone the political and social tensions left over from 2014 have yet to be addressed. Instead the government and Beijing refuse to acknowledge these incidents have happened and inquiries need to take place to understand why Hong Kong is where it is today and what needs to be done to move forward.

Beijing insists Hong Kong must heel, but its citizens refuse to do so because they were promised "one country, two systems" until 2047. We all agree it's 2020, right?