, 19 tweets, 7 min read Read on Twitter
Hong Kong Extradition Bill

Tear gas envelops heart of city
as protestors flood downtown
Hong Kong
in protest of China's
extradition bill,
which presented city’s leaders
w ultimatum:
back down, or risk violent clashes.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
So, wat's the reason?🤔

4 protesters, extradition law
represents line in sand:
dramatic undercutting
of local autonomy
that will end Hong Kong’s status
as a safe haven
4 dissidents fleeing mainland.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Marchers well-organized + coordinated,
dropping umbrellas from overhead walkway
2 provide protection from police + rain
4 those in streets below.
Others tied metal barricades together
2 ward off any potential police advancement.
Demonstrations R largest since
so-called Umbrella Movement
occupied part of city center +
creating a stand-off 4
> 2 months in 2014.

Then, fierce responses
from police incl firing tear gas
at mostly student protesters,
who held up yellow umbrellas
4 protection.
This week’s protests differ from 2014’s in important ways.

The Umbrella Movement
called 4 granting right,
*universal suffrage*,
Hong Kong’s citizens have never had,
while opponents believe
extradition law threatens 2
take away status as safe haven
from Beijing, long enjoyed
Although part of China,
mainland guarantees
former British colony:
free speech, capitalist markets + English common law
under “one country, two systems’’ framework.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Hong Kong’s govt,
led by Chief Exec, Carrie Lam,
says it has no intention of giving in
2 protesters’ key demand:
scrapping proposed law
that would allow criminal suspects
2B extradited 2 mainland China,
among other places.
Backing down could antagonize
China’s president, Xi Jinping,
who’s seeking 2 bring Hong Kong
N2 greater alignment w mainland.
It could also send
what the Chinese govt might see as
highly dangerous message 2
Hong Kong’s people: protest still works.👈
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
As day went on,
protests spread from
vicinity of Legislative Council building,
in city’s Admiralty section
+ N2 financial dist,
where 100s of int'l cos have local offices.
Organizers say they plan 2
remain in sts until govt relents.

“Persist, Hong Kongers! Fight On!’’
There also R signs
protest may spread N2
economy as a whole.

Aviation workers, a teachers’ union, student assocs
+ Confederation of Trade Unions,
a pro-democracy labor group,
have called 4 lrg-scale strike.
If the bill gets to a vote,
it’s highly likely 2 pass:
pro-Beijing legislators
enjoy comfortable majority
in legislature,
where many of seats R held by
representatives of business
+ professional groups.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
🔥Hong Kong’s independent legal system
is foundation of its distinctive status,
a legacy of British rule
that has prompted almost 1,400 multinationals
2 set up regional headquarters in city.
Preserving independent system, 👈
along w other elements
of Hong Kong’s autonomy,
was at the heart of
1997 handover agreement 👈
between U.K. + mainland China.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Vast majority of protesters,
appear 2B ordinary Hong Kongers:
teachers, office workers, retirees + students,
many wearied by what they view as
yrs-long campaign 2 undermine
city’s autonomy.

4 some of them,
this wk’s demonstrations
R being treated as something of
a last stand.
Hong Kong's govt has backed down B4:
Nat'l Security Bill - 2003
Patriotic Bill - 2012

But, nothing since 2013
under Xi Jinping
*took office.

[ Bo Xilai should have become president.
Xi used swarmy tactics: sex scandal, kompromat
2 dissuade public. ]
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
ICYMI

11-11-13
#BoXilai Timeline:

Bo Xilai,
former Communist Party chief in Chongqing,
was once seen as high-flyer
tipped for top office.
But he has been expelled from:
Party, parliament + is 2 face prosecution.

bbc.com/news/world-asi…
Bo Xilai's wife,
Gu Kailai
given suspended death sent
4 murder of U.K. businessman,
Neil Heywood.

All orchestrated by
Xi Xinping,
in order 2 grab power.

People of China
supported Bo.
Bo became too much threat 2 Xi.

Xi had 2 use
mob tactics
2 extort.
bbc.com/news/uk-176909…
How *kind of Xi.

12-14-15
China suspends death sentence
4 Gu Kailai,wife of Bo Xilai
4 2012 murder of British businessman
Neil Heywood.👈

📌Bo was sentenced 2 life in prison 4
corruption + abuse of power
in 1 of China’s biggest political scandals.

time.com/4147323/gu-kai…
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