Thread by @alanwongw

It takes a lot to break into something like Hong Kong's legislative building, but it took precisely one British Hong Kong flag to turn a symbol of colonial rule into an image defining the break-in. But what exactly does the flag mean? A short FAQ:

Photo: Winson Wong/@SCMPNews

1. "Do many protesters want Hong Kong to return to British rule?"

No. There are a handful of people who want to "make Hong Kong Great Britain again," but they are so marginal that few take them seriously.

And waving the flag doesn't mean you desire British rule either.

Some of those who wave the flag call for Hong Kong's independence. This, in their view, can be achieved via a British takeover of Hong Kong on the basis that Beijing didn't honor the treaty it signed with London paving the way for Hong Kong's handover, followed by a referendum.

Some pro-democracy protesters, leery of the optics of being seen around the flag, have actually clashed with people who waved it in past demonstrations.

2. "It's not a question per se... but Hong Kong did not have democracy under British rule and people did not protest night and day for it."

It's true that Hong Kong did not have democracy under British rule (London appointed all governors), and most people then did not put up massive demonstrations demanding democratic reform.

Those facts are somehow often brought up to argue that Hong Kong people's call for democracy today isn't genuine.

But this is simply a non sequitur. And it's not hard to see why people were the way they were if you look at what Hong Kong was then.

In the decades leading up to the handover negotiation, a large chunk of Hong Kong's population was made up of people who fled China in times of turmoil.

Many residents didn't necessarily consider Hong Kong their permanent home. And they didn't see Britain as their forever ruler either – a big part of Hong Kong was only "leased" to Britain for 99 years.

With a transient population and a transient government (plus an economy that started booming in the 1970s and rapidly improving living standards), Hong Kong society was relatively stable.

Lastly, whatever the British Hong Kong flag means today, Beijing wouldn't be pleased to see it. And that might have been the point of putting it in front of the world's cameras.

It's getting late now but we might write something about it in more depth tomorrow in @inkstonenews if there's interest.

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