Thread by @KongTsungGan

The media's been full of images of police brutality in the US- George Floyd's murder & the treatment meted out to protesters. Some observers have been struck by their similarity to images from #HK over the past year, but the similarity's superficial...
nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/…

Compare the responses of US & #HK authorities & businesses: In Minnesota, where George Floyd was murdered by the police, the officers have been arrested, the governor & Dept of Human Rights have undertaken a civil rights investigation of Minneapolis police going back 10yrs....

& yesterday the Minneapolis City Council passed initial police reforms. Authorities in other states & cities are also enacting police reforms, & ideas of actually abolishing police forces as they now exist & repurposing policing have entered the mainstream nytimes.com/reuters/2020/0…

On top of this government action, many companies are showing solidarity w African-Americans. You can say that's shallow & opportunistic but compare to #HK where HSBC, Jardines, StandardChartered & others have expressed support for the abusive, draconian 'national security' law.

In #HK, millions of protesters have been calling for an independent Commission of Inquiry into police abuses for a year now & gotten zilch. In fact, the police are less accountable & more above the law than ever. #CCP, #HK govt& police brand all protesters 'rioters' & attack them

So when you see the very real images of police brutality in the US on your screen, remember that at least the US is a society, however imperfect, however scarred w racism & police brutality, where positive change within the system is possible & authorities are responsive.

The difference, of course, is the US has democracy & #HK does not, HK has the #CCP & the US does not. The US is a liberal society & #HK is increasingly authoritarian.

I'm not saying that to excuse abuses in the US but to point out there's a very real difference btw democracy & dictatorship, & people who live in democracies, where progress is not assured but possible, should remember that & reject arguments of relativism.

That may not be a very popular argument right now, but when I look at the US, I see this is a hopeful moment: change is already happening. In #HK, we have to dig deep to find hope, hope comes from us, the people, not from the system, which is there only to oppress us.