Over the past few weeks Hong Kong has been caught up in protests against the Chinese Communist Party take over of Hong Kong. If you do not know about the situation between Hong Kong and China i.e "They're all Chinese, right?", then I will explain
Mainland China has what is known as 'Special Administrative Divisions', one of which is Hong Kong, and another is Macau. The agreement is known as "One Country, Two Systems" where Hong Kong has self-determination but still counts as China.
However, to travel to Hong Kong or Macau, even if from China, you need a separate passport.
This system means that Hong Kong and Macau are the most democratic and censorship free places in all of China, extending to Free Trade, Unrestricted Internet (i.e Not affected by the great Firewall of China), and Freedom of the press.
Unfortunately these three freedoms are totally against everything the Communist Party stands for. So the CCP has sent in the Army and the CCP announced the candidates for the Hong Kong Chief Executive. Thusly the Hong Kong people can vote for their Chief Executive, but regardless of what candidate is chosen, they will be pro-CCP.
So for the past month students have been protesting against the CCP and Mainland China with the #occupycentral movement. 50,000+ people have been blocking off the Hong Kong central business district. Last night: 80,000 people protested. Police have been using tear gas but it is not enough to disperse a crowd that size. Also, the protest has been peaceful which has been a public relations disaster for the CCP, but not the Hong Kong Police because they are the best in the world and are just doing what they are told.
Tomorrow is China's National Day, when China celebrates the establishment of the Peoples Republic Of China aka The absolute domination of China by the Chinese Communist Party.
So you can expect the biggest protest in Hong Kong history tomorrow. It may also be the last ever protest in Hong Kong as China will not be able to rely on the Hong Kong police.
What Chinese Students Know
I have been talking to Chinese Students from Mainland China and it is very interesting. Do you know how people make fun of America for knowing nothing else but American History and Geography? China is worse than this. Much worse. For starters: China's Political/Municipal System cuts China into different Provinces AND has four PRC Municipalities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing.
These four cities are more powerful that the rest of China.
When I tell the Chinese students that this is an incredibly bad system they usually ask why. It is because no time in history has anyone ever been able to control a city that is more powerful than the country it comes from. This combined with the fact, we live in the era of the independence movements, such as Southern Sudan, East Timor, Kosovo, and Montenegro mean the separation of administration division between provinces and cities is bad.
Japan is a good example of this. When a division gets too important, they make it separate e.g Kanto, Tokyo, Shibuya, Ginza
If a weaker economy attempts to direct a stronger economy, then both are destined to fail. This is the same as the short version of Gresham's Law: "Bad money drives out good"
There is also an interesting note about voting in China. Children dont vote, their parents vote for their family. And by 'Children' I mean 'everyone born to their parents'. Some people will spend their whole lives never voting.
Why Protest in Hong Kong?!
The students who are protesting are around 20 years old.
Hong Kong has an Human Development Index of 15/187 (Very High).
China has an HDI of 91/187 (High)
Beijing has an HDI of 0.821, the same as Poland (35/187 (Very High))
Hong Kong's future relies on its current HDI being maintained. There is no way that interference from Mainland China can improve Hong Kong's situation, and can only negatively impact it. In fact: Mainland Chinese have been negatively impacting Hong Kong ever since the hand over.
Here is a video of a Mainland Chinese person shitting in a Hong Kong street
Chinese Mainlander crapping On The Street In Hong Kong (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7o5VNdv8LI#)
Also: Mainland Chinese have been flocking to Hong Kong to have babies because Hong Kong has a two child policy, so any child born in Hong Kong can have two children. This is made worse by Mainland Chinese going to Hong Kong to buy baby products because no one trusts Chinese brand milk powder or nappies after several product recalls and scandals.
The students are protesting because this may be their last chance for Hong Kong's self determination. It may also be the last time they will be able to protest because if the tanks start rolling in, no one will speak out ever again.
(http://backpackerlee.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/the-umbrella-revolution/)
Man. Google Plus is FULL of the fifty cent brigade right now
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party
The 50 Cent Party (Chinese: 五毛党 wǔmáo dǎng) are Internet commentators (Chinese: 网络评论员 wǎngluò pínglùn yuán) hired by the government of the People's Republic of China (both local and central) or the Communist Party to post comments favorable towards party policies in an attempt to shape and sway public opinion on various Internet message boards
China's Professional Trolls, the 50 Cent Brigade! | China Uncensored (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFdr4gWsGog#ws)
This seems incredibly ironic, and pointless, as Google, Twitter, Facebook, and now Instagram are all blocked in China so the only people reading their posts are foreigners, and foreigners have better news outlets than Google Plus
Here is a legitimate post from Hong Kong, along with the rarely seen panoramic photo view function
https://plus.google.com/u/0/117565688403001302622/posts/f5MFCRB15Gw?pid=6064691377653711442&oid=117565688403001302622 (https://plus.google.com/u/0/117565688403001302622/posts/f5MFCRB15Gw?pid=6064691377653711442&oid=117565688403001302622)
https://plus.google.com/u/0/117565688403001302622/posts/f5MFCRB15Gw (https://plus.google.com/u/0/117565688403001302622/posts/f5MFCRB15Gw)
Here are some Mainland Chinese in Hong Kong's views of the protests
http://muvimotv.com/world-news/how-some-mainland-students-view-occupy-central (http://muvimotv.com/world-news/how-some-mainland-students-view-occupy-central)
edit: Also Weibo (Chinese Facebook Clone) and WeChat are currently being heavily censored. Any mention of Hong Kong including xianggang), protest, or occupy central, will consign your post to the nearest memory hole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_hole)
Here is a good example of what propaganda looks like:
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/us-openly-approves-hong-kong-chaos-it.html (http://landdestroyer.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/us-openly-approves-hong-kong-chaos-it.html)
US Openly Approves Hong Kong Chaos it Created
Image: The US now openly supports chaos on the streets of Hong Kong, this
after condemning "occupy" protests in Bangkok earlier this year. The
difference being in Thailand, protests sought to oust a US proxy, Hong Kong
protests seek to put one into power.
September 30, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci - LD) - The "Occupy Central" protests in Hong Kong continue on - destabilizing the small southern Chinese island famous as an international hub for corporate-financier interests, and before that, the colonial ambitions of the British Empire. Those interests have been conspiring for years to peel the island away from Beijing after it was begrudgingly returned to China in the late 1990's, and use it as a springboard to further destabilize mainland China
(http://backpackerlee.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/hkprotest1.jpg?w=547&h=363)