Reunification with China – 23rd Anniversary

It probably won’t mean anything to anyone, but this is the 23^rd issue of my letter written in 2020 and published on my website, coming on the 23^rd anniversary of the reunification of Hong Kong with China and on the occasion when the National Security Law for Hong Kong comes into effect after due process through the legal and legislative processes of the PRC.

I am a die-hard Hong Kong person and thoroughly Chinese. I have never contemplated living in another country or acquiring another nationality except when, in order to keep my job, I had to acquire British nationality, which was given to me without question and fanfare and through due process more than once, but you would excuse me for not going into the details.

I have discussed before in my blogs that our lives had to be adjusted since June 2019 to avoid the expected inconvenience and violence generated by the rioters and violence perpetrators. Our freedom had been unjustly and unjustifiably curtailed and we were forced to observe the timetables of the black shirts and unlawful protestors. It was therefore such a breath of fresh air and relief when China announced her intention to provide National Security Law that would guarantee the freedoms we were so accustomed to before June 2019. I have been looking forward to that and yesterday it materialized. Today the HKSAR Chief Executive announced that details had been written into the law and even as I am writing this blog, the Police had made several arrests for breaches of the National Security Law. Great progress and I am heartened.

Meanwhile, we see deserters from the opposition leaving Hong Kong and making statements to distance themselves from organizations championing for independence of Hong Kong and the like, and we see an 80-year old activist making a public statement that she was retiring from public life, whatever it means. I think China is rather magnanimous to allow all these suspects to leave Hong Kong as they wish and before they commit more and further atrocities. Hong Kong does not need these people. The sooner they leave, the better for Hong Kong and the rest of us.

As expected, the West, led by the United States and the EU, wasted no time to issue public statements denouncing the enactment of the legislation and the Americans took the lead to introduce sanctions that have no significant economic impacts for Hong Kong. China and Chinese have gone a long way since the united sanction of eight plus nations a century ago.

It is a forgone and undisputed conclusion that China will replace United States as the leader of the world new order. The question is when. One must reckon that the decision is not up to United States or China, but rather controlled by a group of about 30 individuals with the finance, economic and political clout to dictate the global agenda. It appears that this group has decided that China is to be the leader soon.

For me and Su, we have been celebrating the emerging development for a few weeks and have in particularly split bottles of champagne and red wines of the premier grand cru category since last night to mark the occasion with a group of likeminded friends. In short, we are delighted with what we see.

To the lawyers and friends who have doubts on the new laws introduced, I would ask them to study the new laws and learn to live with them if they want to stay in Hong Kong. If their minds are blocked for whatever reasons, and if after careful deliberation they decide that Hong Kong is not for them, I urge them to leave, the sooner the better. Hong Kong would be the better without them. Indeed, Hong Kong has never been for the faint hearted or people without faith and conviction. We have seen many people leaving Hong Kong since the Seventies and Eighties. Some of them had returned afterwards, after losing great fortunes and opportunities. History is about to repeat itself; and those who have the faith and conviction will likely have their last laugh.