Security lockdown in Hong Kong as Xi Jinping marks anniversary of handover

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Swaths of Hong Kong have been placed under an unprecedented security lockdown as Chinese president Xi Jinping arrives in the city to mark 20 years since the UK handed the city back to China.

Mass protests are expected to greet Xi on the 1 July anniversary, an annual tradition amplified by his presence in the city. Prominent Hong Kong democracy activists, including Joshua Wong and lawmaker Nathan Law, were arrested after they staged a sit in the night before Xi’s arrival.

The UK handed Hong Kong back to China on 1 July, 1997, ending over 150 years of colonial rule. The city was allowed to remain autonomous from mainland China, and maintains separate laws, government and freedoms under a framework known as “one country, two systems”.

Saturday’s annual march is expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters, starting just as Xi prepares to depart.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/security-lockdown-in-hong-kong-as-xi-jinping-marks-anniversary-of-handover

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

1. China can't fix this

They were prepared for an intransigent colonial bureaucracy and bourgeoisie, they were not prepared for an anti-communist youth movement.

We have some young women from Hong Kong who work for us and they're pretty hardcore, the John Birch Society has a warmer view of China than they do.

[DetlefK]

2. Imagine if the Trump-administration were kidnapping people who sell liberal books.

That's what's happening in Hong Kong. The chinese government is threatening and kidnapping store-owners who sell books that expose the corruption of the communist-party big-wigs.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them get in serious trouble

She is the dangerous combination of obnoxious, impulsive and spoiled, she would do herself a big favor moving to London and staying there.