When the Rain Comes, Better Have a Yellow Umbrella

If I were to teach a global citizenship program in the US to American kids, I would focus on the themes of Global Governance and Culture.

In America, we have a very skewed sense of values. What I mean by this isn’t that Americans are simply ungrateful or materialistic (Although this is an issue that first world countries generally struggle with, and America is no exception). What I mean is that we take for granted the aspects of our country we should be the most grateful for. The rights to freedom of speech, assembly, expression, and critical thinking about the government are the most valuable rights an American has. Ironically, because we constantly exercise our freedom to criticize the leadership of our country, we seldom take the time to appreciate that we have the right to voice our (unsatisfied) opinion in the first place.

When I first came to Hong Kong, and met the other Asian international interns, something very strange started to happen; They actually seemed to admire America. America, land of the free and home of the brave unless you’re black, poor, or otherwise marginalized or disadvantaged. How could a country that headlines a racism scandal or an obvious miscarriage of justice in law enforcement every other week POSSIBLY be viewed as generally positive from half way around the world?

I’m not saying that America’s issues aren’t condemning, urgent, or imperative. But I am saying that when this part of the world looks across the ocean towards the Statue of Liberty, they do see freedom. And after living in Hong Kong for a month, I’m still only beginning to scratch the surface in terms of figuring out why.

The first thing I had to understand was that Hong Kong has an entirely different identity than mainland China, and the locals here are vehement in maintaining that identity as an entirely separate entity. Since control of Hong Kong was given back to the Chinese government from Britain in 1997, the Hong Kongers have noticed the walls starting to close in on some of the freedoms they enjoyed as a British colony. Let me pause here to say that I’m not trying to pass judgment on British colonialism or the pros/cons of HK being under Chinese or British control, I’m just relaying what I’ve been told by my co-workers who grew up here.

Similar to our Senate, China elects representatives from each province to serve in the government. Keyword: China. For Hong Kong, this means that the local people have no real say in who represents them. Walking around HK, I’ve routinely seen posters of their representatives with their eyes blacked out, or big X’s spray painted over their faces. I’ve also seen the Umbrella Revolution protests, where young-middle aged adults occupy popular areas and peacefully voice their grievances while holding bright yellow umbrellas. I’ve also been told not to get too close or watch for too long, or I could be arrested along with them.

Technically speaking, Hong Kong has freedom of speech, press, and the right to assembly, but everything goes grey once the mainland government gets involved. For example, protesters can be arrested by the HK police force (which many argue is more in the hands of Beijing than the local government), but they cannot be prosecuted, since Hong Kong has a separate legal system to Mainland China. 

Hong Kong and America are not all that dissimilar in terms of revolutionary spirit; You just have to look a little harder in order to see it. Where we would charge towards a human rights violation wielding burning torches, axes, and a gilded copy of the Constitution, the Hong Kongers would find a more subtle way to voice their opinion and push back against the governing body. It’s a very precarious battle the Hong Kong people are fighting, and one that they have to fight with quiet tenacity and an extreme prescience of the possible ramifications of their actions. Change here comes slowly, and ground is gained millimeters at a time, but change does come.