The English\nState occupied Hong Kong during the 1839-1842 Opium War. Chine officially\ntransferred it to China by the Treaty of Nanking. 7.4 million people live in\nthe Hong Kong peninsula. This former English colony had become an industrial,\ncommercial and stock market big city before being handed over to China in 1997.\nThe Chinese State itself became capitalist after crushing the youth revolt and\nafter deciding to restore capitalism in 1992, while maintaining a unique party\nin order to avoid an outburst of the kind that the Soviet Union experienced.\nThis is why it easily integrated the enclave, which played an important role in\nthe restoration of capitalism in China by the Stalinist bureaucracy. On the one\nhand, its very existence influenced that choice; on the other hand, it was used\nas a platform, as well as Singapore which kept apart, for the foreign\ninvestment on the continent (often capitalists from the Han diaspora), first in\nthe \u201cspecial economic zones\u201d, and then on the labour market in the whole PRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the\n1949 revolution and the expropriation of capital and of large land holdings\nthat resulted from the Korea war, the workers never led China. It remained in\nthe hands of the Stalinist bureaucracy. A massive production of commodities and\nthe transformation of the labour force into a commodity are basic features of\ncapitalism. The aim of the Chinese production is now the exchange value. The\nworkers then sell their labour power and fear unemployment. The national\noppression and the presence of \u201cmonopolies\u201d are features of an imperialist\nState. Contemporary China has two big stock markets (Hong Kong and Shanghai)\nand many international capitalist companies that invest heavily abroad. The PRC\nmaintains entire populations within its borders by force. The army develops its\nmeans for military intervention and it holds a military basis in Africa. The PRC\nis then capitalist and imperialist through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On\npolitical terms, Hong Kong is noticeably distinct from the rest of China, since\nthe population enjoys some democratic rights inherited from late concessions by\nBritain, while Xi Jinping restores a lead blanket on the continent. It also has\na number of refugees, including former 1966-1968 \u201cRed Guards\u201d and 1989\ndemonstrators. Under the 1997 agreements, China stations 6000 soldiers there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2014, a\npowerful social movement shook Hong Kong during 74 days. The protesters \u2013mostly\nuniversity and high school students-, who were carrying umbrellas as a\nprotection against the tear gases \u2013hence the name \u201cUmbrella Revolt\u201d-, rose\nagainst the Chinese central government\u2019s intention to make further incursions\nin the process of appointment of Hong Kong\u2019s Chief Executive. At present, a\nnot-so-democratic electoral college indirectly elects her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\noccupation of neighborhoods at the end of every week was large and popular.\nThis showed that the workers were available for protecting the youth and for\ntaking action. The convergence of Honk Kong\u2019s school-going youth and\nproletariat could have obtained free elections. This would have been a victory\nagainst the Chinese governor and State, this would have paved the way for the socialist\nrevolution throughout China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But instead\nof calling the workers\u2019 unions to the general strike, the spokesperson for the\nHong Kong Federation of Students, Alex Chow, addressed the governor. The second\nunion confederation (Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions) was forced to a\ngesture of solidarity. It confined it to a 24-hour strike, which is a safety\nvalve for all the union bureaucracies of the world. Meanwhile, the administration\nof the main trade union (Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions), which is\nrelated to the Chinese bourgeois State, endorsed the repression on the\nuniversity and high school students by the local police. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project\nwas finally abandoned, which left the situation as it stands. In 2017 the\nelectoral college voted Carrie Lam, a high official, as the Chief Executive of\nthe \u201cSpecial Administrative Region\u201d (with 777 votes out of 1194 voters), with\nthe Beijing\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese\nsecret services have no hesitation in abducting activists, publishers, lawyers,\nand even bosses targeted by Xi. Yet this is not enough for the despotic regime.\nIn early February 2019, the local government wants to allow the judicial\nextraditions. For the Hong Kongese, this is a possibility for Beijing to have\nopponents judged on the continent \u2013whether there are old or recent. A first\ndemonstration gathers 10.000 people on the 31st<\/sup> March; and 100.000\non the 28th<\/sup> April. Each time, Lam upholds the amended bill and\nconfirms that the parliamentary body (the Legislative Council) will pass it\nbefore the summer. On Sunday 9th<\/sup> June, a one million demonstration\ncrosses the city and goes to the Legislative Council. The protesters demand the\nlifting of the bill, which must pass at the second reading stage on 12th<\/sup>\nJune. On the evening of 9th<\/sup> June, the local police represses young\npeople. On the morning of 12th<\/sup> June, a new mass gathering is held\noutside the Legislative Council. The police fires rubber bullets and injures\nseveral demonstrators, some of which try to enter the Parliament. Encouraged by\nthis initial success and upset over the accidental death of a demonstrator\nfallen from a scaffold, they are 2 million on the 16th<\/sup> June.\nAlthough the project was suspended on 15th<\/sup> June, the protesters do\nnot give up. On the 1st<\/sup> of July \u2013a public holiday and a\ncommemoration of the handover to China- the demonstration was still important,\nwith more the 500.000 people. The most determined protesters head for the\nLegislative Council. They enter the building, go after the symbols of the\nPopular Republic and dress a flag\u2026 of the colonial period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an\nattempt to calm things down, Lam declares the suspension of the project. The\ndemonstrations keep going after the event, and they punctuate the daily life of\nthe enclave with gatherings every evening and marches every week-end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now the\nprotestors not only request the withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of\nthe Chief Executive but also an independent investigation on the police\nviolence, the end of the prosecutions against those who are charged for riot\n(they are threatened by 10-year jail) and against the arrested protesters,\nelections by universal suffrage. They shout the catchword \u201cFree Hong Kong, time\nfor revolution\u201d at every gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, beyond\nlegitimate demands, a political perspective is missing; it would relate them\nwith the past and current fight of the workers and the youth in the whole\nChina. In fact, people\u2019s democratic liberties object the single-party rule of\nthe Chinese imperialist bourgeoisie with full force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 21st<\/sup>\nJuly, in the metro mafia guys from the triads (they were already assisting the\nChinese bourgeoisie and the Kuomintang before the Chinese revolution) attacked protestors\nreturning home, while police did not react. This increased the wind of revolt\nagainst the local government and against the central power. Protestors briefly\nbesieged a police station, threw bricks and firebombs to the police officers.\nBesides, they dumped Chinese flags in the harbor. The Chinese government\npresents the protestors as a \u201chandful of rioters manipulated by the West\u201d; it\ntugs the nationalism\u2019s strings. It comes to threat: the television controlled\nby the CCP shows pictures 12.000 riot police with helicopter training in the\nprovince of Guangdong, and military convoys heading to Hong Kong. Many people\nof Hong Kong ignore such threats and early August they demonstrate in shouting\n\u201cFree Hong Kong\u201d. It is tangible that the workers can enter the struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The surprise came from Wong Tai Sin, a popular neighborhood further north: on Saturday 3<\/em>rd<\/em><\/sup> August in the evening, protestors were also challenging the police. Short after midnight, while the police was attempting to make arrests, more than a hundred people from the neighborhood came and supported the protestors, so that the police was forced to retreat.<\/em> (Le Monde<\/em>, 3rd<\/sup> August)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 4th<\/sup>\nAugust, Lam promised that \u201cthe government\nwill be firm for keeping law and order\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The leaders\nof the movement called for a general strike on the 5th<\/sup> August. One\nof the unions does everything to prevent the workers to join the youth; the\nother one only calls for a 24-hour action day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hongkong Confederation of Trade Unions, a pro-democracy labor group with 160,000 members, called on workers to strike Monday, while the Hongkong Federation of Trade Unions, a pro-Beijing group, urged workers, particularly those working in transportation, to work as normal to prevent the city from becoming paralyzed. <\/em>(New York Times<\/em>, 5th<\/sup> August)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ncessation of work affects the urban transports, the administration, the\nairports, the banks\u2026 It is the first time Hong Kong experiences such an\nimportant strike. The workers join the demonstrations. Again, the triads\u2019 thugs\nattempt to attack the march, but now the demonstrators push them back with\nsticks. The police has a disproportionate use of rubber bullets and of gases. A\nhundred people are arrested, that is more than 420 for two months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Beijing,\nthe spokesperson of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office claims that <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chain will not be weak with those who break the law. Never\nunderestimate the firm determination and the immense power of the central\ngovernment\u2026 The one who plays with fire gets burnt to death.<\/em> (Yang\nGuang, 6th<\/sup> August)<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same\ntime, the peninsula\u2019s liberal bourgeois parties and Christian clergies dampen\nthe movement and attempt limiting it to putting pressure on Lam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wearing the iconic outfit of the contest \u2013a black tee shirt and a yellow hard hat-, two young men and a young woman with facemasks introduced this press briefing, more official than ever. \u201cWe call on the government to turn the power over to the people and to meet the demands of the Hong Kong citizens\u201d<\/em> (AFP<\/em>, 6th<\/sup> August) <\/p>\n\n\n\n The thing\nis that the workers are much more visible than in 2014. For the fight to win,\nthe working class must assume the leadership of the movement and join up with\nthe continental working class. The movement must extend its catchwords to the\nsocial demands, and to the whole China, in order not to fall into the trap of\nthe nostalgic separatism of the colonial oppression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is\nwhat the Xi Jinping government fears the most. He aims to split the populations\nfrom Hong Kong and from the rest of China and he trades in the fear of foreign\nmanipulation, while the US wage a trade war against the rival imperialism. Yet,\nTrump calls the protestors to remain peaceful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to\nbuild a revolutionary workers\u2019 party that can lead the struggle, Marxist and\nworking class cells must get unified and pose the question of power throughout\nChina, reach out the workers in Japan, in Korea\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n \nPermanent Revolution Collective\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lam suppresses, Beijing\nthreatens<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The 5th<\/sup> August\ngeneral strike<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The workers must take the\nlead of the movement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n