"But I urge you not to be dominated by hatred. In times of crisis, you must always remain vigilant and think." - Leung Tin-chi, former spokesman for "Local Democracy Front", was sentenced to six years in prison for participating in the 2016 Mong Kok riots. In 2019, he published an open letter on the "anti-revision turmoil". While praising the demonstrators for showing great courage to rewrite history, he also urged everyone to be rational and not go too far.
Liang Tianqi was released from prison last Wednesday (January 19) after serving his sentence. The Hong Kong in front of him has already experienced the vicissitudes of life, because the radicals have paid a heavy price for the society in order to "rewrite history", including the exchange of "national security red line" and "election reform".
Liang Tianqi was able to return to normal life. How should we learn from the radicalization mistakes of the past few years so that Hong Kong can get back on track as soon as possible?
Liang Tianqi, the former spiritual leader of "Hong Kong independence", was released from prison last Wednesday (January 19).
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From the rise to the end,
Hong Kong weathered the storm
"After four years, I want to cherish the precious time to reunite with my family and return to normal life with them. I sincerely thank you for your care and love." After being released from prison after serving his sentence and leaving a message on his Facebook profile, he faded out of the public eye.
From his rise, to his later incarceration, to his current release, these six years have coincided with the ups and downs of parochialism and radicalism.
In 2014, the occupation action to overthrow the "831 framework of the National People's Congress" not only caused Hong Kong to fall into a "blue-yellow tear", but also caused the non-establishment camp to fight over the lines of "reconciliation and rationality" and "anti-violence", and "violent resistance". The factor "blooms everywhere".
In March 2015, Leung Tianqi, who was studying at the University of Hong Kong, joined the "Local Democracy Frontline", a political organization founded by Huang Taiyang and advocated "repression of violence by force", and later participated in the Legislative Council New Territories East by-election as a representative in January 2016, shouting "Recover Hong Kong, the revolution of the times", and he became famous in the "Mong Kok riots" that broke out in early February of the same year. The "brave resistance" and "radical local" lines represented by him became famous and won the support of a large number of young people , although in the end it lost with 15.3% of the votes (66,524 votes) under the "single-seat, single-vote system", but its appeal cannot be underestimated.
Half a year later, Liang Tianqi once again participated in the general election of the Legislative Council, but was disqualified from the election by the Returning Officer due to his "Hong Kong independence" position. However, Liang Songheng, who temporarily replaced him in the election, was still successfully elected with 37,997 votes. The "radical" wave reached a climax, reversing the non-establishment political landscape dominated by "He Lifei" in the past.
However, this kind of arrogance inevitably attracted the attention of the central government. As of October 2016, Leung Chung-heng and You Huizhen openly advocated "Hong Kong independence" during the inauguration of the Legislative Council, forcing the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to interpret Article 104 of the Basic Law. was ruled to be disqualified as a member of parliament.
Later, in June 2018, Liang Tianqi was convicted of "assaulting a police officer" and "participating in a riot" and sentenced to 6 years in prison for the Mong Kok riots. for a while.
However, not only have the deep-seated contradictions not been resolved, but with the continuous superposition of distortions in the distribution mechanism and unsustainable industrial development, the stagnation of the political system has become an outlet for public grievances, and radical forces are ready to move again.
Hong Kong has entered 2019 in anxiety. When the SAR government forcibly revised the "Fugitive Offenders Ordinance", Benminqian took the lead in making a comeback. On the eve of the "612 conflict", the "Protest Manual" was released. HONG KONG (Dying for Hong Kong)" was reprinted by many young people.
The toss and bounds during the "anti-amendment" period are unbearable. The protests continue to escalate, and the law enforcement agencies also intensify their efforts. The continuous clashes between the police and the people have become an extremely abnormal "new normal".
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Radical into a dead end,
Hong Kong must return to normal
The struggles that followed were unbearable. The protests continued to escalate, and the law enforcement authorities stepped up their efforts. The continuous clashes between the police and the people became an extremely abnormal "new normal." "Flag, "Frying", "Renovation", "Private" and other extreme means are also highly touted.
If we want to say that the radicalization of the "anti-amendment bill" has "successfully won" something for Hong Kong, it is to cause an unprecedented tear in society, and to put Hong Kong in the "China-US competition" beyond its own power, forcing Beijing to raise its stance on Hong Kong. The national security factor draws down one after another "national security red line" that did not need to be pointed out before - the promulgation of the "Hong Kong National Security Law", the implementation of "patriots ruling Hong Kong", and the revision of the electoral system.
Although some people are reluctant to admit it, until now, the result of those "radicalization" in the past has been to waste the "trust" bridge and "democracy" achievements that different people in Hong Kong society have made over the years to negotiate with the central government.
Now that Liang Tianqi has been released from prison, the "light time" he once chanted was banned in cases related to the "National Security Law" - an illegal slogan that incited secession, with the intention of "Hong Kong independence"; The forces have also disappeared one after another, and many political leaders have been imprisoned or fled overseas. The Hong Kong he faces can no longer tolerate unconsidered blood.
Liang Tianqi said that he hoped to cherish the time to spend with his family and return to normal life. Why doesn't Hong Kong need it?
During his interrogation, he reflected on the violent protests many times, and after years of setbacks in Hong Kong, why does he need to reflect on politics?
How to return to pragmatism and rationality from radicalism, promote the development of Hong Kong society and democracy, and mend the rift between the "two Hong Kongs" will be an "examination paper" that the whole society has to face, and a necessary prerequisite for "returning to normalcy".
Cai Tsz-keung, a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Administration at CUHK, announced his retirement. In an interview with Hong Kong 01, he rehabilitated "30 years of democratic movement without success", pointing out that it is wrong for some young people to accuse traditional pan-democrats at every turn.
(Photo by Zheng Zifeng)
Reflection error can forward
a rational and pragmatic is the way
However, whenever there are voices in society who try to summarize the "mistakes" of the "anti-revision bill" and exhort Hong Kong to get out of the whirlpool of "extreme evolution", they will always attract infamy.
Not long ago, Cai Ziqiang, a senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Administration of CUHK, who has been engaged in Hong Kong elections and commentary work for many years, announced his retirement.
In an exclusive interview with "Hong Kong 01", he rehabilitated "30 years of democratic movement without success." He pointed out that it was wrong for some young people to accuse traditional pan-democrats at every turn. The democratic movement needs to be "point-by-point, long-term struggle, even every time The things you get are very small.”
What Cai Ziqiang said may be the unspeakable depression of the vast majority of "He Lifei".
But the reality is, precisely because the radical resistance forces are dissatisfied with "pragmatism", "negotiation" and "step-by-step", arrogant and blind pursuit of "a kind of wrestling without compromise" and "to win is to win", as a result, the past 30 years The "democracy" and "freedom" accumulated by the pro-democracy movement were "sucked away" in just over a year.
However, Cai Ziqiang's "hard-hearted" will inevitably become "politically incorrect" under the moral aura of "no nuclear explosion", which has caused radical opinion leaders to attack - first by international relations scholars currently in Taiwan Shen Xuhui wrote an article to retort that even if there is no social movement in 2019, the CCP will continue to control Hong Kong, the good system and way of life will still be broken, and the core values and local culture will end up being "silently taken away"; He was criticized by exiled former Democratic Party legislator Xu Zhifeng as blaming the victims of the regime's persecution, and also pointed out that the public opinion of resistance was forced by the regime.
Zhang Xinyu of the New Territories North Legislative Council hired Yang Zhenqian, who had made extreme remarks, as a member's assistant, but was attacked by the "extremely blue" camp.
(Photo by Zheng Zifeng)
Given the opportunity to rehabilitate
correctly guide the construction of Hong Kong
To put it bluntly, when many pan-democratic politicians were imprisoned, these two had already patted their butts and left, one was in Taiwan and the other was overseas, so naturally they did not have to be responsible for their words and deeds.
However, no matter what remarks are made, they are self-deception without reflection - not only did they fail to recognize the mistake of being led by the nose by the radical forces, but also blamed all the problems on the "hard-line" Beijing and the "moderate" pan-China People, stubbornly put Hong Kong on the opposite side of the country.
If the CCP will still "control" Hong Kong even if there is no "anti-revision bill", doesn't that mean that the constitutional ethics and power order of Hong Kong and the central government are by no means "equal" as everyone imagines?
And if "Master Shen" had already understood this irreversible political reality, why did he attend the press conference with the theme of "Every seat of the functional constituency must win the battle to restore the parliamentary era" and strongly praised "35+"?
Did he already have the heart to resist the CCP's governance of Hong Kong, or did he just use the opportunity of "anti-amendment" to "revolt"?
It can be said that there is no time when Hong Kong society needs to get rid of radicalism and return to pragmatism more than now.
But in addition to the "extremely yellow", the "extremely blue" arrogance is also worth guarding against, because some "Wolf Warriors" establishment people still hold high the political line of "killing everything" in order to win applause and votes "Separating the country", "subversion of the regime" and other crimes, thinking that everything can be solved by using the "Hong Kong National Security Law".
I believe that no one will forget how the "badminton first brother" Ng Ka-long's "jersey storm" was caused by the extreme forces of the DAB during the Tokyo Olympics last year.
Until recently, the New Territories North member of the Legislative Council and the new direction of Hong Kong, Zhang Xinyu, was chased and beaten by the "extremely blue" camp for hiring Yang Zhenqian, who had made extreme remarks, as a member's assistant.
However, just like Zhang Xinyu's response to the incident - as a member of the governance system, in the face of the lack of national education awareness, he should try his best to help the young people who accidentally stumbled and guide them back to the right track of building a city.
Thinking back to two years ago, the "Blue Camp" criticized the "extremely yellow" from time to time for undermining the rule of law, but two years later, it was the "extremely blue" forces who made a fuss, snapped their hats, and launched political sniping at every turn. It is illegal, but it is undoubtedly destroying social harmony.
If such highly political sensitivities continue to be touched, things that are perfectly normal will only continue to become abnormal.
Hong Kong must go out of radicalization, not from one extreme to another, or even continue to use hatred and struggle to answer the "examination paper" of Hong Kong's development.
