weekly
Written by: Cheng Xue
2019-12-04 08:00
Last updated: 2019-12-04 08:00On October 1, a girl from the Chinese University of Hong Kong hung a national flag outside the dormitory window. Soon after, her room was surrounded by students on campus, and she was intimidated and abused. Across the door, the two sides vented their emotions accumulated and brewed for months, but the conversation seemed impossible.
Entering November, the war of anti-revision cases spread to the university campus. The inland students who settled here were suddenly involuntarily involved in the current storm. Obstacles in school and inconvenient transportation, "evacuation" is imminent, and they are constantly faced with questions from the outside world about the faction and the pull of identity recognition from the heart. How will these people at the center of the cracks make their choices? Can they get out of identity-built barriers and seek dialogue with dissidents?
"Remember that you are not Hong Kong"
Lin Ting, 24, has just finished her master's degree program and is an intern at a Chinese company. She said that since the Anti-Amendment Movement, her mother has said the most to her: "Keep in mind that you are not from Hong Kong."
The meaning of this sentence is not superficial and deprivation, but out of concern. Since hearing that Lin Ting will take to the streets to go side by side with the demonstrators, her mother often tells her this way, fearing that Lin Ting will participate in social movements as a mainlander. Once arrested, he will not be able to return to the Mainland and future life development will be affected. .
In this regard, Lin Ting did not agree. "Of course I want to be a" Hong Kong person. "She was outspoken. Although he has only been in Hong Kong for one year, although he cannot speak fluent Cantonese, and although there are no close friends to rely on, Lin Ting is still eager to take root here, and he is eager to one day be "Hong Kong people". Self introduction.
Unlike her, this year is the fourth year that Cindy came to study in Hong Kong. Her hometown is in the Northeast, and she grew up in Guangdong. She is fluent in Cantonese, and she has close local friends at school. However, when others call her "Hong Kong people," she instinctively feels haptic. "I think I am Chinese. If I want to be clearer, I would consider myself a Northeaster living in Guangdong."
On the Second Bridge of the Chinese University of China, demonstrators rushed to launch "Morning Dawn". (Profile picture / Photo by Zeng Ziyang)
Since the development of anti-revision storms, from the original "returning" march to the "five major appeals, all indispensable" non-platform protest movement, and Hong Kong's local consciousness is also filled with new content, Consolidate people's enthusiasm for participating in sports. Every individual living on this land can hardly escape the fate swept by the storm. Among them, "inland students" such as Lin Ting and Cindy have to survive in the gap between some Hong Kong people and the central government in "wrestling", and they are always faced with the predicament of "choosing a side". However, the duality of identity fills this choice with tears-Xiang Huang may mean an insurmountable gap with relatives and friends in the Mainland; Xiang Lan may mean that it is impossible to fight against "mainstream public opinion" Integrate into the society we live in today.
"Escape" and "Stay" from the Mainland
In early November, Lin Ting's mother came to Hong Kong to attend her daughter's graduation ceremony. Before crossing the border, her daughter told her: "Don't speak Mandarin in the subway." Along the way, the mother and daughter, who haven't seen each other for a long time, remained vigilant and silent.
On the graduation ceremony day, when all of them stood up and played the national anthem, the bachelor graduates sitting in the back suddenly stood on their chairs with their backs to the podium, raised the banner and shouted slogans until the national anthem was finished. After the ceremony, walking on the campus full of slogan posters, the mother clutched Lin Ting's hand tightly and looked around nervously.
Prior to this, my mother was more or less listening to Lin Ting's explanation of the situation in Hong Kong and was able to accept her daughter's decision to stay in Hong Kong. However, when she was in a scorching social atmosphere, her attitude became tough. "She'll ask: What's the use of them doing this? They'll keep asking me: What if you stay here? What's the point of being a reporter?" Faced with her mother's questioning, Lin Ting was speechless. .
Mom questioned Lin Ting: What good are they doing? Will keep asking me geology: What about you staying here? What's the point of you becoming a reporter? (Profile picture / Photo by Luo Guohui)
The most violent clash was when the mother accidentally found Lin Ting's posters of anti-revision texts sandwiched in the corner of the bookshelf—that she brought back when she was on the street. "Why do you take this kind of thing home?" "Can you tear it off? Throw it away?" Lin Ting was puzzled by her mother's panic. She asked, "It's just a piece of B5 paper. What ’s the relationship here? ”Said her mother.“ Will your presence here not affect your roommates? What if you see them and think you have any ideas? ”After the quarrel, Lin Ting according to his mother ’s request A poster was thrown into the trash bin with the trash.
A few days later, my mother took a flight back to her hometown from Guangzhou and said to Lin Ting at the time of separation: "You are now grown up and have your own ideas. Mom knows that you cannot force you to go home. The only requirement I have for you right now is to be protected. Yourself. "
On the evening of November 11, Lin Ting, who sent her mother to return to Hong Kong after the departure, was surprised to find that the port was the only one going to Hong Kong. "It was like retrograde." At that time, she didn't know the "Hong Kong University" "Three strikes" caused paralysis of traffic, gunfire in Xiwanhe, and many campuses that were reduced to "battlefields"; I don't know what will happen tomorrow.
"I went to the port early in the morning on the 13th, and returned home the same day." Cindy said, "Although it was not out of panic, I did not expect that this would happen now."
Anti-revision warfare spread to the university campus, and some students dragged their suitcases and left on foot. (Profile picture / Photo by Zhang Haowei)
On the afternoon of November 12, inside the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a long-running protester and police broke out on the Second Bridge. Citizens across the sea photographed the billowing smoke from Zhongshan Mountain. At 11.56 that night, a reporter from the Global Times, Bai Yunyi, published an article on Sina Weibo, describing the operation of "rescuing mainland students" to CUHK that day. The article began by saying: Like wartime Syria, mobsters in black not only smashed everywhere, but also threatened the police to blow up schools and set fire to mountains if they did not agree with them. "The Weibo was reposted by Hu Xijin, chief editor of the Global Times Has caused great concern in the Mainland.
The next day, all provincial and municipal associations, youth associations, universities, and enterprises and institutions in Shenzhen issued information to provide temporary accommodation for free for mainland students in Hong Kong. At the same time, screenshots of chat records also flowed out. Some mainland students at CUHK accused the reporter of reporting inaccurately and suspected of causing panic.
"I think they are kind and want to help inconvenient mainland classmates, but these reports do amplify the panic. But this is also the style of the Global Times." Cindy commented, "Because in my opinion, the mood of panic Is real. "
As a senior, Cindy is responsible for answering questions for new students and parents in a group of new students. She clearly felt that the atmosphere in the group after the double eleventh suddenly became anxious. First-time new students are discussing in the group whether they can travel safely and attend classes normally, whether their academic qualifications will be devalued, or whether to give up their studies; their parents always forward news about the situation in Hong Kong from the Mainland and ask what the real situation is and whether the children are Safety ... "Same words, I have to repeat it many times a day. Parents are still not assured, the same person will ask the same question the next day."
Cindy believes that panic is real and will carefully consider whether to continue to study in Hong Kong in the future. (Profile picture / Photo by Li Zetong)
The school's announcement was the main reason Cindy decided to go home. On the morning of the 13th, fearing that traffic would be affected by Operation Morning Dawn, Cindy got up at six and took a taxi to the Hong Kong and Macau Ferry Terminal. The road went unexpectedly smoothly. At eight thirty in the morning, she left Hong Kong by boat.
"If I don't resume classes, I shouldn't go back." Cindy admits, "I'm applying for a graduate student, and the originally targeted universities are in Hong Kong, Macau, Australia and the United Kingdom. But I'm reconsidering whether to continue studying in Hong Kong. My friends from the Mainland consulted me about the Hong Kong graduate project, and I would advise them to think carefully. "
After a pause, she added, "I felt the situation was serious one month ago and thought it would improve. I didn't expect it to worsen. So I don't know what will happen next year."
The above excerpt is from the 191th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly (December 1, 2019) "Wandering in Perplexity and Silence in the Mainland".
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