Joshua Wong, who is a 24 year old man, was arrested on wednesday for being the leader and helping create the protests of June of last year in Hong Kong. He has been sentenced to 13 months in prison for being apart of a protests and for being one of the leaders of the protests. These people were protesting for human rights and freedoms. during the trial 100 hundred people came into the courtroom to quietly protest in support of Joshua Wong. As a small group of Pro-Beijing people gathered outside the court case and demanded that Wong get a heavier sentence. Two of Wongs friends and co leaders of the movement were also arrested but were given less severe penalties. Britain’s Foreign minister Urged for Hong Kong and Beijing police to stop there campaigns to interfere with the protesters. Then U.S senator Marsha Blackburn accused China of cracking down on human rights and interfering with Hong Kong’s autonomy.
Why is this More Important than you think? Because this is the beginning of 7.4 Million people losing human rights and freedoms. If the Beijing and Hong Kong police continue to scare political groups into staying silent and not fighting for what they want or what they believe in. They could lose something so important that the thought of losing it has started wars. They could lose their freedoms and basic human rights. Hong Kong has always had fierce protests for human rights and freedoms but what makes this scary is that Hong Kong’s government might be backed by China and China might slowly be influencing small decisions that can lead to being things to happen. Like Hong Kong no longer being separate from china and losing that safe zone for democracy and freedom in an otherwise completely communist country.
Now how this ties into class is you just view why China is doing this or why this is happening. My best reason would be through the lens of a realistic view. China wants Hong Kong to be like the rest of China, Communist. China doesn’t like the fact that they have a gleaming democratic gem in the center of their country reminding people of the alternative to what they have. They are trying to keep their old views alive and relevant, and the best way to do that is to show the world that that democratic gem no longer exists.