[liberationtech] What could we at Liberationtech do to help pro-democracy HK activists protest China's new security law?

[Lee Alley]

I have to admit I really, REALLY sympathise with the urge to *do 
something* and undermine, hack, bypass, route around the damage and 
capabilities of the PLA and friends. But can I add one bit of perspective?

Firstly, despite huge ongoing protests before the Covid, China decided 
to go ahead with this anyway. They've upped the ante and they have (most 
of) the power, including the will to act contrary to world opinion.

Secondly, and more importantly, Something the PRC leadership seem to 
have forgotten is the entirety of the value-add of HK walks home from 
the cars, buses and subways in leather shoes every night and is 
literally contained between the ears of every HK resident in the 
province. What HK'ers know and are capable of doing doesn't necessarily 
have to be done there as the diasporas of Vancouver and London have 
proven. They are the precious commodity; not the rock they live on.

In my opinion, urging our leaders to adopt an open-door policy to any 
resident of Hong Kong that wants to emigrate would be the most effective 
way to concentrate the minds of the PRC leadership. A Pyrrhic victory of 
winning a few buildings on a rock with some sycophants that stayed 
behind is not the look Chairman Xi can successfully take back to the 
National People's Congress.

I may be wrong, but if we welcomed the Anabaptists and Jews and 
Huguenots and many others backintheday and gave them space to become 
some of the most creative and productive people in their adopted lands, 
we can be prepared to do the same for the people of Hong Kong today. 
Maggie Thatcher didn't give them passports because she believed China 
was serious about wanting to make the 1 country/2 systems thing work and 
that HK would end up influencing China to the extent HK would be happy 
to be united with the mainland. Clearly China (ironically) didn't have 
the patience.

I know this isn't The Way to some on the list; it isn't clever code; 
it's not a great hack on the Great Firewall; it's not a heroic Neo-like 
denouement to save the Gates of Zion, but it's a solution that gives 
them positive optionality and it shows a huge, whopping-great bully he's 
at his weakest when he flexes his muscles towards the vulnerable.

Maybe I'm a dreamer or a hopeless idealist, but the politics of 
appeasement haven't worked and outright attack would be met with the 
same with HK being collateral political damage. But this way seems to 
tick all the boxes without violence and with little downside. I've read 
everyone's ideas with interest and happy to listen to any others 
(preferably lacking the word "should" eg. "China should respect HK..." 
Yes. We know.)

Thanks for listening,
Lee

(....and back to lurk mode!)



On 27/05/2020 19:56, Yosem Companys wrote:

> This is an excellent follow up. Thank you. I will bring up to the 
> topic with the folks in Hong Kong and pose these questions to them as 
> well.
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 27, 2020 6:32 PM, Robert Mathews (OSIA) mathews at hawaii.edu 
> <mailto:mathews at hawaii.edu> wrote:
>
>
>     On 5/26/20 6:00 AM, lt-request at lists.liberationtech.org
>     <mailto:lt-request at lists.liberationtech.org> wrote:
>>     From:
>>     Yosem Companys <ycompanys at gmail.com> <mailto:ycompanys at gmail.com>
>>     Date:
>>     5/25/20, 6:55 PM
>>
>>     To:
>>     Eric FU <fujunscnu at gmail.com> <mailto:fujunscnu at gmail.com>
>>     CC:
>>     LT <lt at lists.liberationtech.org>
>>     <mailto:lt at lists.liberationtech.org>
>>
>>
>>     Of course. But this is not a push model. Local actors have
>>     already asked for our help. They have asked we brainstorm ways in
>>     which Liberationtech could help them do things that have not been
>>     done in the past.
>>
>
>     I present my apologies in advance for *this quick penning,* and
>     for presenting the following multi-dimensional content to the
>     group -- in the way that I estimate the content must be, and has
>     been presented below.
>
>     The question in the 'subject-line' of the original message Yosem
>     had dispatched to the list read: "What could we at Liberationtech
>     do to help pro-democracy HK activists protest China's new security
>     law?" Subsequently, Yosem shared more information in a message to
>     Eric Fu, stating, "They have asked we brainstorm ways in which
>     Liberationtech could help them do things that have not been done
>     in the past."
>
>     To this, some clarification might benefit all.  WHAT is the
>     problem "in reality," that Liberationtech could assist
>     brainstorm-on, and possibly as a "crowd-resource"?   Is it, to
>     reveal more effective ways of "demonstrating" the opposition's
>     position, or are there "other" implied/undeclared objectives upon
>     which a "brainstorming" must be had?
>
>     I present the following open-source media reporting as a basis for
>     asking the aforementioned questions. Permit me to further
>     highlight the issues "on the ground", as reported.
>
>     Since 9/11, police forces around the world have increasingly
>     become para-militarized. Consequentially, in this and other
>     instances, when established instruments of "power-systems"
>     meet/confront citizens-on-the-street (as it has in Hong Kong), on
>     such matters as the seemingly 'inexorable' political condition
>     there (as the *AFP* story indicates below), the confrontations
>     with Police forces will increasingly become brutal and
>     destructive.  But, this is NOT just a post 9/11 condition, it is
>     historical. *(**Comments Continue below the link)*
>
>     *Hong Kong police stamp out national anthem law protests*
>     AFP
>     27 MAY 2020
>     https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/hong-kong-police-stamp-out-national-anthem-law-protests-doc-1sa9dv7
>
>     --->
>
>     Also, considering that the U.S. State Department has "hurriedly
>     communicated" to US Congress that conditions in Hong Kong are no
>     longer tenable/in compliance with findings and declarations under
>     "22 USC Ch. 66 - Subchapter 1 - Policy (United States-Hong Kong
>     Policy)"  [
>     https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter66&edition=prelim
>     AND
>     https://www.state.gov/prc-national-peoples-congress-proposal-on-hong-kong-national-security-legislation/
>     ]  and therefore, recommending that the standing US policy be
>     revoked, only complicates matters *(enormously)* for ALL residents
>     of Hong Kong.
>
>     Adjacently, in media reporting from the Sub-Continent, NDTV has
>     noted the sentiments of a Hotel Manager and a female protester as
>     follows:
>
>         /"I'm scared ... if you don't come out today, you'll never be
>         able to come out. This is legislation that directly affects
>         us," said Ryan Tsang, a hotel manager.//
>         //
>         /AND/
>         //
>         //"Although you're afraid inside your heart, you need to speak
>         out," said Chang, 29, a clerk and protester dressed in black
>         with a helmet respirator and goggles in her backpack.//
>
>         /
>
>     Street demonstrations aside, how are the residents of Hong Kong to
>     productively determine their future, and can they?  Is
>     "showing-up" on the street, the adequate measure to be taken?
>
>     *(**Comments Continue below the link)*
>
>     *Riot Police Deployed In Hong Kong Over Protests Against Chinese
>     Anthem Bill*
>     The anthem bill is set for a second reading on Wednesday and is
>     expected to become law next month.
>     NDTV
>     May 27, 2020 11:37 am IST
>     https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/riot-police-deployed-in-hong-kong-over-protests-against-chinese-anthem-bill-2235785
>
>     --->
>
>     Given the escalations we are witnessing, what is the strategy (if
>     any) of/for residents and their political future in Hong Kong? 
>     What, if anything, can Liberatontech do to support in that regard,
>     is a question that could - more concretely - be posed.... 
>     (personal view)...    External to that, WHAT precisely must/can
>     Liberationtech 'brainstorm', and with what goal for Hong Kong in mind?
>
>     A few more recent open-source media reports that might bre more
>     informational for the membership....
>
>     *Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing defends China's plans for
>     security law*
>     CNN Digital Rebranding 2013
>     By Michelle Toh,
>     CNN Business
>     Updated 8:08 AM ET, Wed May 27, 2020
>     https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/27/business/li-ka-shing-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html
>
>     -->
>
>     *China's Hong Kong law set to bar foreign judges from national
>     security cases: sources*
>     Yew Lun Tian
>     REUTERS
>     MAY 26, 2020
>     https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-hongkong-security/chinas-hong-kong-law-set-to-bar-foreign-judges-from-national-security-cases-sources-idUSKBN2321CW
>
>     BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing’s planned national security
>     legislation for Hong Kong is set to block its foreign judges from
>     handling national security trials, people familiar with the matter
>     said, which would exacerbate concerns about the city’s judicial
>     independence.
>     -- 
>     /Dr. Robert Mathews, D.Phil.
>     Principal Technologist &
>     //Distinguished Senior Research Scholar//
>     //Office of Scientific Inquiry & Applications (OSIA)//
>     //University of Hawai'i/
>
>
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