The Umbrellas Are Back!
By: Marc S. Ryan
Tags: China, Poland, Hong Kong, Democracy, Current Events

Hong Kong Today Reminds Me Of Poland 30 Some Years Ago

Hong Kong sits on the cusp after its third major anti-government demonstration on Sunday. Estimates from demonstrators suggest that as many as 2 million people (the island city has just short of 7.5 million total residents) turned out to protest the proposed extradition law, which would allow those accused of crimes to be extradited to mainland China. The protests are reminiscent of the late 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement with one exception — the crowds appear to be much larger.

While the Hong Kong government has backed down and has set aside the extradition proposal for now, citizens want the bill withdrawn completely and are asking for pro-Beijing Chief Executive Carrie Lam to resign. So, the demonstrations have now gone beyond the extradition bill to Hong Kong’s political status and its future. While the Umbrella Movement failed to win concessions (beyond embarrassing the Hong Kong government and Beijing), these protests have already won at least one and could win many more over time.

The events remind me a great deal of events in Poland back in the 1980s. It was the Solidarity movement that challenged the Polish communist government for about a decade and ultimately caused the regime to crumble, which sparked the eventual collapse of the Iron Curtain and communism in Eastern Europe. As a young student in Poland in 1985, I had the privilege of marching along side Poles who were seeking freedom and democracy.

May 1 (May Day or Socialist Workers’ Day during the communist era) and May 3 (Polish Constitution Day) were among the days that saw the greatest demonstrations against the communist government at the time. On May 3, 1985, Poland was still a powder keg (even after the lifting of martial law) and I witnessed the absolute brutality of the communist regime that day. After a Mass at St. John’s Cathedral, Poles of all walks of life began singing Boze Cos Polska (God Save Poland) and wanted to march peacefully from the downtown cathedral near Castle Square to the Palace of Culture uptown, all in the name of independence and Solidarity. Thousands were on hand.

The Polish security police, the Zomos, fitted with shields and bats, stormed the crowd over time with tear gas, water cannon fire and their brute force. From our refuge point with a CBS news crew and two U.S. embassy officials, we watched as demonstrators were beaten and dragged away. To this day, I remember vividly how I looked on in horror as a young girl, no more than 17 or 18 years old, had nowhere to go. Her effort at sinking into a nearby brick wall proved futile as a Zomo pulled her away and began clubbing her in the head and stomach. Her screams and efforts to protect her head only attracted more attention. Three other Zomos wandered over and beat her still further. She was dragged away as were hundreds of other wounded demonstrators that day.

I share all of this because Hong Kongers of today are like my heroic Polish friends 30-some years ago. The Poles had their democracy between World War I and World War II, only to lose it as the Soviet Union made Eastern European countries its satellites. The Poles knew what freedom and democracy were — they had gotten a taste of it. Notwithstanding centuries of domination by foreign powers, they also had a rich liberal tradition dating back to the 16th century.

While direct representation took time in Hong Kong under British rule (in part hobbled by Chinese objections as the transfer became closer), prior to the Chinese takeover Hong Kongers did enjoy living in a relatively free society governed by the rule of law. Since that time, mainland communist China has sought to undermine the transfer’s promise of “one country, two systems” by exerting control over the Hong Kong government and undermining free speech, assembly and self-determination. China has set up a rigged representation system that guarantees pro-Beijing members control the legislature and executive branch. Opponents have been jailed for their role in the Umbrella Movement (although a prominent one was just released). The extradition bill was yet another move. It would mean those charged with a crime might just disappear and not be subject to Hong Kong’s democratic-based criminal justice code. Instead, they would be under communist China’s no-rule-of-law system. Indeed, many opponents of the emerging rigged “democratic” system have been abducted and have disappeared — some showing up on the mainland. They have no legal recourse at all. So, what then would happen if the extradition law actually passed?

Many of the activist Hong Kongers, most of them young, have declared that they will not sit idly by as their democratic future dissipates through insidious moves directed by a regime in Beijing that is paranoid of any dissent. These heroes see democracy and independence as too important.

That day in Poland in May 1985, I would have told you that freedom for Eastern Europe was years off given all that the communist regime had at its disposal. Few Kremlin watchers at the time would have told you that the events in Warsaw, Prague, East Berlin, Budapest, Timisoara, Sofia, and Moscow would have come and passed so quickly. Few predicted the rapidity with which the Iron Curtain fell. But the day after the march, I understood that something rather profound was happening. As I interviewed my friends about the events and why they continued to demonstrate given the fear and horror we had witnessed, each of them came back with roughly the same reaction. One said it the best: “When you believe in something as bad as we do, sometimes you have to be beaten for it.”

Beijing has to be fearful. “Shield Girl” as they have dubbed her during these recent demonstrations is reminiscent of “Tank Man” of 1989 Tiananmen Square fame. Both remind me of Polish hero Grzegorz Przemyk, an 18-year old aspiring Poet killed at the hands of Polish communist authorities in 1983 for his and his mother’s pro-democracy activities. He was born the same year I was, but was dead two years before I marched with my Polish friends. The communists murdered this young man, much as they did Solidarity supporter and priest Jerzy Popielusko a year later. That day during the march, we publicly remembered both of them as well as the other heroes of the movement.

Beijing has a tight grip on the mainland, snuffing out most dissent and keeping urban Chinese happy with material wealth. But what if Hong Kongers don’t view material wealth as an adequate substitute for the freedom their country enjoyed in the past? Could a successful movement in Hong Kong ignite all of China, much as Solidarity did for Eastern Europe? What might an economic slowdown in China contribute to all of this?

While Chinese Leader Xi looks outward when it comes to economic transformation, he is decidedly totalitarian when it comes to party rule, dissent, and absolute control. Thus far, the 6,000 troops of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army garrisoned in Hong Kong have not been called out (although some suggest Army personnel have been given police uniforms). So how China proper reacts as the demonstrations continue is anyone’s guess. But I hope the Hong Kongers, who appear to believe as deeply in freedom as my Polish friends did 30-some years ago, get the changes they are demanding. In time, as it did in Poland, the inconquerable human spirit triumphs.

Marc S. Ryan is a healthcare consultant writing on the emerging healthcare landscape, health plan issues (including compliance and quality) and current healthcare events. He periodically writes on foreign affairs and world events as well.