Hong Kong’s Candles in the Wind
The persistence of one vocal group provides Beijing with an argument that the city continues to be an intermediary between China and the democratic world.
The 2019 edition of the June 4 candlelight vigil.
Photographer: Justin Chin/BloombergBeijing chose President Biden’s inauguration day to announce sanctions on outgoing members of the Trump administration for, among other things, penalizing Chinese officials blamed for eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy. In a familiar refrain, the foreign ministry chastened the U.S. for interfering in China’s internal affairs.
Hong Kong is Chinese territory; that isn’t in dispute. Yet to assert that what happens in the city is purely a domestic issue is to ignore the crucial role that the former British colony has played as a bridge between the Communist system and the democratic world, a legacy that has enduring relevance for the prospects of future cooperation between the two spheres.