Readers from myriad latitudes have been asking me about Hong
Kong. They know it’s one of my previous homes. I developed a complex,
multi-faceted relationship with Hong Kong ever since the 1997 handover, which I
covered extensively. Right now, if you allow me, I’d rather cut to the chase.
Much to the distress of
neocons and humanitarian imperialists, there won’t be a bloody mainland China
crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong – a Tiananmen 2.0. Why? Because it’s not
worth it.
Beijing has clearly
identified the color revolution provocation inbuilt in the protests – with the
NED excelling as CIA soft, facilitating the sprawl of fifth columnists even in
the civil service.
There are other components,
of course. The fact that Hong Kongers are right to be angry about what is a de
facto Tycoon Club oligarchy controlling every nook and cranny of the economy.
The local backlash against “the invasion of the mainlanders”. And the
relentless cultural war of Cantonese vs. Beijing, north vs. south, province vs.
political center.
What
these protests have accelerated is Beijing’s conviction that Hong Kong is not
worth its trust as a key node in China’s massive integration/development
project. Beijing invested no less than $18.8 billion to build the Hong
Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, as part of the Greater Bay Area, to integrate Hong
Kong with the mainland, not to snub it.
Now a bunch of useful idiots
at least has graphically proven they don’t deserve any sort of preferential
treatment anymore.
The big story in Hong Kong is
not even the savage, counter-productive protests (imagine if this was in
France, where Macron’s army is actually maiming and even killing Gilets
Jaunes/Yellow Vests). The big story is the rot consuming HSBC – which has all
the makings of the new Deutsche Bank scandal.
HSBC holds $2.6 trillion in
assets and an intergalactic horde of cockroaches in their basement – asking
serious questions about money laundering and dodgy deals operated by global
turbo-capitalist elites.
In the end, Hong Kong will be
left to its own internally corroding devices – slowly degrading to its final
tawdry status as a Chinese Disneyland with a Western veneer. Shanghai is
already in the process of being boosted as China’s top financial center. And
Shenzhen already is the top high-tech hub. Hong Kong will be just an
afterthought.
Brace
for blowback
While China identified
“Occupy Hong Kong” as a mere Western-instilled and instrumentalized plot,
India, for its part, decided to go for Full Occupy in Kashmir.
Curfew was imposed all across
the Kashmir valley. Internet was cut off. All Kashmiri politicians were rounded
up and arrested. In fact all Kashmiris – loyalists (to India), nationalists,
secessionists, independentists, apolitical – were branded as The Enemy. Welcome
to Indian “democracy” under the crypto-fascist Hindutva.
“Jammu and Kashmir”, as we
know it, is no more. They are now two distinct entities. Geologically
spectacular Ladakh will be administered directly by New Delhi. Blowback is
guaranteed. Resistance committees are already springing up.
In Kashmir, blowback will be
even bigger because there will be no elections anytime soon. New Delhi does not
want that kind of nuisance – as in dealing with legitimate representatives. It
wants full control, period.
Starting
in the early 1990s, I’ve been to both sides of Kashmir a few times. The
Pakistani side does feel like Azad (“Free”) Kashmir. The Indian side is
unmistakably Occupied Kashmir. This analysis is as
good as it gets portraying what it means to live in IOK (Indian-occupied
Kashmir).
BJP minions in India scream
that Pakistan “illegally” designated Gilgit-Baltistan – or the Northern Areas –
as a federally administered area. There’s nothing illegal about it. I was
reporting in Gilgit-Baltistan late last year, following the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC). Nobody was complaining about any “illegality”.
Pakistan officially said it
“will exercise all possible options to counter [India’s] illegal steps” in
Kashmir. That’s extremely diplomatic. Imran Khan does not want confrontation –
even as he knows full well Modi is pandering to Hindutva fanatics, aiming to
turn a Muslim-majority province into a Hindu-majority province. In the long run
though, something inevitable is bound to emerge – fragmented, as a guerrilla
war or as a united front.
Welcome to the Kashmiri Intifada.
The
views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of
the Strategic
Culture Foundation.
Independent geopolitical analyst, writer and journalist.
Copyright © 2019 Strategic Culture Foundation | Republishing is welcomed with reference to Strategic Culture online journal www.strategic-culture.org.
Copyright © 2019 Strategic Culture Foundation | Republishing is welcomed with reference to Strategic Culture online journal www.strategic-culture.org.