You might remember – but you probably don’t – that in July of 2019, Hong Kong’s so-called “democracy protesters� rushed the main government building in that city, attacked people, committed vandalism and occupied the main legislative chamber. Here’s a little news bite from July 1, 2019 in the British Evening Standard: Hundreds of activists in... Read More

The abrupt fizzling-out of the Occupy Hong Kong a.k.a. Umbrella Movement is still something of a mystery. Everything was going so well.� Burgeoning street demonstrations, the� concentrated and largely favorable attention of the Hong Kong citizenry, increasingly vocal support by educational and liberal elites, breathless coverage by the international press, achievement of direct dialogue between... Read More

Chronicle of a Leak Foretold [I was preparing to post this on October 24.� If I had, I would have gained major Nostradamus cred, since I predicted the next shoe to drop from the pro-Beijing oppo research caterpillar would probably drop on Benny Tai’s head.� That’s because the leaks seem to track the Occupy strategy... Read More

FAQ 5 for the aborted Occupy Central poll: Not as silly as it sounds, IMO. Actually, to quote Admiral Akhbar, It’s A Trap! Specifically, if blues wanted to “freep� the poll en masse in an attempt to vote down the proposals, it would be at the cost of swelling the ranks of putative Umbrella Movement... Read More

Maybe the answer is Both. Nobody expects Xi Jinping to do something about C.Y. Leung just because Hong Kong student groups wrote him a letter. Key point, in my opinion, is to put it on record that C.Y. Leong is the deserving target of the movement’s righteous wrath. As to why the movement wants Leung... Read More

The student curtainraiser in Hong Kong appears to be over for now. A few hundred diehard students remain on post at the three main demonstration sites. In some places there are more journos than demonstrators. But don’t get the impression the movement has petered out. The grownups have appeared to take this political exercise to... Read More

It’s an open question how much energy the demonstrations in Hong Kong draw from a desire for democracy. After all, Hong Kong has never experienced democracy over the last two hundred odd years, which hasn’t seemed to hurt it too much as it galumphed its way into prosperity as a British and then Red Chinese... Read More

I was rather bemused by the fizzling of the student ultimatum calling for C.Y. Leung’s resignation by midnight Thursday, October 2. Leung said he wasn’t resigning but was designating a senior government official, Carrie Lam, to engage in dialogue with the students. And the students were, like, whatever. So, despite the fact that Leung didn’t... Read More

I’ve copyrighted the term Occupocalypse ©, Hong Kong Occupocalypse © and Occupocalypse Now! © as you can see. Please contact me for T-shirt and umbrella licensing, etc. But seriously... Interesting that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the UN General Secretary have all voiced concern about developments in Hong Kong and called for restraint.... Read More

It’s becoming easier to understand why the PRC landed on Ilham Tohti, the Uyghur “public intellectual� like a ton of bricks. Judging from the admittedly selective excerpts used at the kangaroo court to damn him to “indefinite detention�, reported perhaps not inaccurately in the West as a “life sentence�, Ilham hoped to use his bully... Read More