4 ms·

The situation in HK is depressing, especially when Western corporations and politicians seem to admire the CCP more than democratic activists. What can an indi

The situation in HK is depressing, especially when Western corporations and politicians seem to admire the CCP more than democratic activists. What can an individual do to help Hong Kongers? Any suggestions?

baybal2 6y ago
> What can an individual do to help Hong Kongers? Any suggestions? How many firearms, and ammo you can buy, and how many politicians you can lobby? Even if you are a single digit millionaire, that's just enough to arm, and feed no more than a single lightly armed battalion for a few months. I see other option than a military solution, either limited, or not. Even if any Western power decide on half hearted piecemeal solution like smuggling weapons into to China, and rile up the populace, it will only bleed China a very, very little. China easily endure waging a civil war the size of Syrian, and continue growing economically like if nothing happened.
- knolax 6y ago
  > How many firearms, and ammo you can buy How would you feel if I advocated for arming communist rebels in your country? It's disturbing how normalized calls to violence are on HN when the violence happens far away.
  - koonsolo 6y ago
    US communist rebels can already go to a store and buy some assault rifles :D. So what is your point? Maybe the point is that armed people in a democracy is not that big of a deal, but armed people in a dictatorship can be a real problem.
    - knolax 6y ago
      > Maybe the point is that armed people in a democracy is not that big of a deal, but armed people in a dictatorship can be a real problem. You can scroll down a couple posts to see people being outraged that those who stormed the Capitol had weapons and bombs with them. I wonder how cavalier your attitude remains when the guns are pointed at your face. Then again second amendment fanatics like you are already totally fine with school shootings.
      - koonsolo 6y ago
        Sorry, not from US, so also not a second amendment fanatic. I like the gun laws of EU better. I was just pointing out the fact that "arming US fanatics" was a funny statement because they can just go out and buy guns anyway.
- ceilingcorner 6y ago
  Not quite what I had in mind. Thinking more like: support relocation plans for Hong Kongers, nonprofits to donate to, etc.
wwwwwwwww 6y ago
> The situation in HK is depressing, It sure is. HK was my favorite city. Great place. I liked to live in China too, but left when Xi got into power, because it was all too obvious, even 10 years ago, what would happen. The turn to nationlism, xenophobia, and imperialism under Xi is insane. And the lack of reaction to it in the West (with the exception of the Trump administration) is even more insane.
- utbabya 6y ago
  Compared to never been there, it's particularly painful because it's a regression from a fairly just, rather first-world system. As a HKese I had the luxury to spend time on little things that make me happy in my teenage just like all teenagers do. It breaks my heart seeing youngsters standing on the front line shredding blood and tears, for things I took for granted. I really worry about the mental health of this generation. Although it wasn't too obvious. As you might already know there's movie called Ten Years made in 2015, imagining 2025 HK after CCP erosion on culture, human rights and rule of law. 2017 me thought[0] it was an "exaggeration". Now it's just been upgraded to one of the most prophetic movies. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776951 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776951
abc-xyz 6y ago
Boycott everything Made in China (I’ve been doing it for years, and it’s not that difficult.. I mean if you can find alternative for 9 out of 10 goods then it’s of course still a big win). Similarly, boycott companies that kowtow to China (you can probably save a lot of money by doing so, e.g. by pirating all Disney movies/tv series instead of going to the cinema/paying for Disney+). Support companies that voice support for those oppressed by the CCP (such as ProtonVPN, Notepad++). Vote for politicians that are not afraid to stand up to CCP (I for instance voted for Trump despite having my political views mostly align with Sanders - solely due to his anti-China stance.. you can of course also argue that his administration has singlehandedly done more to stand up to China than the rest of the world combined in the past couple decades). Spread awareness of China’s atrocities. If more people realized that CCP are even more evil and dangerous than Nazi Germany then we’d likely see more aggressive policies towards China (such as banning their companies from our markets, keeping the tariffs (Biden said he’d end them) - hopefully with other countries similarly implementing tariffs).

baybal2 6y ago

> What can an individual do to help Hong Kongers? Any suggestions? How many firearms, and ammo you can buy, and how many politicians you can lobby? Even if you are a single digit millionaire, that's just enough to arm, and feed no more than a single lightly armed battalion for a few months. I see other option than a military solution, either limited, or not. Even if any Western power decide on half hearted piecemeal solution like smuggling weapons into to China, and rile up the populace, it will only bleed China a very, very little. China easily endure waging a civil war the size of Syrian, and continue growing economically like if nothing happened.

knolax 6y ago
> How many firearms, and ammo you can buy How would you feel if I advocated for arming communist rebels in your country? It's disturbing how normalized calls to violence are on HN when the violence happens far away.
- koonsolo 6y ago
  US communist rebels can already go to a store and buy some assault rifles :D. So what is your point? Maybe the point is that armed people in a democracy is not that big of a deal, but armed people in a dictatorship can be a real problem.
  - knolax 6y ago
    > Maybe the point is that armed people in a democracy is not that big of a deal, but armed people in a dictatorship can be a real problem. You can scroll down a couple posts to see people being outraged that those who stormed the Capitol had weapons and bombs with them. I wonder how cavalier your attitude remains when the guns are pointed at your face. Then again second amendment fanatics like you are already totally fine with school shootings.
    - koonsolo 6y ago
      Sorry, not from US, so also not a second amendment fanatic. I like the gun laws of EU better. I was just pointing out the fact that "arming US fanatics" was a funny statement because they can just go out and buy guns anyway.
ceilingcorner 6y ago
Not quite what I had in mind. Thinking more like: support relocation plans for Hong Kongers, nonprofits to donate to, etc.

wwwwwwwww 6y ago

> The situation in HK is depressing, It sure is. HK was my favorite city. Great place. I liked to live in China too, but left when Xi got into power, because it was all too obvious, even 10 years ago, what would happen. The turn to nationlism, xenophobia, and imperialism under Xi is insane. And the lack of reaction to it in the West (with the exception of the Trump administration) is even more insane.

utbabya 6y ago
Compared to never been there, it's particularly painful because it's a regression from a fairly just, rather first-world system. As a HKese I had the luxury to spend time on little things that make me happy in my teenage just like all teenagers do. It breaks my heart seeing youngsters standing on the front line shredding blood and tears, for things I took for granted. I really worry about the mental health of this generation. Although it wasn't too obvious. As you might already know there's movie called Ten Years made in 2015, imagining 2025 HK after CCP erosion on culture, human rights and rule of law. 2017 me thought[0] it was an "exaggeration". Now it's just been upgraded to one of the most prophetic movies. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776951 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14776951

abc-xyz 6y ago

Boycott everything Made in China (I’ve been doing it for years, and it’s not that difficult.. I mean if you can find alternative for 9 out of 10 goods then it’s of course still a big win). Similarly, boycott companies that kowtow to China (you can probably save a lot of money by doing so, e.g. by pirating all Disney movies/tv series instead of going to the cinema/paying for Disney+). Support companies that voice support for those oppressed by the CCP (such as ProtonVPN, Notepad++). Vote for politicians that are not afraid to stand up to CCP (I for instance voted for Trump despite having my political views mostly align with Sanders - solely due to his anti-China stance.. you can of course also argue that his administration has singlehandedly done more to stand up to China than the rest of the world combined in the past couple decades). Spread awareness of China’s atrocities. If more people realized that CCP are even more evil and dangerous than Nazi Germany then we’d likely see more aggressive policies towards China (such as banning their companies from our markets, keeping the tariffs (Biden said he’d end them) - hopefully with other countries similarly implementing tariffs).