One of the Chinese Communist Party's main justifications for authoritarianism is the idea that Chinese people, due to their unique culture and history, need to be tightly controlled in order for their society to flourish.

Hong Kong and Taiwan both disprove that argument.

CCP-supporting people that I know all tend to make this argument. "You just don't understand what Chinese people are like," they tell me. "They're so badly behaved. They need control."

Jackie Chan even said this, a decade ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/arts/20arts-JACKIECHANSA_BRF.html

But Hong Kong and Taiwan offer living proof that this argument is bullshit. Although they have very different systems, both are liberal societies where people are free to express themselves, and are not subject to tight government control.

And both are prosperous and successful.

Hong Kong and Taiwan offer a glimpse of what Chinese society *could* be like if the government respected the Chinese people more.

Perhaps that is why China's government is so eager to crush Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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