#China state media is reacting with glee to the violent protests in the US and drawing comparisons with #HongKong and goading @realDonaldTrump to condemn both. There are some similarities between the 2 situations, but not the ones China would be comfortable highlighting.
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The most obvious comparison is the massive wealth & income inequality in both the US & HK (which is even worse in HK) which is impacting the young and the disadvantaged particularly hard and leaving them frozen out of the economy.
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These issues have been festering for years and exacerbated by governments in both the US and HK which are seen as out of touch and incapable of listening to the grievances and anger of many ordinary people.
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These issues are the underlying tensions behind protests in both HK and the US. Protests are a cry for help from people who have for too long been ignored by their governments. But there are also some big differences between the 2 situations. Notably -
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In the US peaceful demonstrators are allowed to protest even when they are technically breaking curfew laws. There is a recognition by the police and authorities of "civil disobedience".
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In HK peaceful marchers and demonstrators simply singing songs in shopping malls are routinely attacked by the police. There is no sense of proportionality even if they are breaking social distancing rules as police claim.
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The first aim of US police is to defuse and deescalate tensions. They are often seen entering into dialogue with protesters where it can calm the situation. HK police seem to have no sense of how to deescalate a situation with many accusing it of making things worse.
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US police openly encourage civic leaders to try and help defuse tensions and work with them. This has often helped to calm a heated situation and helped reduce tensions.
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In HK police arrest Legco members & District Councillors (always pan-democrats) who are trying to mediate. Those who try to defuse protests before they get out of hand are treated no differently from protesters & face ridiculous charges such as shouting through a megaphone.
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The US police have shown a huge amount of respect to the family of the murdered man and his memory. They have bowed and knelt at the spot where he was murdered and prayed when his name is mentioned.
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HK police insult and disrespect protesters and journalist covering the protests alike. They have dismantled Lennon Walls and failed to pay adequate respect to the student who tragically fell to his death during the protests last summer.
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Perhaps most importantly, in the US one police officer has been arrested and charged with murder and several others fired. The head of police in Minneapolis has described the incident as an "outrage to humanity.
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HK's chief of police has expressed no regrets over widespread evidence of police abuse & brutality No one has been arrested or charged. The police even refuse to hand over names of officers to prevent private prosecutions.
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In the US when this is over there will no doubt be a public inquiry and there is still a sense that police can be held accountable by the people they are supposed to serve.
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In HK, Carrie Lam repeatedly refuses to order a public inquiry into the widespread reports of brutality. In HK many people feel the police have become a paramilitary and sectarian force that even the HK government can't control as they are the enforcement agents of the CCP.
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The HK government slanders the vast majority of peaceful protesters as "terrorists" and "secessionists" when what they are really marching for is meaningful elections and accountability for both the government and the police to the people of HK.
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In short, if the police are to be trusted to uphold basic rights and enforce the law impartially, there needs to be a process to investigate and punish abuses where necessary. No police force can be seen to be above the law.
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And if the government can't do that then the citizens will hold them to account and remove them if necessary. The process exists in the US. It doesn't in HK.
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