Moving to ban face masks, Beijing on Thursday took another step toward turning Hong Kong into another mainland gulag. But as with previous efforts to trample the Hong Kong protest movement, this one will fail.
The more Chinese authorities seek to repress Hongkongers, the more they will resist. There are only two options that might end these protests: negotiating with a mind to making serious concessions, or crushing the protesters with a military deployment.
Still, as the BBC notes, the city’s council is expected to grant its chief executive Carrie Lam with judicial authority under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance. The authority would allow Lam to ban face masks in public and take other non-judicially warranted actions against protesters and public gatherings. The decision almost certainly comes straight from Beijing, which has grown furious over the city’s inability to quell the protesters. This anger grew this week as Hongkongers undercut mainland celebrations of Communist China’s 70th anniversary.
The problem facing Beijing is that Hongkongers aren’t willing to yield to its pathetic demand that they give up. The mask ban can be introduced, but Hongkongers will simply ignore it. Indeed, the ban will likely encourage more protesters to wear more ostentatious masks. Hongkongers sense they have the initiative.
Why, then, does China think this ban will work? Because China is run by Communist authoritarians. And Communist authoritarians believe that enough repression will eventually achieve the result. I look forward to their reeducation on that understanding.
