Essay Example on Hong Kong Stability Threatened by Protests, Coronavirus

Hong Kong has been on the forefront in terms of economic, political and social stability in the recent past. However, protests over the autonomy of the city within China against the proposed Bill have affected the daily activities and the economy of the country. Due to the novel Coronavirus, the protests have reduced (Dupre, 2020). The protests are seeking to reverse the bid by the government to have Hong Kong citizens subjected to extradition to mainland China (Dupre, 2020). Although the protests are seeking to prevent compromise of the city's autonomy, they have led to massive destruction of property, deterioration of the economy and paralysis of education.

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Millions of people marched on the streets of Hong Kong protesting against the extradition bill with the fear that it will deny the city of freedom as well as political and legal autonomy. The critics of the bill argue that the legislation is set to undermine the independence of Hong Kong's legal system and risk the lives of a significant majority of the foreign nationals. It stems from the fact that the bill seeks to pave the way for suspects to be sent to mainland China to undergo trials (Lee et al., 2019).

According to the Hong Kong Chief Executive, the legislation will serve to have Hong Kong more responsible for upholding justice and meet its international obligations (Dupre, 2020). Even though Hong Kong holds bilateral extradition treaties with more than 15 countries with the UK, US, and Singapore inclusive, the amendments will see the sending of suspected offenders to countries where the territory bears no official extradition agreement with based case-by-case (Lee 2020). It is worth noting that they will have the opportunity to go through the decision, but they will not be allowed to critique the decisions made. The amendments were meant to cover 37 offences, which entail fraud and white-collar crimes.

Despite the fact the protest was for an excellent course, they have had their fair share of negative impacts. According to Lee (2020), Hong Kong's gross domestic product declined by 2.255 in 2019 and 5.85 in 2020, which will signal the country's first economic recession since the last one a decade ago. The economic downturn is attributed to a sharp decrease in the volume of retail sales. Private consumption accounts for more than 60% of the city's GDP, and therefore since the consumers have been cautious about spending owing to the protests, there has been a decline in the city's retail sales (Li & Zhong, 2020).

In addition, the protests have negatively impacted the countries tourism since Hong Kong now receives fewer tourists from mainland China. It is worth noting that they account for 80% of the tourists in the country (Lee, 2020). The protests have hard hit the stock exchange market since investors view the Hong Kong stock market as a way of buying and selling the Chinese assets. Learning has been paralyzed as students cannot go to school. If they continue for a significant period, everything in the city, which had a flourishing economy, will come to a standstill (Normile, 2019). Students from the city's top universities will now not be able to carry out their research due to the political unrest.

On top of that, the critics of the bill have it that it will give the Chinese judicial system to exercise torture, arbitrary detention, and pain of the Hong Kong citizens. The worst part of it is that nobody will be safe, ranging from activists, journalists, social workers, and lawyers championing for human rights (Mayberry, 2020). Some of the protesters like Lam Wing Kee, who is a bookseller in Hong Kong, told the BBC that he was once abducted and detained because he sold illegal books that criticized the Chinese leaders (Dupre, 2020). He added that he could not trust the government to offer him and other residents their security. A significant number of countries also were concerned with the effects of the bill if it was passed into law (Lee, 2020). A congressman in the US stated that such a law would render Hong Kong to the political coercion of China, which will be detrimental to its autonomy. Britain and Canada were "worried" regarding the potential impacts that proposed changes will bear on the UK and Canadian citizens in Hong Kong (Normile, 2019).

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the riots in Hong Kong have shaped the political landscape and the quality of life in the country. Without understanding the ramifications of the riots despite what they are championing for, it will be difficult to come up with workable and meaningful solutions. The case of Hong Kong is a clear indication that economic development can be stagnated if government administrations do not give due consideration to the effects that their decisions will have.

References

Dupre, J. F. (2020). Making Hong Kong Chinese: State Nationalism and its Blowbacks in a Recalcitrant City. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 26(1), 8-26.

Lee, F. (2020). Solidarity in the Anti-Extradition Bill movement in Hong Kong. Critical Asian Studies, 1-15.Lee, F. L., Yuen, S., Tang, G., & Cheng, E. W. (2019). Hong Kong's Summer of Uprising. China Review, 19(4), 1-32.

Lee, Y. (2020). Five charts show how protests in Hong Kong have affected the city's economy and the stock market.

Mayberry, K. (2020). Hong Kong's controversial extradition bill explained.

Normile, D. (2019). Hong Kong protests hit universities.