＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added 1 July 2020> “One country, two systems” has effectively collapsed with the passage of the Hong Kong National Security Law
The Hong Kong National Security Law came into force on June 30, 2020. As a result, Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” has effectively collapsed. In this regard, I believe that this is an outrageous act that violates President Jiang Zemin’s declaration that “Hong Kong will be granted a high degree of autonomy and one country, two systems will be maintained for 50 years after its return from the UK.” I believe that the Japanese government should join forces with Western countries and express its strong opposition.
Recently, we have frequently seen reports of human rights abuses by the Chinese government, such as its “oppression of the Tibetan ethnic minority living in the Tibet Autonomous Region,” “oppression of the Uighur ethnic minority living in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region,” and “strong crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.”
On November 27, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act was signed into law by President Trump. The act requires the US State Department to conduct an annual review to ensure that the “one country, two systems” principle that guarantees Hong Kong’s autonomy is being upheld, and imposes sanctions on government officials involved in human rights violations in Hong Kong.
In this article, I would like to look at one of these laws, the Hong Kong democratization movement.
1. The recent Hong Kong democratization movement
When thinking about the current situation in Hong Kong, such as the recent “Hong Kong democratization movement,” it is important to look back at the past.
Britain was making huge profits by exporting opium produced in India to the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty, growing increasingly alarmed by the spread of opium, implemented a total ban on opium exports and confiscated and burned all opium held by British merchants, which prompted Britain to start a war. This was the “Opium Wars” (1840-1842).
Britain, which won this war, signed the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, forcing Hong Kong Island to be ceded to Britain as a direct colony. Later, in the Treaty of Beijing in 1860, Britain ceded the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula. Furthermore, as the division of China by the imperialist powers progressed, in 1898 Britain leased the northern part of the Kowloon Peninsula and the surrounding islands for 99 years.
Although Hong Kong was fully handed back to China from Britain in 1997, the capitalist and democratic systems and ideas from the British colonial period remain deeply rooted in the lives of many Hong Kong people.
For the people of Hong Kong, for whom these capitalist and democratic systems and ideas are deeply rooted, the distorted “one country, two systems” policy established by the one-party dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party is also limited in duration (50 years from the date of Hong Kong’s handover), and there has also been the recent issue of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance Amendment Bill (which was ultimately withdrawn following protests from pro-democracy citizens and students), which has led to growing feelings of anxiety and distrust, leading to the ongoing demonstrations.
The reason why the people of Hong Kong opposed the “Fugitive Offenders Ordinance Amendment Bill” was that “Hong Kongers who are inconvenient for the Chinese government (democracy activists, social commentators, etc. who have an antipathy towards the Chinese government) could be easily arrested and handed over to China on separate charges, be tried by the Chinese judicial system for crimes such as “inciting subversion of the government,” and have their human rights violated.” To put it more simply, there was a risk that “they could be easily detained and arrested, tortured, and made into criminals.” This “Fugitive Offenders Ordinance Amendment Bill” was also to be applied to “foreigners in Hong Kong.” Japanese people were not someone else’s concern.
There are occasional news reports of Japanese scholars or trading company employees being arrested and sentenced to prison in China on “spying suspicions” (which are probably false accusations), and the people of Hong Kong are likely fearful of such an eventuality.
In the November 2019 Hong Kong District Council elections, the pro-democracy camp won a landslide victory over the pro-China camp, winning over 80% of the seats. This was the result of Hong Kong citizens overwhelmingly supporting the pro-democracy camp, who held protests and demonstrations against China in pursuit of democratization.
2. The deadline for One Country, Two Systems and the Future of Hong Kong
(1) The deadline for One Country, Two Systems
What the Chinese government fears is that if the democratization movement in Hong Kong continues, there will be calls for an “extension” of “One Country, Two Systems,” which expires in 2047, or for Hong Kong to become independent. I think they are wary of this and are trying to strongly suppress the democratic camp.
This seems to suggest that the Chinese government is aiming to “make One Country, Two Systems a mere formality.” On the other hand, isn’t this a sign of the sense of crisis of the one-party dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party?
(2) The Basic Law of Hong Kong and the Future of Hong Kong
The Basic Law of Hong Kong, known as Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, states that “for 50 years, the current social, economic and legal systems will be maintained, and a high degree of autonomy will be recognized, except in military and diplomatic matters.”
The Basic Law of Hong Kong also clearly stipulates freedom of speech, press and publication, freedom of assembly and demonstration, and freedom of religion, which are restricted in mainland China. The recent oppressive attitude of the Hong Kong police against demonstrators seems to go against the Basic Law of Hong Kong. The suppression of demonstrations is likely the result of the strong wishes of the Chinese government…
Originally, “one country, two systems” was devised in 1978 to smoothly realize “peaceful unification with Taiwan” and “restoration of sovereignty for Hong Kong and Macau.” The Chinese government believed that if “one country, two systems” could be implemented successfully by granting a high degree of autonomy to capitalist regions such as Hong Kong and Macau, just like Taiwan, Taiwan could also trust this system and realize peaceful unification.
Due to my life expectancy, I don’t think I’ll be able to see what Hong Kong will look like in 2047. I think it would be best if the one-party dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party collapsed by then, and the whole of China joined the ranks of “capitalist countries with true democracy,” but that may just be a pipe dream.