The March for Democracy

This past Sunday Eric had the opportunity to be a part of Hong Kong and China history. He along with one of our friends Sarah, took part in the democracy march. With several hundred thousand people taking to the street, the people of Hong Kong seemed to unite in a way that I have never seen. In peaceful protest, they streamed along the streets of Hong Kong’s harbor for the entire day, erupting with purpose in a way that the mainland fears.



As a special administrative region (SAR) of China, Hong Kong (like Macau and to some extent Taiwan) enjoys a unique arrangement that encourages commerce and integration with the mainland while maintaining two systems, separate government, economic policy, and other key governmental functions. It is not this that the people seem opposed to, in fact, from what I’ve seen, complete independence is not the goal. Rather, the people of Hong Kong want the right to elect their own head representative and to move towards a democratic government.

Oddly, at least in the media and press that I’ve seen, there has been little international support or discussion of this movement. America is quick to endorse Taiwan and where is the support for Hong Kong? At the march, Eric reported seeing no other foreigners (at least of different skin color) at the march, which in a city that is packed with foreigners is quite a statement. People at the march were amazed to see gweilos (white people or foreigners) marching with them in support and they loved it.



Hopefully when Eric stops for a holiday break in a few weeks he’ll have some time to write about the experience so I can post more. I can’t express how proud I am of him and Sara for going. These pictures are really moving for me in a way I would never have expected. I am sad I was not there to participate in what was an amazing statement about the power of reasoned people acting together.