It is 5:20 in the evening in Hong Kong and the government has declared that major roadways, blocked by democracy protesters for a week, will be "cleared" by Monday morning, in 13 hours.
"Cleared:" chilling word, that. "Clear the square" was the final command given by Zhongnanhai on June 4, 1989. The massacre of democracy protesters in Tiananmen occurred thereafter. There are a limited number ways to express the same intent in any language I imagine but "open" is synonymous in context. "Open" the roads would have been less ominous but that's not the word used by the Hong Kong authorities.
In response to attacks by middle-aged men on protest sites the students redoubled their protests. If they redouble their efforts in the face of "Clear the roads" some protesters will be killed.
I want what the protesters want. I know, they know, they are not going to get democracy. In fact, they are going to get nothing that advances democracy. Now, they have to decide if they want to die. I do not want to want that for them.
If they want to die, they can choose the time and manner of their deaths. They can refuse to clear the roads and remain peaceful and they will get shot and be made road kill by armored vehicles.
They can die by refusing to disperse and abandoning peaceful protesting, that is they can become violent themselves and die trying to kill the police and troops. If they choose that manner of dying they are so concentrated that for the police and troops it will be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
If they want to die but don't want to make it as easy on their killers as shooting fish in a barrel they can disperse and become guerrillas. If they become guerrillas they have a good chance of ending Hong Kong's prosperity; foreign businesses and capital will flee and the protesters turned guerrillas will be able to kill more police and troops before they die, but they will still die.
"Cleared:" chilling word, that. "Clear the square" was the final command given by Zhongnanhai on June 4, 1989. The massacre of democracy protesters in Tiananmen occurred thereafter. There are a limited number ways to express the same intent in any language I imagine but "open" is synonymous in context. "Open" the roads would have been less ominous but that's not the word used by the Hong Kong authorities.
In response to attacks by middle-aged men on protest sites the students redoubled their protests. If they redouble their efforts in the face of "Clear the roads" some protesters will be killed.
I want what the protesters want. I know, they know, they are not going to get democracy. In fact, they are going to get nothing that advances democracy. Now, they have to decide if they want to die. I do not want to want that for them.
If they want to die, they can choose the time and manner of their deaths. They can refuse to clear the roads and remain peaceful and they will get shot and be made road kill by armored vehicles.
They can die by refusing to disperse and abandoning peaceful protesting, that is they can become violent themselves and die trying to kill the police and troops. If they choose that manner of dying they are so concentrated that for the police and troops it will be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
If they want to die but don't want to make it as easy on their killers as shooting fish in a barrel they can disperse and become guerrillas. If they become guerrillas they have a good chance of ending Hong Kong's prosperity; foreign businesses and capital will flee and the protesters turned guerrillas will be able to kill more police and troops before they die, but they will still die.
