Wait a minute; Brits had HK for 150 years and they could have introduced FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY anytime. But they didn't. Why is that?

honestly, i totally support China, Hong Kong is Part of China, whats wrong of the coming law? If you guys don't like it just **** off and go away. If you want to stay in HK then accept it and 100%support China. I really want to see HK pilot got in Jail by this law.

mebbe the mods/admin could consider a smidgen of judicious wumao culling...

they are all over every HK/HK relevant forum so I guess it was only a matter of time but seriously...

So you want censorship?

So why does China insist on changing the rules and settings stricter? They are breaking their promises don't they? They would just need to wait and things would be "theirs" nice and quiet after some time. Why this demo of power and the constant escalation over and over again? Because they want that escalation to show off or what? I don't get the strategy behind it from the perspective of the communist party? Is this meant to be some demonstration to the mainland citizens somehow? Why would you risk some important business place and piss off the west when at the same time you already fiddle with reefs and claims?
What do they want?

If it means I don’t have to read anymore ‘I really want to see HK pilots got (sic) to jail’

yep, roll it on

I stand with JMock !!!!

Goodness me, it is so amazingly easy to see right through some isn't it?

Did any of you think China was going to allow the protests in HK to continue indefinitely? I was surprised they let them continue as long as they did, standing behind Carrie Lam and saying what a great job she was doing.

The fate of HK was sealed back in 1997. Xi wants control and he has the biggest stick so he will get it. In my opinion, the protests will not be allowed to escalate to previous levels.

China needs trade with the west and raw materials from all over the world. So why risk it all for this now? Why not just wait?
They seem to want this escalation and I wonder why?

Anyone who thinks Putin is more of a concern than Xi needs a lesson in scope and size. It’s so obvious that I think for some leftists it is an intentional deflection to focus on Russia. The hard left actually admires Xi. They love totalitarianism and socialism, but throw the word democratic in front to hide their true intentions. They dream of the day when they can be a permanent ruling class of “elites”.

What hordes? The ones who invest in property here? The ones who list their IPO's here? The ones who's factories are keeping CX in business? The whole idea that Hong Kong would function fine without China is ridiculous. The close proximity of mainland China and its growth is what built Hong Kong.
It's a bit like the argument the police incited the rioters. The rioters looted and smashed and burned Causeway Bay for hours without the HKPF there while cheering and yelling for the Police to turn up.
The GBA will shortly overtake Hong Kong, whether the locals like it or not. STW you're full of BS, what if it was your daughter that was raped and murdered? Would you be out on the streets cheering for the accused to walk free in Taiwan. 4500 petrol bombs thrown, over 160 bombs in the last 12 months. The sad part is few of the idiots protesting actually read what Article 23 is all about and they think that by destroying CX, attacking foreigners and damaging the economy in Hong Kong they will win.

It's a useful diversion from the CV-19 issues in China itself, also "never waste a crisis" - snaffle it now while no-one cares (not that 90% of the world's population does anyway)

It was always possible it would happen after 1997 but it's not going to do them much good in the long term.

Uhhhh, because much the West is going to be putting the screws to the Chinese economy over the next decade. Or did I miss something?

China has lost some of their economic leverage, so they are now exerting themselves on the geopolitical stage. As China’s economy and demographics decline, they become more like Russia and North Korea, and less like the West.

China was always going to absorb HKG, like Macau and Tibet and any other is deems it can get. The agreements at hand-over were just to get the job done.

If you look at the way China has colonised Africa in the last 20 years, then you will see how it works.

It is very sad. It was inevitable. No, the West cannot stop it, even if they wanted to.

The West most assuredly could stop it, although they (we) will likely choose not to. China may be able to effectively defend its own territory, but it most assuredly cannot take its war fighting capability across the globe like the West can and does.

It might be that the West could stop - but they will not (as you know). Over the last 25 years of oursourcing and remote manufacture, the West has handed the 'keys' over to China. Since repatriating all the manufacturing would jack up prices considerably, China is in the clear. And knows it.

In 1938 there was the Munich Agreement. But one signatary already knew that they would break it and the paper was a holding procedure. There are other examples in political and commercial life where agreements were made for the sake of cameras and to get the transaction done.

So you’re comparing China to the Nazis? Regrettably, I wish that was far fetched. The Chinese are perhaps worse racists. Like the Nazis, they will have to be confronted at some point. Let’s hope the West still has the capability to do so when that time comes.

COVID has guaranteed further demise of western military capabilities, as budgets strained, and rebuilding after decades long war of terror, leaves force structures inadequate.

The US, Japan and Australia will naturally forge closer multilateral military links. Maybe the Brits will come back to Malaysia? That's a start.

I stand with JMock too, because we are China Lover. We like China, that’s all