THE END OF 1997 IS IN SIGHT

Tens of thousands have flocked to the central district to voice their objections to the northern capitol's heavy-handed pre-selection of candidates, and during the weekend they broke into the yamen and defied calls to leave. Outrage has mounted, and on the government side the Mandarins are adamant that they will not give in.

Their jobs -- and their tailored suits -- depend on their resolve.
All who oppose them are 'little people'.

From a distance of over ten thousand kilometres, it looks like soon a tipping point may be reached, in which troops from Stanley may be employed for "crowd control", despite C. Y. Leung's hesitation.


Do I really trust the bureaucrats in the north?


More to the point, should anyone?


The personal histories of the ruling elite incline them against the south, and they remember how useful the 38th. was twenty five years ago.
It is unlikely that they will allow matters to continue.


The concept of 'yat gwok leung jai' was never sincerely implimented in the first place, and that small island and its peninsula were only useful as long as the rapacious relatives of generals and ministers could make obscene profits. Historically that class would gladly cut off its feet if the toes rebelled; how little will they care if they have to use force?


They may end up being more subtle than I think.
Or far more brutal than could be imagined.


Either way, we will probably end up with far more Cantonese speakers in the Bay Area in the next few years.


Once 'those who must be silenced' are covered by a spanking new layer of concrete, the authorities will claim that they had to act because of radical elements, and that they did so only to preserve the spirit of article forty five, and vouchsafe the fairness of the vote for their handpicked chief executive in three years time.
In a dictatorship, plausible deniability is with the government.
Because for them everything is 'plausible'.




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