While I empathize with the plight of the Hong Kong population, the present global circumstances do not bode well for a successful outcome for them at this time. The United States and its sidekick Britain are squealing with joy; the protests are simply providing them with another possible justification for military conflict with China. Until something horrible happens to scare the pants off these demented global powers, no trade deal will be reached; China will not agree to the West's demands which relegate it to perpetual subordination and the U.S. will not agree to share the throne. I wonder if China will be wise enough to enable the Hong Kong authorities to strike a compromise with the protestors and in doing so, calm their home waters for a while.

Good point. China sees what is going on. They are well aware of UK and US funding of an anti-China movement in the guise of a pro-democracy movement or an anti-extradition movement or whatever other opportunities come up to attack China in the future. As a result, Hong Kong is of shrinking importance to China. China is investing heavily in Shenzhen to make it a model city that will replace Hong Kong in importance. By the time we get to 2047, Hong Kong will be a tiny part of China's GDP and not all that relevant. China will be able to deal with US/UK efforts to make it independent of China without much worry. It wil lnot be good for the people of Hong Kong, but they are getting in bed with the US and UK and will be the price with a return to being dominated by the west. I hope they break with the US/UK and ally with China as that would be best for the people of Hong Kong.
https://www.scmp.com/video/...

Thank you for clearing up all the CIA lunging attacks on China as the mainland prepares to become the leading economy in the world. This is the only site I've seen that tells the truth and doesn't pull the wool over the reader's eyes.

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others,’ an apposite description of state capitalist China which has over 100 billionaires. Together they have wealth equal to twice Ireland’s GDP! According to a Peking University report from 2016, the income disparity is getting worse with the top 1 percent owning a third of the country’s wealth and the bottom 25 percent of the population just 1 percent. The 99% never voted for this!

Capitalist hallmarks, such as class society, commodity production, profit motive, exploitation of wage labour, markets, etc., are found worldwide, including China and Hong Kong.

Yes. This is especially true in Hong Kong because it is a capitalist dystopia created by the UK when it colonized Hong Kong and put in stone for 50 years in the agreement to return Hong Kong to China. China cannot change the Hong Kong system and the Hong Kong system is failing in comparison to the state-controlled economic policy of China.

Is there any attempt to shift wealth back to workers on either side of this struggle?
I think not.

In Hong Kong, the Chinese do not control the government or economy. I do not see any effort to lift up workers, quite the opposite.

In China there are thousands of strikes and labor actions each year due to workers being under paid or mistreated. The Chinese government is well aware of this and realizes they must lift workers up if the Communist Party wants to keep monopoly control over the government. As we point out in the article, China "has lifted 800 million people out of poverty and built a middle class of over 420 million people, growing from four percent in 2002, to 31 percent." However, that is not enough especially when there is a tremendous wealth divide in China. Again, the government is aware of this and claims it is trying to do something to correct this. We'll see.

Are there demands made in the HK protests to shift wealth back to the working class? What is the composition of the rallies does it have a class character? https://uploads.disquscdn.c... The picture is of protests in Brisbane in solidarity with Hong Kong.

I have not heard of class demands being made. The attack on China is strange because China is not able to change Hong Kong's economy until 2047 and it cannot change its governance until then either. The protest movement has been funded not only by NED but by capitalists in Hong Kong. It is not a working class protest movement. See these two articles:

http://m.fightbacknews.org/...

https://thegrayzone.com/201...

The HK protesters have called for a ‘general strike’ and claim support from some unions but the major unions oppose them.

Equally, there is much worker unrest on the mainland.

Who among them could carry the working class?

Do you sympathise with the working class?

Isn't that the test?

Where are the model governments in the west for the working class to follow? There are some that think progress Will come from government, but surely it comes from the workers?

We sympathize with the working class in Hong Kong, China and the US as well as most of the world. Hong Kongers should focus on changing the neoliberal big finance capitaist economy that will continually mistreat workers in Hong Kong. It is their government that can change their situation in Hong Kong, not the Chinese government.

Allying with the US in an anti-China campaign will not get them what they need. The US is interested in Hong Kong because they want an independent uber-capitaist country on China's border. If hey get it, the US will militarize it and Hong Kong will become a US military base. This approach will end up being worse off for the workers of Hong Kong. They need to be independent of western capitalism if they want to improve their economic security.

The business lobby controls more than half of the legislature in HK.

Do you think change comes through politicians and government or through ordinary people making a stand?

You say: "Hong Kongers should focus on changing the neoliberal big finance capitaist economy" but do not say how? By bringing down the government?

The reason there are representatives of business in the legislature is because of Hong Kong law. It's legislature reserves half the seats for industry. Hong Kong has been a capitaist haven for decades. The UK built it that way and made China agee to leave it that way for 50 years after it was returned to China.

I am uncomfortable telling locals what to do to advance their goals because they know better than I do what is needed, but anti-China protests serve US and western interests, as well as the interests of the capitalists in Hong Kong, they do not serve the people's interests. They have very serious ecoonomic problems for the people of Hong Kong, e.g. housing prices are astronomical, wages are low, long hours are the norm and poverty is high. If I were an activist concerned about those issues in Hong Kong I would look for opportunities to raise specific issues of concern while also educating the public on the impacts of neolibaralism and how big finance capitalism leads to these results. So, I'd be working both on impoving specific issues and working for transformational change.

China has its challenges for workers as well but I would also be organizing to ensure that after 2047 changes are made to the Hong Kong ecnomy that serve he people of Hong Kong. I'd be doing outreach to China now to prepare for that time period.

If the Hong Kongers continue to be manipulated into anti-China protests, it will not serve them well. They need to stand for their own interests. How they do so is up to them.

Thanks Kevin for your article and for clarifying the answers to my questions much appreciated in solidarity Ian

Acknowledging the truth contained herein, still, when as much as 1/4
of the population comes out on a rainy day to protest, that magnitude
says something of the class character of the protest. It seems to me
that lack of trust that this extradition law would not be used against
any type of political protest is what fuels it. I doubt that there
would be this huge a crowd to protect economic crimes or run of the
mill criminal behavior. Jon

Don't be fooled by these protests. They are attacking the wrong target. If they want democracy, only the Hong Kong government can give it to them. Mainland China is not able to change the Hong Kong government or economy.

The extradition law was not a big deal. It was very limited in that it focused on people accused of offenses that could be impisoned by at least 7 years. The business lobby in Hong Kong opposed it because they control the Hong Kong government and therefore are not held accountable. Extradition could lead to them being prosecuted for business and finance crimes.

The US-funded NGOs that organized these protests are really anti-China groups wearing a disguise of pro-democracy or anti-extradition. The real purpose is to demonize China because the US national security strategy is 'great power conflict' and that means conflict with China. The protests, with professionally made signs in English, are designed to manufacture consent for escalating conflict with China.

Exactly. China still abides to the one country two systems agreement. If HK people want universal suffrage, only HK government can give it to them, but as you had already said, the business lobby controlled half of the legislature seats by legal force. In reality the business lobby actually controls more than half of the legislature. In a way, this reminds me of the British House of Lords the seats of which are entirely inherited by bloodlines. I wonder how many Americans and Chinese people (Hong Kong residents included) are aware of this. The business lobby will never entertain any chances that will erode the neoliberal capitalism advantage that the rich enjoys.

China is legally barred from intervening directly in HK legislature. China can try to influence but the final outcome rests with HK government. There is one thing that China can do though, that is removing one country two systems, which will fold HK back into the same one system as China is currently practicing. You are right that the protests are directing at the wrong target. The well planned protests and riots are designed to demonize China and sow chaos in Chinese territory as part of US national security policy of "great power conflict with China". The faster people wake up from this manufactured consent, the better.

" ... but the final outcome rests with HK government"... hmmm
HK is next to the largest economy in the world ... wouldn't Beijing have more influence over Carrie Lam than her own legislature?

You say 'the business lobby actually controls more than half of the legislature (in HK)'. Name a democracy where that is not the case?

Hong Kong goes a step further, not only can businesses lobby but of the 70 seats in their legislature, 35 are indirectly elected through trade-based functional constituencies. In otherwords, representatives of corporations are elected to the legislature in seats reserved for those constituencies. Corporations actually write and vote for laws.

Have you read "Taipan" by James Clavell ?

Australia has a long history of transnational mining corporations changing laws to suit their interests eg Adani had State and Federal governments and their respective EPA's approve the largest coal mine in the world during a climate emergency.

How is Australia any different to HK?
How is HK different from any other democracy for that matter?

Just put it this way.

In Australia, Adani relies on lobbyists (through political donations) to make or change laws to suit its interest. If Australia has the same system as HK, then it means Adani has direct ownership of seats in both upper and lower house of parliament to pass laws favorable to itself.

Yes, that may be true ... different method, same result. Plus transnational corporations like Adani, Boeing, Dow, Apple, when they move into a country they never spend their own capital. Adani is a good example of this.