EPISODE 1: HONG KONG PROTESTS
DENIZ AKKAYA
Aquarius’s 2,300-year rule has just begun, but everyday humanity shows that it is ready to take a new path.
Astrologically speaking, the fragmentation of our social, political, and economic structures is seen as the inevitable effects of a major cosmic event. Hong Kong’s protests, which began in the summer of 2019, are the latest in its long history of struggles for independence.
Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula were ceded to Britain, first in 1842 and then in 1860. The rest of Kowloon, The New Territories, and the surrounding 235 islands were leased to Britain again for 99 years from the Qing Empire in 1898. At the end of these 99 years in 1997, Hong Kong became an autonomous region, its political and cultural elements divided between Britain and China. Citizens lived under a One-Country: Two-System policy; with more freedom, democracy, and trade than citizens in China. When the policy ends in 2047, Hong Kong will be completely under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The protests, which began in June 2019, had only one goal in the first phase: the government withdrawing a controversial bill that would have allowed the fugitives to be returned to China. Protesters are worried that Beijing might use the bill to prosecute people for political reasons under China’s strict legal system. Unlike other cities in China, which are tightly governed by the authoritarian central government, Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous city with its own legal and political systems. So the protesters feared that the bill would allow China to reach these rare freedoms. Hong Kong has been shaken by pro-democracy, anti-government protests for more than six months, and violence and anger have grown across the country. The peaceful protests, which began as mass marches, turned into the biggest political crisis the city has seen in modern times. The disproportionate use of force by the Chinese government has turned peaceful protests into violent conflict, and protesters have become occupiers with five main demands:
i.Withdraw the Extradition Bill completely.
ii.Launch an independent investigation to investigate police violence.
iii.Retract the classification of protesters as “rioters”.
iv.Release those arrested in protests.
v.Dual universal suffrage, meaning for both the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive.
Hong Kong’s leader is elected by a small selection committee dominated by the central authority and pro-Beijing voters. So these demands reflect a longstanding call for full democracy that Hong Kong did not have. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accepted the initial request by withdrawing the bill. However, this wasn’t enough to make the protesters forget their friends, whom they lost as a result of disproportionate power, and just like that Lam was too late to stop the protests.
We heard the first footsteps of the age of Aquarius, with the Hong Kong protests in June 2019, heralding a new system that will overthrow the existing order and serve all beings on the planet. Hong Kong first started with the Umbrella Revolution in 2014 to revolt against the Chinese government. Now Thailand, inspired by The Umbrella Revolution, is trying to stop its government. As we approach the great conjunction on December 21, let’s see who else the age of Aquarius will make us hear. Stay tuned for Episode 2.
Cover imagery via Reuters
