HK Observer | Roots of riot

Robert Carroll

The number of riots in Hong Kong over the last 50 years could be counted on one hand. A thorough examination of the causes of the most recent is needed, although the government doesn’t seem to agree. Chief Executive Leung believes that everything will be explained following the courts’ prosecutions of the rioters and a police investigation. That’s not enough.
First of all, criminal courts are not there to discover why rioters riot, but to judge whether the law has been broken and to penalize or absolve the accused accordingly. Rioters’ motivations may come to light in the proceedings without providing a real understanding of the causes. Secondly, the enquiry into police actions has been organized by the commissioner’s right-hand man, who was chiefly responsible for policing the riot. How can we expect the man most likely to be held responsible for mishandling the situation to find fault with himself? Was it mishandled?
Firstly, wasn’t there a gross insensitivity in the arrests of fish-ball sellers at the start of Chinese New Year, when goodwill should prevail? Turning a blind eye to a few hawkers selling popular fish-balls is reasonable. Street fish-balls is an iconic part of local tradition, a cheap treat for those at the lower end of the social scale and nostalgic for those who have risen up the ladder. Why spoil the city’s biggest party?
Should the vendors even be clamped down on anyway, when the rules are far too strict? The authorities have been trying to eliminate street hawkers for decades in the name of hygiene. Only existing licensees and their children are allowed to operate their business, but at the expense of choice, convenience and the free market principles of which we are supposed to be a glowing example. That Hong Kong does not have the wherewithal to check and ensure street food quality is a poor excuse and dishonest to boot. It disguises the greater motivation of not wanting the stalls to compete with covered premises paying high rents, benefitting landlords who were already dominating the economy.
The admonition ‘pick your fights carefully’ seems appropriate. It’s too soon to understand how such a minor event escalated into a clash that resulted in over a hundred injuries, mostly to police officers. What is surprising is how well-prepared the protestors appeared to be, and how seemingly unprepared the police were. Moreover, as one police officer complained, why were traffic police at the front lines not issued with sufficient riot gear?
Policing protests is about crowd management and pacification, requiring police to prevent escalation. Apart from the highly controversial and sensitive tear-gassing of protestors that sparked the huge escalation of the Occupy protests of 2014, the police showed remarkable and laudable restraint in the weeks after the protest. Time will tell whether sensible restraint was exercised over Chinese New Year. Many rioters weren’t moderate, and those apprehended will be judged accordingly in the courts.
There are bigger questions: what’s at the root of all this, and what can be done to prevent repeat incidents? Timing was bad, as was the choice of fish-ball stalls at that particular time, but that was the flashpoint. The real questions are why is there such ill feeling among youth and are we seeing them metamorphosing from, arguably, the world’s most peaceful demonstrators into markedly more violent ones?
Poor economic prospects and unaffordable housing, a hyper-competitive education system, and gross inequality – all leading to a sense of hopelessness – are surely factors; as would be wholesale anxiety about increasing mainland control, both real and imagined.
There are no magic wands, but we must alleviate the terrible pressure placed on Hong Kong’s youth. The alienation of young generations in other developed societies should come as a stark warning. Ignore marginalization at our peril. Can we stomach a multigenerational, unemployed criminal underclass like in the UK, France or the US? Or will we make every effort to give today’s youth a say in their future before it’s too late?