The ‘Meanwhile in…’ article in the last issue of Resource was all about Hong Kong. The article prompted a lot of comments from the Chinese community at WUR. WUR student Xin Li sent us this letter. He says: ‘To achieve a peaceful and safe society, humanity has developed the society ruled by law.’
Discussion
Recently, the National People’s Congress of China passed the decision to authorize a national security law for Hong Kong, which is a perfection of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law. In 1997, when the text of Article 23 of the Basic Law was formulated when Hong Kong was handed over by the British to China, the Central Government and the Hong Kong parties reached a consensus for perfecting it afterwards. The current protests about this decision in Hong Kong have brought Hong Kong back to the public’s attention and triggered intensive discussions worldwide.
Freedom never is, never was and never will be a question of “doing whatever I want”
Proper Communication
In the past year, some protesters have expressed their wishes in respectful and peaceful ways, while other protesters have expressed their will by attacking innocent citizens, disrupting the traffic and obstructing stores. These actions seriously interfere with Hong Kong’s citizens’ daily life, and have negatively impacted the stability of Hong Kong. The protests have involved school-age children, have obstructed ambulances, have occupied the airport, et cetera. This has not been reported properly by the Western media, and if the radical protesting continues, worse may occur. I wonder whether the radical protesters are perhaps aware of the possible consequences of their behaviour. They have demands and want their voices to be heard. However, only the proper forms of communication will deliver mutual understanding and respect. Freedom never is, never was and never will be a question of ‘doing whatever I want’.
Ruled by law
Freedom must be constrained to a certain degree. Otherwise, thieves, scammers and rapists can also declare that they cannot be punished by using the excuse of ‘freedom’. To achieve a peaceful and safe society, humanity has developed the society ruled by law. Thereby, I have strong faith in the national security legislation as an approach to ensure that criminals will be punished, to protect the well-being of the people of Hong Kong, and to bring back the peaceful and civilized Hong Kong.
Xin Li, WUR-student
Do you have your own views on a topical issue at WUR? Send your contribution of 350 words max to resource@ wur.nl, with ‘Letter to the editor’ in the subject line.
