Hong Kong separatist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has once again sought attention in a despicable way, by calling for votes in a poll to get Hong Kong protesters as Time's Person of the Year.
For quite some time, Wong has sought help from the West to intervene in Hong Kong affairs. Meanwhile, he uses the protesters as political ATMs to get money and resources for his own benefit.
He keeps on seeking so-called “international attention,” going so far as asking web users to vote for the protesters to be Time's Person of the Year.
First and foremost, to clarify who really stands for the interests of Hong Kong, we need to know that Hong Kong protesters are only a handful of Hong Kong residents, and by no means can their voices be the voices of Hong Kong. Indeed, there are some protesters who held demonstrations on a legal and peaceful basis, but over the past five months some of them turned into rioters who took to the streets, set barricades, smashed buildings, used petrol bombs, turned universities into strongholds, forced classes to be suspended and even hurt innocent citizens in a violent and illegal way.
Wong is a representative of the extremists and radicals who committed serious, violent crimes in the name of so-called "democracy" as he used to be detained along with other suspects for taking part in violent crimes by Hong Kong police.
Whether peaceful demonstrators or rioters, they don't represent all Hong Kong people. If all protesters are packaged as heroes, it's ignorance of the voices of most Hong Kong people, who want order restored to their beloved home. Such acts confuse right from wrong, further sabotaging the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong and the region.
Moreover it should be noted that Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong and its affairs are China's internal affairs. Past practices of the "one country, two systems" principle have proved that it is the best system to maintain the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, with citizens given a variety of channels and space to voice out pursuits. Hong Kong residents are entitled to hold public gatherings, demonstrations and write letters to the legislative council if they have differing opinions with the HKSAR government.
Instead of resorting to various legal means, rioters disrupted the city in a violent way, with Wong and other like-minded separatists getting foreign forces to interfere, adding fuel to the fire. Glorifying such radicals reflects ignorance that they used illegal and extremist means which could be resolved in far more reasonable ways.
By shortlisting Hong Kong protesters as Persons of the Year, Time has whitewashed such radicals and undermined the influence of the event. As “The Guardians” of 2018 and “the Silence Breakers” of 2017 were awarded to Journalists who faced persecution, arrest or murder for their reporting and people who spoke out against sexual abuse and harassment, all of whom persevered for social good. While violent crime is a scourge to the world, awarding HK protesters went against the trend of times.
Finally, it’s time that the true face of Wong and other separatists exposed to the international community. Some Hong Kong netizens posted the slogan “Fake Hongkongers destroy and real Hongkongers rebuild.” Wong is by no means the spokesperson of Hong Kong people, but a symbol of radicals who intend to disrupt the city.
Brutal violence and lies will not earn “Hong Kong protesters” a front page story in Time magazine, nor will the protesters find support anywhere in the world. Restoring peace and order for Hong Kong is not only the voice of Hong Kong people, but the common aspiration of the whole world.