Visit to Hong Kong: Really

       Well, now.  More protests on the streets of the great East Asian metropolis.  Protests against Beijing's intrusion into local government in the form of extradition laws that would undermine the City's "freedoms" as they currently exist.  Hundreds of thousands of protesters were confronted by armed police who used tear gas and rubber bullets to halt the movement of the crowd.   Hmmmmm.
Fresh on the heels of the 30th Anniversary of the Tiananment Square incident of June 4, 1989, Beijing Communists have no desire to replicate those events in any way, shape or form.  Too messy; too public; too, too , much.  Since reversion to China in 1997, Hong Kong has been able to coexist with Beijing on its own terms, based on the signed agreement with the UK.  Now it seems, Beijing is getting nervous about what 'could' happen in another 25 years:  a rejection by Hong Kong citizens of the terms of the agreement that was between the UK and Beijing without much local participation at all.  It could get messy.  Communists don't like messy, unless it's their mess on their terms.
        So, the streets of Hong Kong are choked with locals today, locals who recognize the heavy hand of Communists and their agents.  They are educated enough to know that Communism, by definition, means government without freedom; without hope; without human rights.  It truly is the worst form of dictatorship ever foisted on a population.  We expect the protests to continue, unabated.  The history of Tiananmen Square aftermath reverberates to this day.  Having recently walked across the pavement of the Square, it doesn't take much to absorb the scene as soldiers mill about, eyeballing the movements of all who walk through the notorious zone.

3 Gorges Project-April, 2019