Fighting for Freedom

one Chinese citizen on his way home from the market marches
in front of several tanks sparking one of the biggest
pro-democracy protest in world history.

China is one of the best known communist governments in the world. Despite the power, and wealth it has gained from this government system still many fight for it to change. Possibly the best known example of this is the Tiananmen square protests in 1989. During these protest a large group of pro-democracy Chinese citizens stood their ground in Tiananmen square in Beijing. The protest were met with extreme hostility, eventually leading to a violent government ordered end to the protests. afterwards  one brave individual refused to move out of the way of several military vehicles creating an iconic image of the Chinese struggle for democracy.

25 years later a new democracy movement has been sparked within China: The Umbrella Revolution.  At the beginning of September 2014, several college students in Hong Kong took to the streets demanding the right to vote for Hong Kong's next governor. These protest come after China's president, Xi Jing Ping, announced that there would be no vote despite previous promises. The protesters quickly gained publicity, and more numbers. The Chinese Government reacted towards the protest with quick and violent action. Within 24 hours of the protestors setting up camp in the center of Hong Kong, police and soldiers were using tear gas to drive the protestors back home. These efforts clearly back fired. Just two days after the protests started, what began with a couple hundred college students grew into several thousand citizens of all ages, sanding side by side united under one symbol, an umbrella.


The protestors used Umbrellas to shield themselves from the pepper spray the police were using. This tool quickly became an icon for the protest, and a rallying flag for supporters of democracy.

These protest caught my attention when I was doing research for an event I do in debate. I was surprised that there were individuals brave enough to challenge the Chinese government. I believe these protest are a good cause, but will likely be unsuccessful. These people should fight for what they believe in, but they must also be rational. China's government has faced this problem before, and has had no trouble stopping them.

Whether or not this newest protest movement will have any success has yet to be determined. What is known is that these protest will continue to make history, and alter the landscape of Chinese politics.

Sources:

Chan, kelvin. "Umbrella revolution protest spread in Hong Kong." Huffington Post. HPMG news, 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/29/hong kong_n_5899116.html.

Chow, vivienne. "Umbrella Revolution: More designs on Hong Kong's protests ." SOuth CHina Morning Post. SCPM Group, 6 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1603858/umbrella-revolution-designers-come-logos-occupy-central-protests.

"Tank Man." WIkipidia. N.p., 9 Nov. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man.

Why cant we be friends?