I knew enough of the tragedies of Tibet from the Tibetans in exile during my earlier days spent in the US and Canada east coast before I relocated back to Asia. There is a Little Tibet in the Parkdale area near downtown Toronto, Canada, where there are approximately ten thousand Tibetan Canadians who now reside in that area. And in the US, around ten thousand Tibetan Americans live around Queens, New York.

My understanding of Tibet from hearing firsthand from the families and survivors who now spread all across the globe makes me realize that the fate of Hong Kongers is far from optimistic. Still living in Hong Kong, and having to deal on a regular basis with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s elites who have occupied almost all affairs and matters in Hong Kong now, I have come to the conclusion that Hong Kongers could take 11:00pm(HKT) on June 30, 2020, as one of the darkest moments of Hong Kong’s modern history: the moment when the National Security Law (NSL) was officially enacted, and a human tragedy commenced ̶ an “extreme makeover” given to Hong Kong that has lasted for nine months. I will recall what happened in Tibet 62 years ago, and put them side by side with what Hong Kongers are going through, so that one can make comparison of the then Tibet and the current Hong Kong. Sad to say, history and human tragedies always repeat themselves.

Communist China handled “ethnic minorities” living on the mainland either by means of annexation (Tibet) or peaceful handover (Hong Kong). In any case, communist China suppressed its own people by hook or crook, including persuasion, persecution and brutality. Most Hong Kongers have not seen or cared enough how the totalitarian regime has infringed upon the human rights of the people in Xin Jiang, Tibet, and other areas in mainland China. Perhaps Hong Kongers have been too naïve, and narrow-mindedly focusing too much on their own sufferings, without seeing the bigger picture of communist China’s infiltration, ambition and ideology on a global scale.

March 10 of 1959 was an important date for Tibet, and Tibetans have since been commemorating Tibetan Uprising Day on March 10 annually. Let’s run back over the history. The Chinese Communist Party(CCP) had been invading Tibet for 10 years since it liberated China in 1949, and Mao Zedong, the paramount leader of the new China then, had lost patience, and wanted to gain total control of Tibet. The Dalai Lama fled on March 20, 1959, and 80,000 Tibetans followed.

But what had actually happened that led to the Tibetan Uprising on March 10, 1959? On that fateful day, thousands of Tibetans gathered in unison to protest against the annexation and occupation of Tibet by communist China. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was invited by the generals of the Chinese army to a theatrical performance at the communist Chinese army headquarters in Lhasa, Tibet. But the day before that invitation, the 14th Dalai Lama was asked by the Chinese side to attend the theatrical performance without his bodyguards. When this piece of information reached the Tibetan people, thousands of Tibetans formed a human chain around the palace of the 14th Dalai Lama. The Tibetans felt it was a trap, and many thought the Chinese would either detain him, or take his life away. He fled Tibet on March 20, 1959, together with 80,000 Tibetans, so that the Tibetan heritage could be passed down.

It is important to note that the Chinese army had already been invading Tibet for 10 years since 1949. A so called 17- Point Agreement was also signed between Tibet and China in 1951, and the Tibetans outside Tibet reckoned this an unequal treaty, and Tibet was forced to sign it under duress. 62 years on since the annexation, the Tibetans living outside Tibet have found refuges in many countries like India, US, Canada and some European countries. The Tibetan Government in Exile is now located in the Himalayas in India, and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) was formed after 1960, one year after the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet. It is also important to note that 1.2 million Tibetans have been tortured and executed in Tibet by the Chinese Red Army and the CCP, following the event of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising. The number of Tibetan people in Tibet was around 6 million, 1/6 of which were wiped out by communist China with tanks and guns. And nowadays, various forms of suppression are still going on.

And back to the present-day Hong Kong. With the complete overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system by the CCP, the once famed international city has entered into a new era: total submission to the motherland. There is no more “one country, two systems”, and the “Joint Declaration of 1984”, signed between the UK and China, is definitely obliterated. In effect, it will be “patriots” who will be elected to administrate the city from the top down and bottom up. For Hong Kongers who intend to run for office in the legislative or district council elections, they will be heavily vetted by a “special committee”.

Hong Kong has gone through abrupt changes over the last few months since the NSL was imposed. It is a fair statement to say: The CCP is now ruling Hong Kong directly. It is an “extreme makeover” given to Hong Kong politically, which gives no breathing space for Hong Kongers who used to enjoy freedoms. The whole pan-democratic camp of Hong Kong have been wiped out, and it is just surreal to see that Hong Kongers have followed the path of what the Tibetans did 62 years ago ̶ forced to flee or live under suppression. Hong Kongers have to make decisions on how they want to lead their lives moving forward ̶ lucky enough to leave now while doors are still open, or live under tyranny.

(Edward Chin (錢志健) runs a family office. Chin was formerly Country Head of a UK publicly listed hedge fund, the largest of its kind measured by asset under management. Outside the hedge funds space, Chin is Convenor of 2047 Hong Kong Monitor and a Senior Advisor of Reporters Without Borders (RSF, HK & Macau). Chin studied speech communication at the University of Minnesota, and received his MBA from the University of Toronto. Twitter: edwardckchin Youtube: Ed Chin Channel Facebook.com/edckchin Email: [email protected])

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