Inside Hong Kong's Fight To Keep Chinese Authoritarianism at Bay

Activist and celebrity musician Denise Ho discusses the Hong Kong protests, her 2014 arrest, and the future of Hong Kong's autonomy from China.

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Inside Hong Kong's Fight To Keep Chinese Authoritarianism at Bay

Denise Ho is a problem for Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. The 42-year-old celebrity musician became a public face for dissent after Hong Kong police arrested and detained her for participating in the 2014 "umbrella movement," a large-scale protest demanding universal suffrage. The Chinese government subsequently banned her from performing in mainland China.

Ho is now a prominent figure in the Hong Kong protests, which started in early June after the administrative region's executive council proposed a new law that would make it easier to extradite suspects to China—a change that many Hong Kongers fear would lead to the persecution of political dissidents.

Reason's Zach Weissmueller spoke with Ho about the on-the-ground reality for protesters, what it's like being a political dissident in the shadow of the Chinese surveillance state, the politics of her "Cantopop" music, what she foresees for the immediate future of Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" arrangement with China, and why the protesters' fight to maintain Hong Kong's autonomy should concern Americans.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

 

Comments

[Nardz]

Transcripts really aren't hard, you lazy fucking progs.
Would drastically increase traffic.
Of course, being progressives, you have no fucking clue how to do anything but lie, whine, and pose

[bignose]

Why do you want a transcript to a video produced by lying, whining, posing progressives? What an odd complaint.

[Zeb]

People just love to complain. Seems to be what attracts about half of the commenters here these days.

[TripK]

Can you imagine politics without complaining?

No, you can't, because it wouldn't be politics.

[vek]

Well, once in a blue moon they say something that doesn't piss me off here still! But also, I have to get my news from somewhere... This place is slightly less retarded than mainstream news sites most of the time. It's proggie as shit on a lot of issues, but they cover the basic goings on in the world for the most part.

If Reason wasn't so biased and actually had more right-libertarians writing, it would be a dramatic improvement... But even The Jacket beats reading the NYTs or WaPo!