Hong Kong under the Umbrella Revolution: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

"The situation has become as riding on (the back of) a tiger." - Chinese Proverb

"China is a sleeping dragon, let it sleep. If he is awaken, he will shake the world." - Napoleon Bonaparte

----------------------------------

The quote above attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte about China varied from the “sleeping giant”, “sleeping dragon”, “sleeping lion” and “sleeping tiger”. Whatever could be said about China from this important historical figure of the world’s stage, “sleeping beauty” was not one of them. Here I prefer to use “sleeping dragon”; for dragon has always been a symbol of imperial China, past Chinese kings and emperors were believed to be the embodiments of dragons, creatures commanding powers and fear. I believe Napoleon would have been aware of this fact.

Well, there are many incarnations of dragons; a benevolent one brings nourishing rains and clement weather, while a malevolent one summons up storms and floods. The current incarnation hiding behind the wall of the Forbidden City is a half-breed, a misguided motley-colored progeny of the great visionary leader, Deng Xiaoping. It tends more towards the benevolent side, with still a lot of dictatorial scales to shed.

But make no mistake about it, this sleeping dragon is still struggling to shake its political, economic and intellectual slumber, still being lulled back to sleep dreaming of past glories and antiquated political traditions and hierarchy. There is this antiquated political tradition such as cronyism and nepotism. The other is what I call a hierarchy of "perpetual elder-ism", a gaggle of old party geezers clinging to the seats of their pants . . . uh . . . the seats of power, wearing diapers. Some of them waddle around in their lakeside villas in Zhongnanhai - an exclusive luxury resort in Beijing, sipping unsustainable, endangered rhinoceros-horn herbal stew-soup to prove their sustainable manhood with their bevies of mistresses (not cost-effective). They burp and fart and sit (again, in their seats of power, wearing diapers) and gaze lazily at their manly collection of elephant-tusk sculptures. Then they doze off dreaming of the good old days of polygamous marriage and a houseful of concubines (more cost-effective) and stumbling toddlers (expenditures accidentally incurred, least cost-effective) in their diapers. You see, these wise old men of communism are naturally born economists, they instinctively grasp the capitalism’s principles of "cost analysis" and the free-market’s law of "economy of scale", without having attended a single lecture in Economics 101. But now I am digressing.

These old folks effectively run the country from behind the dragon throne without term limit (a la U.S. Supreme Court Justices), a pampered gerontocracy (a la U.S. current Supreme Court Justices) on privately-funded bribes . . . uh . . . public-funded pensions. Hey, don’t look at me, I bet the majority of politicians in the U. S., or the world for that matter, cannot tell the difference between a bribe and a pension either. To wit, a la “campaign contributions” in the U.S. Supreme Court’s January 21, 2010 decision on the “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission” came to mind. These “campaign contributions” are only the tip of the “contribution” iceberg, most of the unseen is under the water, you see. Well, uh . . . actually you don’t . . . uh . . . see . . . per se. To put it the other way, the bulk of the “contributions” is made “under the table”, away from prying eyes, you see. Uh . . . actually you . . . well, forget it . . . Now I am wandering farther afield.

China has made progress, immense strides have been made economically; but its full potential is still lying dormant, its immense pool of talents still lays suppressed and untapped. The lid that caps that potential is the lack of freedom to expression, freedom to pursue one's goals, freedom to make choices. Assuming that 0.001% of any given population can be categorized as geniuses, then 1.36 billion Chinese can potentially produce . . . Well, you can do the math, genius. What great contributions they could provide for the betterment of humanity if given the right environment of freedom and opportunity.

A society under a dictatorial restraint without any democratic outlet is like a dormant volcano simmering underneath; it is a matter of time when it will unleash its pent-up torrent of rage and frustrations. Once it erupts, it will forever change and reshape that political landscape, for better or for worse. At its worst, a radical group may seize power amid the chaos and authority vacuum, and steer the country towards another political extremism.

That volcano has now stirred and rumbled. The democratic movement in Hong Kong to demand a free election had escalated into a full scale civil disobedience, now known as the Umbrella Revolution. The demonstrators took to the streets with nothing but umbrellas to guard against the police's pepper sprays and fire hose jets. The tear gas employed by the police failed to disperse the crowds. As of now, the demonstrator's ranks are still swelling in number.

The Hong Kong government at first mistook the movement as nothing but a crouching paper tiger cub, a bunch of docile school kids seeped in the learning of Confucius ethics, reeking with respect for their elders and fear of authority. As the H. K. officials quickly found out, it turned out to be a full grown live cat with real mean teeth that could really do them some damage. They soon found themselves holding the tiger by the tail, as they muscled in with police in full riot gears. The situation has not yet escalated into climbing onto the tiger's back, they still could let go of the tiger’s tail and scramble up a nearby tree. Then all they need is patience to wait it out, hoping the tiger will eventually go away. Another wrong move they will find themselves riding on the tiger’s back. Well, the tree is not the only thing they need to hold on tight, but also their collective bowels and bladders; for a tiger can smell fear . . . from any reeking . . . uh . . . leaking.

But the situation has not gone away. The HK government, in the person of the chief executive officer, for all practical purpose, is nothing but a puppet, a Pinocchio created by Beijing to show the outside world its political game of smoke screens and mirrors on its version of democracy: one country, two systems. The more you get to know this Pinocchio however, the more his nose seems to grow longer. The puppeteer behind this vaudeville is hiding behind the great wall of the Forbidden City - a dragon growing restless, smoke and spit-fire puffing from its nostrils, its unsheathed talons clawing impatiently against the marble palace floor.

The H.K. chief officer is caught between this crouching tiger ready to pounce and the hidden dragon spewing warning smoke; sooner or later he begins to find his current inaction untenable, some action has to be taken to dissolve the current crisis. Once a crouching tiger roars, others might echo in response, for there are lots of other crouching tigers dotted across the land of Middle Kingdom; Beijing would not want that. His only choice is to put himself further out on the limb, waiting for his chance to drop right onto the tiger’s back while it is circling the tree below. But he is no Wu Song, the bare-fisted, tiger-pummeling hero of one of the famous Chinese romance classic, “The Legend (of the Outlaws) of the Watery Marsh”, also known as “The Water Margin.” It is a Chinese equivalent to the English Robin Hood gang. But he is no Robin Hood either, but has to make do. Sometimes life does imitate art. Once he is on the tiger’s back, there is no turning back. It is either to kill or be killed. He has only just one chance to deliver a fatal blow before being dislodged by the squealing tiger. Afterwards, he will likely skin it as a trophy for his Beijing master and offer it up for public display as a warning atop Tiananmen Gate, for all other crouching tigers to see. This will be the worst case scenario, with this option the world would see the dragon for what it really is, in spite of the smoke screens and mirrors, a malevolent dragon gradually emerging from behind the roiling clouds, amid lightning flashes and rolling thunders, to show its claws and fangs. What will become of China’s economy then?

The pressing question for the HK government is not to see which way is the best way to skin the cat; but rather to look inside its automaton wooden Pinocchio facade to rediscover his human soul and sever his puppeteer's strings. Well, how is he going to do that? He could resign, or he could act with moral courage and side with the Hong Kong people to defy his overlord in Beijing. Sadly, I think most likely he will cling on to his current position (not on the tree) between the crouching tiger and the hidden dragon; eventually he will let loose uncontrollably his pent-up anxiety from time to time and soil his pants (again, not while up on the tree). Then the final question is: how do you deal with the impending dragon’s menace? Just as there are many ways to skin a cat, there are many ways to slay . . . uh . . . fray a dragon. Or all can all go home to drink a couple bowls of rhinoceros-horn soup, fondle their unsustainable elephant-tusk sculptures and sleep on it. Will they turn into a bunch of sleeping beauties, with once promising, but now in . . . uh . . . compromising positions, to last for another hundred years, to be awakened yet again only by another charismatic political prophet, with a socially upheaval kiss? I fervently hope not. China must not once again be screwed royally . . . uh . . . imperially . . . from within . . . by a few snakes masquerading as dragons.


P.S.: Although Deng Xiaping was implicated in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, there is no evidence that he issued the direct order for troop intervention. It is now strongly believed that he was overruled by some hardliners in the Sitting . . . uh . . . Standing Committee of the Politburo and some anti-reform individuals in the clique of eight standing . . . uh . . . sitting senior party leaders, known as the “Eight Elders”. Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, both reformist protégés backed by Deng were removed from power; the former was viewed as an extremist reformer and the latter for backing the demonstration. Later, he confided in then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau the he was afraid at that time that the more radical factions in the Communist Party would gain control of some army units and plunged the country into a civil war. Two years later, he promoted Zhu Rongji, the Shanghai mayor who refused to send in troop to crack down on demonstrators in Shanghai, to vice-premier.