DEMOCRACY FOR HONG KONG??


Original story...
http://news.msn.com/world/thousands-rally-in-hong-kong-as-democracy-campaign-heats-up?ocid=ansnews11


To begin-I know that this story isn't about American issues, but I feel like it's a good thing to mention because it puts our own government in perspective.

Years ago, when China regained control of Hong Kong from Britain, all of the parties involved made an agreement-Hong Kong could be Chinese again if the Chinese government allowed more democracy for the citizens of HK than they do for the rest of the Chinese people. Needless to say, the Communist Party of China really doesn't want to give a lot of freedom to HK, for fear that the desire for freedom will spread and loosen their hold on power. So, when the time to elect a new city leader came recently, the Chinese government tried to limit the candidate options to only those people approved by the Communist party. Because the citizens of HK don't consider this to be a democratic solution, they've been holding rallies, which are slowly spreading to other areas. Perhaps the Chinese government's efforts to keep control could result in even less control than they began with? Now that the rest of the world is paying attention, they need to be careful-if they give in too easily, other provinces in China may try to protest for their freedom. However, if they refuse to acknowledge the demands of the HK residents, Great Britain will not be happy at the violation of their agreement. Situations like this are what make me glad to be an American-even though sometimes I'm not happy with the way the government controls things, I at least have the power to voice my opinions without the threat of undue punishment.