IN A RECENT newsletter, entitled: “A Return to Tiananmen, Part II: The Ending of Hong Kong,” geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan had this to say about the Hong Kong protests:
“Hong Kong is about to become an absolutely horrible place to be. The degree of Chinese… reconstruction of the island will be on par with the cultural genocide already being imposed upon the Uyghurs of China’s western Xinjiang region. It won’t last a week or a month or a year. We’re looking at something that will last at least a decade.”
His views may seem a little hyperbolic (at least at this point in time), but it’s hard to disagree with his overall point. Hong Kong – a product of Western Colonialism – is now in the process of being absorbed back into China. It was bound to happen sooner or later. British power allowed Hong Kong to develop an identity that was more or less distinct from mainland China, and without them, Hong Kong returns to its historical average.
So far, the Hong Kong protesters have managed to score a win. The Hong Kong government has agreed to table the extradition bill that will allow PRC authorities to extradite Hong Kong citizens into the mainland. However, this is only a temporary measure. Barring a Black Swan Event, Hong Kong will be swallowed up by the PRC and that will complete the island’s de-Westernization.
Hong Kong, however, is not the only place where de-Westernization is taking place. This phenomenon is happening everywhere (including many Western countries). Western culture and power are in retreat, partly due to globalization and partly due to the weakening of Western power itself.
It’s important to keep in mind that the only reason why Westernization even became a major phenomenon was because of Western power and colonialism. Without either of these things, the non-Western parts of the world will eventually revert back to their ethnic, cultural and historical norms.
Most anti-colonialists and third worldists may regard this as a positive trend, but I would argue that it will lead to suffering in the years to come. Western power, and by extension Westernization, created an entire world order that was drastically less brutal, less transactional and more stable/predictable than what existed prior.
De-Westernization will destroy that and more.
Going back to the Hong Kong protests, for a bit. At one point during the protests, a few of the protesters unfurled a British Colonial flag at an important government building. The symbolism of such an action is unmistakable. It’s an assertion of Hong Kong’s identity and history, one which is somewhat separate from the rest of China.
But that flag belongs to the past. Hong Kong’s future looks very bright red./PN
