This archive report was first published on 12 July 2019.
Published on July 12, 2019, a time when China's economy was rapidly growing and interlocking with the world's. The country's wealth was built on the backs of low-wage labor by rural migrants, who were often unprotected by safety regulations, unions, a free press, or the rule of law.
China's system of governance operates with a speed and efficiency that is both impressive and unsettling. Corruption and a vast police system protect the ruling elite, while human beings are reduced to mere cogs in the machine. Those who seek independent thinking, free expression, or personal happiness are told to look to Western democracies.
At its core, the confrontation between China and the West is not about trade, but about two fundamentally incompatible political systems. The Chinese government's model of human sacrifice in service of the state's wealth and power inevitably conflicts with democratic ideals. Western governments and businesses that benefit from China's system must confront the harm they cause to human dignity.
The youth of Hong Kong, who have grown up with access to information and a sense of freedom, are acutely aware of the stark alternatives before them. They are fighting to preserve their rights, freedoms, and access to information in the face of an increasingly authoritarian government.
