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Hong Kong protests rattle Chinese-Americans across U.S.

Elizabeth Weise
USATODAY
Betty Chang, 70, holds up a special edition of the Chinese-language newspaper The Epoch Times in San Francisco's Clement Street Chinese shopping district. The paper's focus on Tuesday was the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

SAN FRANCISCO — Hanna Wong has a brother and a sister in Hong Kong and she's been watching the news of protests there every night with growing concern.

"They're worried. We don't know what China will do," she said from the counter of the New Wing Hing Seafood Market on Clement Street, one of San Francisco's Chinese shopping districts.

Chinese-Americans across the United States are paying close attention to events in Hong Kong.

"They can't win," is John Chong's verdict. A long-time San Francisco resident, he is originally from Hong Kong and very aware of the delicate balance between the former British colony and China, which took it back into the fold in 1999.

"The good thing is that the civil service and the police in Hong Kong are very professional," he said.

Still, he's worried that the government in Beijing will use the protests in Hong Kong as an excuse to solidify its control over the island.

China's government agreed to "one country, two systems" when Hong Kong rejoined China, saying it could keep its more open and democratic system while China remained under one-party communist rule.

That promise is uppermost on Betty Chang's mind.

"They're not asking for much. They just say they want to vote for their own leaders," she said of the protesters.

Originally from Taiwan, Chang was focused on the issue in part because of China's promise to allow Hong Kong to retain its own system of government. China holds that Taiwan is a wayward state that is in fact part of the People's Republic of China.

"They say that about Taiwan too, that it could keep its form of government," she said.

For her, how things play out in Hong Kong will be a test of what could happen to Taiwan in the future.

It's of huge interest in San Francisco's Chinese community, she said.

"Look at the newspaper," she said, holding up a copy of the Epoch Times, an independent Chinese-language newspaper based in New York.

"They published a special edition today because it's so important, they don't usually publish on Tuesdays," she said.

The paper featured a half-page photo of a Hong Kong police officer pouring water into the eye of a protester who had been hit with tear gas. The protester is saying "Ow, that hurts!" as the officer says "Hold on, can I help clean that up?"

Several staffers from the paper were out distributing them Tuesday morning.

Many people interviewed by USA TODAY had strong opinions about events in Hong Kong but didn't want to comment on the record because of concern for relatives who still lived there. Several said they worried that if China cracks down on Hong Kong, anything they said might hurt their loved ones later.

In New York, activist Yanping Nora Soong is hoping that Beijing backs down and allows Hong Kong to hold real elections. Not just for the people there, but for people across Asia who will see it as a symbol that freedom is possible.

"The people in Hong Kong have the courage to do what I wish people in mainland China would," said Soong. A strong showing for the democracy movement in Hong Kong "will have a ripple effect," said the activist.

Not everyone feels immediately affected, however. Amy Kyo hadn't been paying much attention to Hong Kong, but two of her friends are from there "so I've been reading more about it to try to understand what's happening there and educate myself."

Although older people often mention their fears that the protests in Hong Kong could turn into another bloodbath like Tiananmen in Beijing in 1989, she doesn't think it's possible.

"The students have been very peaceful" in Hong Kong. "Given social media, the whole world is watching, the government can't block it," she said.

San Francisco resident Alexander Akin speaks Chinese and working in Beijing and Hong Kong for many years. He's been following the news closely in the Chinese media.

"It's fascinating how it's playing in Beijing," he said. "It's worth noting that there's been an ongoing denouncement of Hong Kong in the official media for quite awhile now."

For example, "there were public figures saying that it was 'unpatriotic' to speak Cantonese," he said. That's the dialect used in Canton, Hong Kong and much of southern China, as opposed to Mandarin, which is spoken in Beijing and in the north.

Contributing: Jason Allen in New York City

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