Hong Kong teenagers aren’t shy about poking fun of themselves. While they often do so in jest, the terms they’ve coined reflect a state of pessimism that plagues the city’s youth today.
Hong Kong
First China shared cars, bicycles, offices, and homes. Then China moved to sharing power banks and basketballs. And now things have gotten really out of hand.
Chinese authorities have kept political dissident and Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo in prison since 2008, only to “release” him last month because he has late-stage liver cancer. Now Beijing wants to look like it is pulling out all the stops to make sure Liu is kept alive—at least in the immediate future.
Chinese authorities have ordered cinemas to show a three-and-a-half minute video that promotes president Xi Jinping’s political goals before screenings. The decision, aimed at rousing patriotic feelings, came into effect July 1, and will stay in place until the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party this fall. That’s a crucial event where China’s top political leadership will be revamped.
Hong Kongers are known to have a good sense of humor. And with Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Hong Kong for the 20th anniversary of the territory’s handover, locals have been laughing off the tense political environment. There’s been no shortage of memes surrounding Xi’s trip.
In 2012, tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong took to the streets for days to resist an attempt by the government to implement what some saw as “brainwashing” patriotic education in schools. The government backed down. Now it wants to try again.
Travis Kalanick is out at Uber.
