A Chinese politician and businesswoman dismissed concerns over democratic demonstrations in Hong Kong on Wednesday by comparing the protestors to black “American slaves.”
Laura Cha’s remarks at a trade meeting in Paris were flagged by The New York Times in an article published Friday:
“American slaves were liberated in 1861, but did not get voting rights until 107 years later,” she was reported as saying by The Standard, an English-language Hong Kong newspaper. “So why can’t Hong Kong wait for a while?”
Cha, who was educated in the United States, is a “nonofficial member” of Hong Kong’s Executive Council and a board member of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).
Thousands have already signed a petition demanding that Cha apologize and HSBC condemn her remarks, according to Reuters.
“We, the Hong Kong public, will not stand these remarks likening our rights to slavery, nor will we stand the kind of voter disenfranchisement her and her associates attempt to perpetrate on the Hong Kong public,” the petition read.
This is the kind of evil pretzel-logic that allows the Chinese and others to justify massively polluting our environment because western nations were just as guilty of it beginning with the Industrial Revolution, blah, blah blah. It only proves my grandfather’s old aphorism that “you can make a case for just about anything.” But at the end of the day, the argument is still odious.
The ruling class in China rules the politicians, business owners and entertainers in Hong Kong whose holdings and livelihoods would tank in a heartbeat if they spoke on behalf of the protesters.
This is a much better approach to GOTV in the midterms than scary “we’re watching you” letters. Hong Kong protesters want to vote and can’t, American protesters can vote but don’t bother.
She could be making soooooo much more money as a Republican strategist.
I don’t think waiting 107 years for democracy was in the bargain China made with the British to get Hong Kong