In 1973, AEI and the Hoover Institution jointly published Alvin Rabushka’s “The Changing Face of Hong Kong: New Departures in Public Policy”. Rabushka — better known to many at AEI as a tax economist — had lived in Hong Kong, and speculates on Hong Kong’s future 25 years before its 99-year lease from China expired.

In this book, Rabushka speculated on the reasons for the British colony’s prosperity and what would happen when it was turned over to China. Sadly, 47 years after this book was published, we are finding out exactly what is happening as China works to crush democracy on the island. “The attractiveness of Hong Kong to date,” Rabushka said, “is found in its fundamentally laissez-faire outlook, low taxes, and the absence of counterproductive regulations.” One cannot imagine these three aspects surviving a full Chinese government takeover of Hong Kong.

AEI scholars have been actively monitoring the pro-democracy protests occurring in Hong Kong for many years. In fact, AEI’s Gary J. Schmitt wrote about the Hong Kong protests a year ago when he said, “There is a growing suspicion that the People’s Republic has had different plans for Hong Kong all along and thus a more confrontational response to those plans is called for.” This summer we are seeing these plans come to light.

Michael Mazza summed up the issue of the People’s Republic of China and it’s threat to democracy around the globe perfectly when he wrote:

China and its ilk seek to create a world that is safe for authoritarians. By definition, such a world will see freedoms limited inside and outside China’s borders. A world that is safe for democracies, by contrast, is not one in which the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] can flourish, but it is one in which the people of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan can more easily live in harmony, freely exercising their natural rights and determining their own destinies.Michael Mazza | Global Taiwan Institute, August 19, 2019

Dany Pletka and Marc Thiessen have a terrific episode on their podcast, WTH Is Going On?, where they cover the agreement between Great Britain and China regarding Hong Kong, the steps China has taken to weaken democracy on the island, and the historical precedent these protests have. It runs about 35 minutes and is well-worth the time.