Analysis
On Nov. 17 the Pan-Democracy camp in Hong Kong saw an unprecedented defeat in the District Council elections.
The Pan Democrats, which include the Civil Party, Democratic Party, League of Social Democrats, People Power, and Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, only received 83 seats in 412 constituencies.
In contrast, the pro-Beijing camp, such as Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Liberal Party, has won a huge victory with more than 300 seats, which is about 73 per cent of all the seats.
External analysis mostly assumed a lack of resources in the pro-Democracy camp, which can’t contend with the pro-Beijing camp’s huge backing from the Mainland and the Special Administrative Regions (SAR) government.
However, Chen Zhong, a Chinese affairs commentator, holds a different view. Chen attributes the failure as one caused by a lack of moral courage when facing such a gigantic national machinery run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Chen cited the Nine Commentaries, a series of articles published by The Epoch Times at the end of 2004 that reads: “Even though the CCP appears to possess all the resources and violent apparatus in the country, if every citizen believes in the power of the truth and safeguards morality, the evil spectre of the CCP will lose the foundation for its existence. All resources may instantly return to the hands of the just. That is when the rebirth of China will take place.”
Chen said: “Today the pro-Democracy camp is facing a huge and evil state apparatus using every kind of dirty method, such as vote rigging, attacking, etc. It’s as if the pro-Democracy camp is being put into a corner.
Cheng said the key is that the pro-Democracy camp still cares about the CCP. For the mainstream democrats in Hong Kong to purposely avoid some sensitive issues, such as Falun Gong, Tibet or Taiwan issues, is a problem, he said.
“Because they know that the CCP doesn’t want them to touch those, they clearly avoid them. They never think whatever topics the CCP raises are bogus. When facing such a huge state apparatus, if they try to obey the CCP in their thinking; it’s difficult to see any future.”
Chen said the pro-Democracy camp should continue to resist the attacks from the CCP.
“In this District Election, the Democratic Party was attacked. The CCP has absolutely no mercy, they don’t want the Democratic Party to live, but to totally transform it or destroy it.”
Chen also pointed out that many things in history seemed impossible to happen, but they took place overnight.
He cites the example of the downfall of Libya’s Gadhafi and the awakening of the Libyan people to remove the dictator.
“So now, isn’t it a problem if the pro-Democracy camp still feels that the CCP will stay in power forever? The CCP has shown signs of decay in many ways. Even a pro-CCP scholar has made a long speech internally about the collapse of the Chinese economy using credible data. The pro-Democracy camp should think about how to use these data, and make the right choice that’s beneficial to the Hong Kong people.”
Falun Gong is an example of upholding righteousness when facing the totalitarian regime, Chen said. He said the CCP has failed in breaking the spirit of practitioners of Falun Gong, despite the 12-year-long persecution.
“Conversely, the CCP is losing on the issue of persecuting Falun Gong, and it will contribute to its downfall. Therefore, the power of spiritual awakening is most precious.”
Chen said the pro-Democracy camp is being divided by the CCP. If there is no spiritual inspiration or core value to support it, it’s hard for the pro-Democracy camp to resist just purely from a political point of view.
“The voters who cast votes for the pro-Democracy camp are different from those in the pro-Beijing camp. They hope that their representatives have ideas and ideals, and adhere to a belief. But when the pro-Democracy camp begins to falter in its faith, this is a serious problem for the democrats to reflect upon,” Chen said.
Read the original Chinese article.
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