"International Front" Must be Strategic and Creative In Tumultuous Times: Nathan Law
Translated by HKCT, written by Nathan Law on 3 Jan 2021Original: https://www.thestandnews.com/politics/%E4%BA%82%E4%B8%96%E4%B8%8B%E7%9A%84%E5%9C%8B%E9%9A%9B%E7%B7%9A-%E6%9B%B4%E9%9C%80%E7%AD%96%E7%95%A5%E5%92%8C%E5%89%B5%E9%80%A0%E5%8A%9B/
At a time when the US Congress is on break, the UK is busy with Brexit, and the pandemic is hindering international travel, the "International Front" [of HK's pro-democracy movement] can be said to be on hiatus. Besides explaining and analysing current events in Hong Kong and China, there is not much room to play. Therefore, I have spent a lot of time on long-term planning, taking advantage of the relatively idle time to plan my future work.
I want to refer to Pathways and Vision for Citizen Diplomacy 2020 - 8 Principles (Chinese only), which I published in October. It is only by looking at how Hong Kong's issues are positioned in the context of international political turmoil that we can consider how to make our cause more prominent. The first principle in the "Vision" is to "seize the discourse on China's issues", such that even when protests in Hong Kong have cooled off, we still maintain its international exposure and recognition, and to make Hong Kong the first thing on everyone's mind when it comes to discussions of China. Hong Kong's citizen advocacy over the past 6 months has been successful - whether it is the recent talk of a trade agreement between China and Europe or the friction between Australia and China, the Hong Kong issue has been a major factor in the talk of why policy towards China has hardened and relations have soured.
In addition, when discussing China issues, besides interviewing "China experts" or Chinese human rights activists, the media will also look for more Hong Kong faces. This has led to the various voices representing Hong Kong's to be in Western media's radar, reminding them of the city's importance in the long-running China issue.
Some progress has been made in the direction of "uniting Europe against China" and "creating cross-party support and facilitating consensus-building". Although the European Union, led by Germany, is still ambivalent about the Chinese Communist Party and is hedging its bets on the standoff between the US and China, there is no denying that 2020 has been a year of serious deterioration in Europe's attitude toward China. After German Chancellor Angela Merkel's term ends, we can expect Germany to further harden its policy towards China. In the past six months, I have also met and maintained close communication various UK political leaders; These cross-party liaison helps improve communication and awareness across the political spectrum. In the future, we can foresee more bipartisan support for measures such as BNO policy and sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
There are many kinds of activities that can be a part of the "International Front", from posting a photo that says "Liberate Hong Kong" online to organising overseas demonstrations, all of which are a step towards building our influence. Admittedly, most of the political energy that drives international change comes from local resistance movements in Hong Kong, but we can help by turning the price paid by our compatriots into material change, including figuring out how to deliver the message more efficiently and strategically to every corner of the world. I don't think the "International Front" is a game-changer - in fact, I am well aware of the limitations and powerlessness we face in the midst of geopolitics and rivalry amongst the world's superpowers. But whether we are sailing downstream or against the current, we need to keep rowing, keep adjusting our direction, trying to move forward.
Many journalists ask me: Are you afraid of losing your influence in a few years? And I answer: I'm not afraid. As a politician, my goal is to make a difference, not accumulating fame and influence for myself. If my influence declines, it must mean that my work is no longer approved by the public. At this point, it is natural to be happy that someone more capable will replace me, so why worry? By the same token, if I became exhausted and powerless, or lost my will to fight, then it is not a bad thing to lose the support of the public.
The potential of Hong Kong's "International Front" is actually left to each person to take the initiative to occupy every aspect of the front, from economic, cultural, advocacy, and even religious aspects, in order to blossom and accumulate influence. It is not a question of "to do or not to do", but "how" - it is a fact that Hong Kong diaspora communities are getting bigger, and this is exactly the group that we should gather and mobilise. The more the situation looks like a deadlock, the more creativity becomes important. Instead of feeling powerless, we should learn to be more tenacious. From the deadlock, we must find ways to make "Hong Kong" more 3-dimensional and tangible.
Nathan Law's 8 Principles of citizen diplomacy
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