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| In Beijing, Young Chinese See Little to Cheer in Hong Kong Protests | In Beijing, Young Chinese See Little to Cheer in Hong Kong Protests |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BEIJING — The pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong would seem to have universal appeal — a David and Goliath tale starring young idealists, polite and considerate in their defiance, standing up to a mighty authoritarian government with a history of mercilessly crushing dissent. | BEIJING — The pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong would seem to have universal appeal — a David and Goliath tale starring young idealists, polite and considerate in their defiance, standing up to a mighty authoritarian government with a history of mercilessly crushing dissent. |
| But here on the streets of China’s capital, where the ruling Communist Party’s heavy hand is most keenly felt, it can be hard to find people who openly support the demonstrators and their demands, and not just because censors and Chinese security agents have been muffling the voices of protest supporters. | But here on the streets of China’s capital, where the ruling Communist Party’s heavy hand is most keenly felt, it can be hard to find people who openly support the demonstrators and their demands, and not just because censors and Chinese security agents have been muffling the voices of protest supporters. |
| On social media and over shared meals at restaurants, many young professionals express suspicion and even hostility toward the students and the Occupy Central protest movement. They accuse the students of selfishly blocking roads and disrupting the lives of ordinary residents; others, parroting government propaganda, blame Western governments for orchestrating one of the most high-profile challenges to Beijing’s authority in years. | On social media and over shared meals at restaurants, many young professionals express suspicion and even hostility toward the students and the Occupy Central protest movement. They accuse the students of selfishly blocking roads and disrupting the lives of ordinary residents; others, parroting government propaganda, blame Western governments for orchestrating one of the most high-profile challenges to Beijing’s authority in years. |
| “If necessary, the protesters should be removed by force,” said Gordon Qi, 20, a dual economics and psychology major at one of the capital’s most prestigious universities. | “If necessary, the protesters should be removed by force,” said Gordon Qi, 20, a dual economics and psychology major at one of the capital’s most prestigious universities. |
| Two weeks into the protests, aggressive censorship has left many people in mainland China with only a vague but unfavorable impression of events in Hong Kong. Others, busy with work or wary of discussing politics, say they do not care. | Two weeks into the protests, aggressive censorship has left many people in mainland China with only a vague but unfavorable impression of events in Hong Kong. Others, busy with work or wary of discussing politics, say they do not care. |
| But some of the most vociferous critics of the protests are young Chinese, a number of them educated abroad and able to gain access to unfiltered news by using software that circumvents China’s so-called Great Firewall. | But some of the most vociferous critics of the protests are young Chinese, a number of them educated abroad and able to gain access to unfiltered news by using software that circumvents China’s so-called Great Firewall. |
| In nearly two dozen conversations this week, they warned about the protests’ impact on Hong Kong’s economy, the paramount value of maintaining social stability and what some called the hypocrisy of trying to improve society through civil disobedience — sentiments that have dominated media coverage in mainland China since the protests began in late September. | In nearly two dozen conversations this week, they warned about the protests’ impact on Hong Kong’s economy, the paramount value of maintaining social stability and what some called the hypocrisy of trying to improve society through civil disobedience — sentiments that have dominated media coverage in mainland China since the protests began in late September. |
| More than a few spoke with resentment about what they said was an air of superiority among those born and raised in Hong Kong, a former British colony. “Only the salespeople in luxury stores there are nice to us,” Li Wanzhen, 21, a land resource management student who studied at Columbia University, wrote in an email exchange. | More than a few spoke with resentment about what they said was an air of superiority among those born and raised in Hong Kong, a former British colony. “Only the salespeople in luxury stores there are nice to us,” Li Wanzhen, 21, a land resource management student who studied at Columbia University, wrote in an email exchange. |
| But perhaps the most notable element of criticism was a lack of sympathy for the protesters’ central goal: greater democracy. In interviews, many people said Hong Kong residents should be content with the liberties they already have, which far exceed those on the mainland, while others warned about the dangers of truly open elections, a refrain that Communist Party propagandists have embraced with greater confidence in recent years as they promote the “China model” of authoritarian governance at home and abroad. | But perhaps the most notable element of criticism was a lack of sympathy for the protesters’ central goal: greater democracy. In interviews, many people said Hong Kong residents should be content with the liberties they already have, which far exceed those on the mainland, while others warned about the dangers of truly open elections, a refrain that Communist Party propagandists have embraced with greater confidence in recent years as they promote the “China model” of authoritarian governance at home and abroad. |
| “We have to be wary of democracy turning into anarchy,” Wen Gao, a 23-year-old entrepreneur, said over tea at a cafe in the capital’s gleaming high-tech Haidian district. “I think it’s a deceptive concept. People will develop a habit of impatiently opposing things without providing any constructive ideas of their own.” | “We have to be wary of democracy turning into anarchy,” Wen Gao, a 23-year-old entrepreneur, said over tea at a cafe in the capital’s gleaming high-tech Haidian district. “I think it’s a deceptive concept. People will develop a habit of impatiently opposing things without providing any constructive ideas of their own.” |
| Although such views are by no means monolithic among mainland China’s educated elite, they are increasingly common. Reared on Hollywood films and European literature, those born since 1980 have been among the greatest beneficiaries of China’s opening up to the West. With their English first names, iPhones and vacations abroad, they are the generation that was supposed to be inexorably drawn to the ideals of democracy and free expression. | Although such views are by no means monolithic among mainland China’s educated elite, they are increasingly common. Reared on Hollywood films and European literature, those born since 1980 have been among the greatest beneficiaries of China’s opening up to the West. With their English first names, iPhones and vacations abroad, they are the generation that was supposed to be inexorably drawn to the ideals of democracy and free expression. |
| Instead, many mainland Chinese in their 20s and 30s are stridently nationalistic and accepting of a government narrative that presents the Communist Party as the only entity capable of protecting an unwieldy country of 1.3 billion from the social chaos and foreign hostility that looms just beyond the horizon. Zhu Yan, 25, a software company project manager who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he saw nothing wrong with Beijing’s insistence that party leaders have the final say over the candidates for Hong Kong’s leader, a main grievance of the protesters. “That’s how the government can look out for everyone’s interests,” he said. | Instead, many mainland Chinese in their 20s and 30s are stridently nationalistic and accepting of a government narrative that presents the Communist Party as the only entity capable of protecting an unwieldy country of 1.3 billion from the social chaos and foreign hostility that looms just beyond the horizon. Zhu Yan, 25, a software company project manager who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he saw nothing wrong with Beijing’s insistence that party leaders have the final say over the candidates for Hong Kong’s leader, a main grievance of the protesters. “That’s how the government can look out for everyone’s interests,” he said. |
| For liberal-minded Chinese who support political reform, the roiling debate over the so-called Umbrella Revolution has exposed buried fault lines and tested relationships. | For liberal-minded Chinese who support political reform, the roiling debate over the so-called Umbrella Revolution has exposed buried fault lines and tested relationships. |
| Peng Jingchao, 27, a Chinese graduate student in Tokyo, said he had grown weary of arguing with friends, many of them educated overseas, who were actively condemning the protesters on social media. Many of their claims, he said, reflect a knee-jerk defense of the nation. | Peng Jingchao, 27, a Chinese graduate student in Tokyo, said he had grown weary of arguing with friends, many of them educated overseas, who were actively condemning the protesters on social media. Many of their claims, he said, reflect a knee-jerk defense of the nation. |
| “For a lot of them it’s hard to shake their patriotic syndrome, in that they view any critique of the government as an attack on the nation,” he said. “Also, a lot of those students who are able to study overseas come from upper-class families and are beneficiaries of the current system.” | “For a lot of them it’s hard to shake their patriotic syndrome, in that they view any critique of the government as an attack on the nation,” he said. “Also, a lot of those students who are able to study overseas come from upper-class families and are beneficiaries of the current system.” |
| Many of those interviewed found it difficult to accept the protesters’ stated aspiration for unfettered elections as the reason for the demonstrations. Instead, they blamed outside instigators seeking to stoke tensions over stagnant incomes, rising housing prices and the frustrations many people in Hong Kong feel toward the surge of mainlanders who crowd stores and compete for spots in local universities. | Many of those interviewed found it difficult to accept the protesters’ stated aspiration for unfettered elections as the reason for the demonstrations. Instead, they blamed outside instigators seeking to stoke tensions over stagnant incomes, rising housing prices and the frustrations many people in Hong Kong feel toward the surge of mainlanders who crowd stores and compete for spots in local universities. |
| Others said Hong Kong residents were spoiled and self-centered. Li Fang, a professor in his early 30s who studied at an Ivy League school and spent eight years in the United States, criticized Hong Kong residents as refusing to speak Mandarin, China’s official dialect, and as lacking appreciation for the economic benefits Beijing provides. “It seems Hong Kong people only consider themselves,” he said. “They never think of the mainland.” | Others said Hong Kong residents were spoiled and self-centered. Li Fang, a professor in his early 30s who studied at an Ivy League school and spent eight years in the United States, criticized Hong Kong residents as refusing to speak Mandarin, China’s official dialect, and as lacking appreciation for the economic benefits Beijing provides. “It seems Hong Kong people only consider themselves,” he said. “They never think of the mainland.” |
| Still, some analysts cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the protest opponents. They noted that online censors had moved quickly to delete pro-Occupy sentiment, allowing critical comments to dominate the social media discourse. Across China, security personnel have detained at least 40 people who expressed solidarity with the protesters, including a group of artists who attended a poetry reading inspired by the protests in Hong Kong, human rights advocates say. | |
| Qiao Mu, director of the Center for International Communications at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said many mainland Chinese were probably silently cheering the protests but afraid to make their voices heard. “It’s very sensitive to take a stand,” he said. | Qiao Mu, director of the Center for International Communications at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said many mainland Chinese were probably silently cheering the protests but afraid to make their voices heard. “It’s very sensitive to take a stand,” he said. |
| Despite holding positions that mirror those of the government, some protest critics were reluctant to speak out. Several people who posted online criticism of the demonstrators later backed out of scheduled interviews or requested that their full identities be concealed, saying they were worried about the repercussions of appearing to cooperate with a Western news outlet. Others said it was safer to stay silent. | |
| Over lattes at a Starbucks in central Beijing, a woman who just returned from studying in the United States was asked if she saw any parallels between her fear of the authorities and the trepidation of protesters anxious about the Communist Party’s creeping influence in Hong Kong. | Over lattes at a Starbucks in central Beijing, a woman who just returned from studying in the United States was asked if she saw any parallels between her fear of the authorities and the trepidation of protesters anxious about the Communist Party’s creeping influence in Hong Kong. |
| She shook her head. | She shook her head. |
| “You just don’t understand China,” said the woman, a political science major. “Sometimes it just makes sense to keep your mouth shut.” |