I was in Perth when I started hearing about the goings-on at Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. I'd been following the events in Hong Kong since they started about five months ago, but I hadn't been particularly vigilant in keeping up to date. I would hear the occasional update on the news or read a thread of tweets before moving onto whatever was next on my to do list.
The citizens, and particularly the activists of Hong Kong, have had no such respite.
I remembered the Umbrella Revolution of 2014, which sparked months of peaceful protests, which were forcibly disrupted by police. Hong Kongers turned again to peaceful protest in June of this year to present their opposition to the Fugitive Offenders Amendment Bill, which would allow extradition of Hong Kongers to mainland China and Taiwan, thereby subjecting them to the laws and restrictions of the mainland, and undermining Hong Kong's autonomy under the 'one country, two systems' principle instituted in 1997.
I watched updates file in with apprehension. Hong Kongers of all ages — even families — took to the streets. Marches escalated into a storming of the Legislative Council, which led to the destruction of government property — but by all accounts, most activists were considered in what they chose to destroy and what remained untouched. I felt a little guilty while I watched — some of my friends had family who were still in Hong Kong, and they were worried for their loved ones' safety, especially considering the brutality shown by the police during the umbrella revolution.
My parents are Malaysian-Chinese, and I also culturally identify in this way. I bear no allegiance to China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan. I consider myself a hybrid sort of creature, proud of my Chinese heritage and the richness of Chinese culture and history, but I am also very much a Chinese-presenting woman brought up in a world full of Western values.
That being said, I did go to a church that was started and mainly populated by Taiwanese people, and I went to Taiwanese-run Chinese schools. I suspect the only reason I went to Taiwanese-run Chinese schools is because they taught traditional Chinese instead of simplified, just like they did in Malaysia, where my parents were brought up.
Anti-Chinese sentiment, especially in the west, is quickly becoming synonymous with anti-CCP (Chinese Communist Party) sentiment. My beliefs and attachments to my culture — one that is many