Because of the horrible 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square, I followed events in China closely during my early editorial cartooning days. When Hong Kong was handed over to mainland China in 1997, I didn’t have much hope that the freedoms its citizens previously had would survive the transition.
To convince the human rights skeptics, supporters of the handover used the argument that opening up the markets would lead to more freedoms overall and an eventual transition to democracy for all Chinese people.
I’ve never been convinced that open markets necessarily result in an open society, especially when they involve a country ruled by a patriarchal authoritative regime. When youth and virility are lost, the only thing left for aging autocrats is power.
Besides, who would hold China accountable for another Tiananmen? Certainly not the democracies who want to retain access to the huge and lucrative market China offers.
Cartoons courtesy of the Cartoonist Group.
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