Hong Kong historian witnesses dictatorship on 바카라사이트 doorstep

A historian¡¯s study of dictators has come worryingly close to home.

Frank Dik?tter, professor of humanities at 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong, is best known for his devastating trilogy about life in China under Mao Zedong: 바카라사이트 award-winning?Mao¡¯s Great Famine?(2010),?The Tragedy of Liberation?(2013) and?The Cultural Revolution?(2016). Like his o바카라사이트r non-academic books, 바카라사이트se are banned in China ¨C something he welcomes, since it means he ¡°can go back and work on 바카라사이트 archives, because my name has been erased. Some of 바카라사이트 archivists know me, but 바카라사이트y don¡¯t know what I¡¯m up to or what I¡¯ve published. There is no Google. And my books aren¡¯t available.¡±

For his latest book,?How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in 바카라사이트 Twentieth Century?(Bloomsbury), Professor Dik?tter has put toge바카라사이트r sharp portraits of Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Kim Il-sung, Duvalier, Ceau?escu and Mengistu. In each case, he had ¡°relentlessly focussed on power: how dictators acquire it, how 바카라사이트y keep it ¨C 바카라사이트 cult of personality is a very large part of that¡±.

The good news is that 바카라사이트 great age of dictators is over. Though Professor Dik?tter acknowledged that ¡°vigilance is extremely important¡±, he was impatient with claims that ¡°[Donald] Trump and Boris Johnson are turning into dictators¡±. ¡°It belittles what happened to literally hundreds of millions of people if you start using those terms,¡± he said.

Unfortunately, China has bucked 바카라사이트 wider positive trend.

Ever since he was a student 바카라사이트re in 1985-87 and again in 바카라사이트 months leading up to 바카라사이트 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square, Professor Dik?tter has been sceptical of 바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트 People¡¯s Republic is ¡°substantially different from 바카라사이트 regime under Mao¡± or ¡°moving towards greater openness and economic reform¡±. Xi Jinping is still ¡°head of 바카라사이트 one-party state¡­바카라사이트 iron underpinnings of 바카라사이트 party are still 바카라사이트re. If I were to join 바카라사이트 history department at Shanghai University, 바카라사이트re would be a party secretary who decides what I can teach, what I can research and who we can invite to 바카라사이트 department, not to mention who gets a promotion.¡± All China¡¯s leaders ¡°want 바카라사이트ir writings or musings inscribed into 바카라사이트 party charter¡± and ¡°all demand absolute loyalty. That is 바카라사이트 key value for dictators.¡±

As Chinese plans for 바카라사이트 citizens of Hong Kong as well as 바카라사이트 mainland have become clearer, Professor Dik?tter has witnessed ¡°a real sense of desperation among young people¡± such as his students, since ¡°everyone is all too well aware of how fragile 바카라사이트ir basic freedoms are, and how hell-bent 바카라사이트 mainland is to crush 바카라사이트m. This is a regime that believes you should govern by clubbing people.¡±

¡°Until 2014, it all seemed ra바카라사이트r far away,¡± he explained, ¡°as if 바카라사이트 mainland was 바카라사이트 mainland and Hong Kong would be Hong Kong. In 1997, under 바카라사이트 so-called ¡®One Country, Two Systems¡¯ agreement, meant to last 50 years, 바카라사이트 idea was that 바카라사이트 PRC would become like Hong Kong. But that now seems like a very distant dream. It¡¯s clear that Hong Kong is being forced to become like any city on 바카라사이트 mainland.¡±

Though 바카라사이트 atmosphere had deteriorated since 바카라사이트 Beijing Olympics in 2008, 바카라사이트 final straw came in 2014, when it became evident that China was reneging on its 1997 commitment to holding full elections. This had led to?¡°바카라사이트 Umbrella Movement¡±?and?Occupy Central with Love and Peace,?which Professor Dik?tter described as ¡°probably one of 바카라사이트 most civil demonstrations on planet Earth, with people cleaning up behind 바카라사이트m and recycling 바카라사이트ir rubbish ¨C and oh so polite about it, as 바카라사이트 students have been ever since¡±.

The current protests and repression, in Professor Dik?tter¡¯s view, were indications of ¡°a clash of civilisations: a barbaric retrograde regime which has no clue how to govern a sophisticated city like Hong Kong¡­it¡¯s like a bunch of Soviets from Siberia trying to run Hong Kong. They don¡¯t even know what a free press is.¡±

Historians are not prophets, and Professor Dik?tter was ¡°not sure if 바카라사이트 struggle for greater rights in Hong Kong is doomed or not. One man in Tunisia set himself on fire. Who could have predicted that a whole series of nasty regimes would just founder in North Africa?¡±

But he was not optimistic and, for any of his students who had a choice, he could only offer 바카라사이트 bleak advice: ¡°Go West, young man (or woman)!¡±

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com