Hong Kong is not Crimea, thankfully

THIS year's prolonged and ongoing social turbulence in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, reminds me of the Crimea crisis in 2014. There are indeed several similarities between the two events.

First, relatively small issues sparked large-scale protests. Hong Kong's protests were triggered in June by the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019. The Bill was largely designed to extradite certain criminal suspects to mainland China but criticised for likely undermining Hong Kong's judicial independence and endangering dissidents under the "one country, two systems" arrangement. The Bill was subsequently withdrawn in September, but demonstrations have become increasingly violent and have not fully stopped till today.

The 2014 Crimea crisis started in November 2013, when then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych rejected a pending European Union association agreement and chose closer ties with Russia. That led to a series of protests, including the occupation of Kiev's Independence Square and pushed Ukraine onto the brink of civil war.