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A tale of two Western standards
Alex Lo
Published: 2:17am, 11 Mar, 2021
You say whataboutism, I say hypocrisy.
Several lawmakers helped to organise a referendum which their government considered a seditious act. Warrants were out for their arrests. They fled and now face extradition.
Sorry, did I mention I wasn’t talking about Hong Kong, but Spain and the European Union? The European Parliament has just voted to strip three of its members, all from Catalonia, of parliamentary immunity.
They did so at the request of the central Spanish government to pave the way for their extradition to face sedition-related charges over the 2017 Catalonia independence referendum, declared illegal by Spain.
Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, shown in October 2017, said the region had won the right to break away from Spain after 90 per cent of voters taking part in a banned referendum voted for independence, defying a sometimes violent police crackdown. Photo: AFP
The trio are former Catalonian president Carles Puigdemont, former Catalan health minister Toni Comin and former regional education minister Clara Ponsati. Unlike ex-lawmakers in Hong Kong, though, they would not receive any help or sympathy from Western governments.
No government would cancel extradition treaties or impose sanctions against Spain. EU member states have washed their hands of them and are only too happy to send them home.
Nary a word or comment from the United States, Britain or Australia.
And they are exactly right to do so. What happened in Spain is its own internal matter, and it has every right to fight independence or secession in Catalonia.
Its central government has been cracking down on secessionists at home and going after those who have escaped abroad. I pass no judgment on the rights and wrongs of the two sides – it’s none of my business.
But Spain is not China and Catalonia is not Hong Kong. Western politicians from Washington and London to Brussels and Canberra have jumped on the bandwagon to target China for doing in Hong Kong what Spain is doing in Catalonia.
Their hysterical hypocrisy is just breathtaking to behold.
The 47 Hong Kong people charged under the national security law for taking part in the illegal “35-plus primary” have been described as pro-democracy activists or democratic politicians in the Western media.
Never mind that all of those who took part in the so-called primary last year had to swear by a formal statement to paralyse and then topple the Hong Kong government if they won in the Legislative Council election, which was subsequently delayed.
Hong Kong has lots of problems. Western interference will only make them worse. But that is precisely the purpose.
Hong Kong people should have no illusion about Western or American intentions.
- The complicity and silence of Western governments in Spain’s crackdown on Catalonian secessionists have exposed not just their hypocrisy but ill intentions behind their reactions over Hong Kong
Alex Lo
Published: 2:17am, 11 Mar, 2021
You say whataboutism, I say hypocrisy.
Several lawmakers helped to organise a referendum which their government considered a seditious act. Warrants were out for their arrests. They fled and now face extradition.
Sorry, did I mention I wasn’t talking about Hong Kong, but Spain and the European Union? The European Parliament has just voted to strip three of its members, all from Catalonia, of parliamentary immunity.
They did so at the request of the central Spanish government to pave the way for their extradition to face sedition-related charges over the 2017 Catalonia independence referendum, declared illegal by Spain.
Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, shown in October 2017, said the region had won the right to break away from Spain after 90 per cent of voters taking part in a banned referendum voted for independence, defying a sometimes violent police crackdown. Photo: AFP
The trio are former Catalonian president Carles Puigdemont, former Catalan health minister Toni Comin and former regional education minister Clara Ponsati. Unlike ex-lawmakers in Hong Kong, though, they would not receive any help or sympathy from Western governments.
No government would cancel extradition treaties or impose sanctions against Spain. EU member states have washed their hands of them and are only too happy to send them home.
Nary a word or comment from the United States, Britain or Australia.
And they are exactly right to do so. What happened in Spain is its own internal matter, and it has every right to fight independence or secession in Catalonia.
Its central government has been cracking down on secessionists at home and going after those who have escaped abroad. I pass no judgment on the rights and wrongs of the two sides – it’s none of my business.
But Spain is not China and Catalonia is not Hong Kong. Western politicians from Washington and London to Brussels and Canberra have jumped on the bandwagon to target China for doing in Hong Kong what Spain is doing in Catalonia.
Their hysterical hypocrisy is just breathtaking to behold.
The 47 Hong Kong people charged under the national security law for taking part in the illegal “35-plus primary” have been described as pro-democracy activists or democratic politicians in the Western media.
Never mind that all of those who took part in the so-called primary last year had to swear by a formal statement to paralyse and then topple the Hong Kong government if they won in the Legislative Council election, which was subsequently delayed.
Hong Kong has lots of problems. Western interference will only make them worse. But that is precisely the purpose.
Hong Kong people should have no illusion about Western or American intentions.
