It is remarkable that none of the great dictators of the twentieth century (Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao) ever succeeded in realizing their visions. It is not that the world resists planning altogether, but the outcome will always be something unanticipated.
The great dictators of the 20th century were, no doubt, immensely powerful, but their power consisted only in their ability to bring about gigantic unintended effects.
“Gleichschaltung” was the term the Nazis used to describe the process through which they sought to impose their vision of politics and society on the German people and make them conform to their ideology. It is an insidious word which suggests that the state is a machine of which human beings are functional parts that can be turned on and off in unison. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis may have provided the inspiration for it.
The process it describes is of long-standing. It was at work in the Christianization of Europe, in the Protestant Reformation, in the twentieth century in Soviet Russia and in Nazi Germany, and then in Communist China. It has definitely now reached Hong Kong. (See preceding blog)
In the case of Nazi Germany, the attempt at Gleichschaltung was ultimately not successful. The regime ran out of time to carry it through. The Christianization of the world has shown us, on the other hand, how a heathen society can be turned into one of rabid believers. Sometimes the process of Gleichschaltung is exceedingly violent, as it certainly was in Nazi Germany, or it is repressive in the way it has been in Xinjiang, or it uses legal and bureaucratic maneuvers to bring about the desired effect, as seems to be the case in Hong Kong. Resistance to Gleichschaltung is also sometimes violent, at other times devious, but it can also easily melt away.
The rulers in Beijing must think that they have the means and the time to make Gleichschaltung a success across their empire. But they still have obstacles to overcome such as the older traditions of China, a diverse set of belief systems, local histories as well as lethargy, corruption, and hypocrisy.
At the time of its handover to China in 1997, Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy under the heading of “One Country, Two Systems”. The people of Hong Kong might have thought that they could expect to live in a socially and politically free society. But Beijing was, in fact interested only in keeping the former colony’s capitalist market economy in place. The two systems the Communist authorities had in mind were just two ways of doing business. Hong Kong was supposed to be Beijing’s trading post with the West; the Communist leaders had no interest in a free society.
As the people of Hong Kong continued to make a claim to such a society, the Beijing authorities eventually found it necessary to clamp down on their expectations. Under the command of the authoritarian Xi Jinping, the decision was taken to integrate Hong Kong into mainland China. The policies that had been applied to the obstreperous folks in Xinjiang were to be extended in an appropriately modified form to Hong Kong.
The result was an abrupt change in Hong Kong’s political system, followed by drawn-out political trials intended to squash the Hong Kongers’ appetite for democracy. No sign of political independence or social resistance has proved small enough to be ignored by the local handymen of the Communist system. National Security has become the policy under which the entire population is being rectified. The actions of the police are petty and vindictive.
Hong Kong is now subjected to an ever-widening course of repression: books, media, public organizations, independent voices are being suppressed. The process is slow but thorough and unlikely to stop very soon.
In the latest turn, Xi Jinping Thought is now to be taught to public school children, as The Hong Kong Free Press reports (August 1, 2024). The previous curriculum which meant to help students “to understand, appreciate, respect and reflect on the values and attitudes that underpin the local society, including rights and responsibilities, freedom, rule of law, social justice, democracy” has been scrapped. Instead, there is now an emphasis on patriotic education intended to get students “to understand the development of our country and the importance of the close relationship between the Mainland and Hong Kong to the development of our society, thereby cultivating students’ sense of nationhood, affection for our country and sense of national identity.” In order to achieve that end, students will devote themselves to “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”
Hong Kong’s Gleichschaltung will certainly not end here. Policies are in place to whittle away any difference between Hong Kong and the mainland. Hong Kong is to be made part of the “Greater Bay Area,” i.e., the surrounding territories of the mainland. The border between Hong Kong and the rest of China is already becoming increasingly porous. While the former colony continues to operate with the British common law system, the existence of two different legal systems will eventually be seen as too cumbersome for the Chinese state and as an affront to Chinese sovereignty. As China becomes fully established on the world market, there will also be less need for the special economic status that Hong Kong still retains. It is only a question of time till the Beijing authorities will abandon the entire pretense of “two systems.”
