On the first of October, 2020, Hong Kong native and civil activist Nathan Law Kwun Chung published an Opinion piece in the New York Times, titled: Give Hong Kong the Autonomy It Was Promised. The article goes in depth with issues concerning the grip the Chinese Communist Party (or CCP) maintains on the citizens of Hong Kong, of which many are opposed to the CCP's rule. To briefly summarize the issue at hand: the United Kingdom controlled the island of Hong Kong and some surrounding areas starting in 1898, on which they had a 99 year lease. Over the 20th century, the island became one of the world's largest financial hubs, handling billions of dollars a day and amassing a population of 6.4 million people by 1997, when they were forced to hang the territory back to the People's Republic of China. They agreed on the creation of a semi autonomous zone in which capitalism would be allowed to continue without major interference from the Chinese government, called the One Country, Two Systems rule. In recent years, however, the Chinese government has repeatedly limited the rights of Hong Kongers, slowly stripping them away and imposing their own rule, most recently with the National Security Law, which allows for the arrest of many of those who attempt to speak against the government. This supplies the context for in which this article was written- the increase in massive protests against these new restrictions. Chung used numerous rhetorical techniques to put his own point across to the reader, like appeal to Ethos and Pathos and loaded language, in order to convince his readers of this incredibly large issue and to encourage them to take action.
Works Cited:
Kwun, N. (2020, October 01). Give Hong Kong the autonomy it was promised. Retrieved February 13, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/opinion/international-world/hong-kong-autonomy-china.html