Hong Kong mainstreams protests, votes for rights

Sunday’s election results that give pro-democracy representatives control of 17 of 18 District Councils show that Maggie Wong Shing-wah has plenty of company and gives a glimmer of hope for resolution of the conflict that seemingly ripped this great city’s social fabric to shreds.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming, contributor to Forbes, columnist/correpsondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Google’s China play? Search me

I’m mad as hell that Google put Hong Kong’s autonomy at risk to escalate its fight with mainland China. The search giant’s recklessness is amplified because Google has no reasonable objective to achieve by baiting Beijing and inviting Chinese authorities to crack down on Hong Kong’s freedoms. I’m thankful the bonehead idea of rerouting search results via Hong Kong to evade censorship failed, not because it preserves suppression in the mainland but because it preserves freedom in Hong Kong. As I wrote in Asia Times, Google’s supposed desire to deliver uncensored results for mainland searches doesn’t make sense, given its agreement to abide by China’s rules as a condition of doing business there. Google’s longstanding corporate hypocrisy also raises questions about its claims of mainland cyberattacks and hacking. I guess Serge and Larry won’t be sending this fellow Stanford alum a Christmas card this year either, though I’ll keep an eye out for spybots.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, financial crisis, and cheap lingerie.