One is the superpower of the world, the USA, while the other is an emerging superpower, China. And both of them are facing the largest and most violent protests of the year. The words “I can’t breathe,” the last words of George Floyd and also Eric Garner in 2014, aided the massive protest ramming across the States, after George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.
Reports in the USA stated that the police claimed Floyd as a suspect in a forgery case at an unnamed grocery store. However, this is not just a simple criminal case; this is daylight racism that has been unmasked in America against the Blacks even after 155 years of ban on slavery and 70 years of victory of the civil rights movement.
The US Declaration of Independence contains the words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”
Joshua Wong, a 23-year-old student activist, is fighting against the Chinese government for reclaiming democracy of Hong Kong. The protest is against the extradition bill that was scrapped by Hong Kong. The Bill states that one jurisdiction can deliver a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to their law enforcement.
This is a well-fabricated plan of the Chinese government to strengthen its presence in Hong Kong. The movement is named after an umbrella because it has been used to provide shield from pepper spray and tear gas by police forces in the 2014 protests for transparent elections in Hong Kong. Thus, it has become a political symbol of resistance in protest against the extradition bill.
Globally, the world is facing a similar kind of protest, with the anti-CAA protest being the most recent one in India. The world witnessed a lot of protests in 2019 in Hong Kong, India, Spain, France, Lebanon and several other countries, making one believe in their continuation in 2020.