Because that's the fact on the ground. The fact is that when lies become something people are willing to strongly believe, fight, and die for, it becomes political ideology. That's why you got to be willing to step into your enemies' shoes in order to understand why they are staunchly opposed to what you believe in. If you want to defeat your enemy, you got to understand where they are coming from, what their values are, and why they are willing to fight. I think both Chinese and non-Chinese have been shocked to find out how assertive HKers are in opposing Beijing. Yet, nobody on Beijing's side seem willing to understand his or her opponents. HKers are ethnic Chinese who grow up studying political liberalism and market economy, despite being UK's second-class citizens. How do you expect them to think and behave like Mainland Chinese - who grew up seeing the success of the CCP political mobilizations, experiencing a dual economy where private firms support state industries in implementing state's developmental goals, and glorification of a strong central Party State in executing developmental goals and lifting millions out of poverty? In fact, many older-generation HKers were losers of the CCP's political agenda and victims of CCP's political persecutions from the 1940's to 1970s (before Reform and Opening up). Yes, HKers welcome business opportunities resulting from China's post-1978 economic reform, but they will never trust the CCP Party State due to historical and ideological reasons. However, from a Mainlander's perspective, of course the HKers are nothing but traitors working with the PRC's strategic competitors in splitting China and not appreciating what the PRC has achieved since 1978. The bottom line is that HKers and Mainland Chinese experienced completely different histories and political ideologies.
First of all, Beijing is A LOT wiser and more insightful about this whole Hong Kong mess than you can imagine.
Beijing's refusal to even listen to what these rioters are saying are exactly what a political party like the CCP should do, the CCP that is harden by almost a century of non-stop struggles against numerous powerful enemies, in which it survived and thrived. This is because the rioter not only has no real power or advantage what-so-ever against the CCP, everything they have done so far has also worked to their disadvantage. The worst is, Hong Kong is not even a Chinese city in terms of taxation, legal jurisdiction. It has its own borders, so CCP does even need to worry about any protests sparking a chain reaction that could undermine its taxable economy, or the order of the core of its industrial. This is why this is incomparable to 1989 in Beijing. HKers has been rioting for weeks now, and how much did it affect the real economy and military industrial might of mainland China? Not even a dent! However, imagine this same thing happening in Shenyang, or Shanghai, or Chengdu. Haha, if that happens, I am afraid that a lot of our SDF thread will have to be abandoned! That would mean byebye 003, byebye J-20, byebye J-16.
They were uneven to begin with, and the HK rioter did the stupidest thing to antagonize the entire Mainland Chinese population. I can see the palm-faced British Geo-Strategy expert agonizingly moaning: "you are supposed to divide you enemies!", "Divide and Conquer, three words, how difficult can it be!".
The idiotic HK rioters who did nothing but united the mainlanders and tears up HK society. Of course they could be more radical and create real trouble for the HK government by really going rogue, maybe create a bomb attack or arson attack on important building. Yes, that will turn this into terrorism. But, this would make the HK government a failed government, and forcibly draw PAP forces into HK. This is where the rioters can really fight the CCP like guerrilla fighters in urban environment. That would an audacious but extremely effective move.
Yet, what did they do? They revert back to that meaningless peaceful rally, against which the police didn't even have to fire tear gas.
The HK rioters are laughable now. They were much braver and effective when they actually did something like vandalizing the legislature hall, occupying the subway system and the Airport.