Outside of the rare westerner who can see past the propaganda and decades of brainwashing, none of this matters and none of this will be applied to some internal re-evaluation of the struggle between China and the western world or authoritarianism and liberal democracy.
The fact that the HK protest movement is introducing the idea that HK is actually a part of the US (in some parts of social media) and continue to wave Union Jacks and US flags, shows us just how strong American soft power really is. They are cashing in on the global brainwashing since the Cold War I. They can lay waste to people who are in a violent love affair with "liberal democracy" and it doesn't even matter what the realities on the ground are like. History matters less to these people. If they can lay waste to liberal democracies in the middle east and Ukraine-Russia, they can overrun HK with ideology when the rulers are authoritarian on paper and in practice. The easiest and most available tool they apply is the fact that China and the CCP are far from perfect, even when you ignore its authoritarianism. While the US has been socially developed, wealthy, and "kind" for so long. People ignore the journey, the trends, and the progress, instead focus on ideological dogma and the destination. You can't "win over" people like that. Better to ignore them, nod when they spill their programmed drivel, and focus of matters that actually matter. Put your money where your mouth is and get on with life. As important as documenting and sharing these things are, it's no cause for celebration.
This doesn't mean we shouldn't all be observant, resilient, and notice these changes and when the western world exposes itself. These images hopefully become the Tiananmen protest symbols for the US in the 21st century... proving their governance is 30 years behind the CCP of the 1980s but of course it's not the same!


