This has been my thought too. China is allowing these protests to go on. At any point, they can roll in the tanks, and they will be over.
Without meaningful ways to defend themselves, there really is no way to win against the Chinese government.
Without meaningful ways to defend themselves, there really is no way to win against the Chinese government.
Power of public is in numbers. Revolutions happen when everybody including soldiers become the protesters.
Unfortunately in this media age thats going to be harder and harder.
Sometimes armed rebellion has good outcomes, sometimes (probably more often) it has horribly tragic ones. Prolonged political pressure and alliances, non-violent protest, can give equally good results without the risk of creating bloodsheds like the US secession war or the current Syrian civil war (that as horrendous as it is, has yet to claim as many victims as the US secession war).
I'll spare myself the obvious retort. Not everyone has the privilege of starting an armed revolution and succeed, or simply survive. Not everyone who does is guaranteed to be in the right (for example the US states that tried to secede). And the outcome can be complete destruction for yourself, for your city and your region, and hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions displaced and homeless- many of whom couldn't care less about your "revolution".
Do I condemn armed resistance? No. Of course not, sometimes it is inevitable. But the idea that you should distribute firearms to people just in case somebody one day decides he's fed up and wants to start shooting other people for freedom, or for white supremacy, or- why not- for a religious caliphate- that is ridiculous.
No, we're here taking potshots at each other on the Internet.
Very few governments will just give away freedom and power. It needs to be take back by force.
If the HK citizens had access to weapons this entire time, the Chinese government would think twice before invading. Unfortunately, it's too late for that.
This is why the second amendment is so important in the US.
The Vietnamese had massive foreign support. China is unlikely to give up so easily, and no country is going to want to keep arming such a resistance.
Personally I think they'll just continue arresting and making people disappear to the mainland so there is nothing damaging on the news.
HK has maybe a difficult terrain?