Two matters in the news occupied most of our discussion:
The impact of the Beijing Government’s actions on Hong Kong. Is it that Beijing is determined to subvert the 1997 One Country, Two Systems agreement with Britain and control Hong Kong- or is it a difference of interpretation of what that agreement meant? Since Deng Xiaoping began the process of liberalising China’s economy after the death of Mao in 1978 the “West” has hoped that economic liberalisation would lead to political liberalisation. And Hong Kong has also looked for that. But it is becoming clear that the Chinese government does not see things that way. And the expectation that as China’s young people became more involved with social media political freedoms would follow naturally has also so far proved baseless. The reality is that economic growth is not an infallible predictor of political freedom- perhaps for those countries which are already successful in the global competitive market, but for those who struggle to catch up an authoritarian political system is often more “useful”. Is this what motivates President Xi Jinping, as well as the urge to reverse the humiliations China suffered from the 19th century Opium Wars on into the 20th century? Handling these relationships will require skilled diplomacy- whether this is being shown by the USA at the moment is an open question. 3 million citizens of Hong Kong born before 1997 are being offered access to UK- will China accept this, will they want to come, and will UK people welcome them if they do?
Israel hopes to annex territory in the West Bank: East Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and “Area C” (about 60 percent of the West Bank where Israel already has almost total control- home to 386,000 Israeli settlers and about 300,000 Palestinians). There are conflicting political visions: a Jewish state where Palestinians either accept Israeli rule or leave; a Two-State solution, being made increasingly impossible by annexations and control of resources, (for example water rights); One state with equal democratic rights for everyone- but many Israelis fear a potential Palestinian majority, and the right of return of refugees (from the 1948 expulsions) is fiercely resisted. Did God give the land to the Jews 4000 years ago, or to the Muslims nearly 1400 years ago? Or is Psalm 87 the biblical vision for the future, however distant, where many nations are recorded as “born” in Zion, so all having it as their home? Is there a “law of God” that can transcend religious differences and be the basis for people living together (and how does Sharia Law relate to that)? Or will religious extremists foster increasing conflict to provoke their promised catastrophic “End”, and usher in the “Promised Land” they wish to see?
Our reading was the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, from Luke chapter 16, verses 19 to 31, but we did not discuss how this might relate to the two current news topics we had looked at.