美国国家公共电台 NPR Hong Kong's 'Indigenous' Villages Mirror Tensions Of An Increasingly Divided City

Hong Kong's 'Indigenous¹' Villages Mirror Tensions Of An Increasingly Divided City

NOEL KING, HOST:

Two million people, which is nearly a third of Hong Kong's population, marched in peaceful opposition² to an extradition³ bill with China back in June. Now, those protests have continued, but not always peacefully. Not everyone in Hong Kong supports them. There have been counterprotests. There have been attacks on activists⁴. Some people support Beijing. NPR's Beijing correspondent Emily Feng went to a pro-Beijing district in Hong Kong.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)

EMILY FENG, BYLINE⁵: Nam Pin Wai is closer to the border with mainland China than it is to the glittering hustle⁶ and bustle⁷ of Hong Kong Island. It's one of the so-called indigenous villages in the city's new territories, a northern region that makes up more than 85% of Hong Kong's landmass. Indigenous villages are populated by people whose ancestral roots predate Chinese Communist Party rule, British colonial rule, even the Qing empire, which leased the New Territories to the British in 1898. They're peaceful enclaves in urban Hong Kong, except on the night of July 21.

(SOUNDBITE OF SHOUTING)

FENG: Dozens of white-shirted assailants attacked protesters trapped inside a metro⁸ station near here that night, injuring at least 45. Then the assailants fled here to the village of Nam Pin Wai, which has long had links to organized crime. The assault fueled speculation⁹ in a city already paranoid about mainland Chinese interference that Beijing is directing opposition to the protests.

(CROSSTALK)

FENG: A local restaurant owner who was serving me lunch gave me a pointed¹⁰ warning. You need to be careful here, she told me. I do not suggest you look for those gangsters¹¹. On a recent October day reporting in the village, I was told repeatedly to leave for my own safety.

PAUL: I don't want you guys to come to our village anymore (ph). You are not welcome.

FENG: He's saying, you are not welcome. This is Paul, a 68-year-old resident of Nam Pin Wai. His grandparents were poor farmers. His parents did odd jobs to send him to university in Canada. But Paul always knew he would come back. He's seen the world, and that has made him fiercely protective of his homeland. Like everyone we spoke¹² to, he refused to give a full name because of fear of reprisals¹³ from protesters.

PAUL: (Through interpreter) You come to my village, you come to my house, we'll fight back. That's it - period.

FENG: Paul says the attacks on July 21 in the Yuen Long metro were not orchestrated by gangs. They were family clans¹⁴ defending their centuries-old villages just like they did against pirates hundreds of years ago and the British during an armed rebellion called the Six Days War in 1899. The rebellion was quickly squashed, but it won the villages special land rights they still enjoy today.

Now they say Hong Kong's protesters, who smashed stores and graffitied homes, are the ones threatening their way of life.

PAUL: (Through interpreter) So what are you going to do when somebody comes to your house and wants to burn down your property and rape¹⁵ your woman? Are you going to just sit there waiting for it to happen? No, we are not. We are not chicken [expletive].

FENG: Nam Pin Wai is in the district New Territories West, represented by lawmaker Junius Ho, the most well-known advocate of a growing pro-China movement in Hong Kong. Video from the night of July 21 shows Ho shaking hands with some of the white-shirted assailants who attacked protesters. Wong, another local resident of Nam Pin Wai, supports Ho and the attackers.

WONG: (Through interpreter) We were handed back in 1997. Hong Kong is China. The whole world recognizes this reality.

FENG: But Wong says his district is pro-Beijing not because they love the Chinese Communist Party. It's because they fear it.

WONG: (Through interpreter) If they wanted to, the Chinese Communist Party could crush us. We are a piece of cake.

FENG: Then, Hong Kong's jobs, transportation systems, its rule of law - it would all crumble¹⁶, Wong argues. That's why he supports Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam's decision to invoke¹⁷ emergency powers that allow her to pass any security measure she deems is in the public interest. Tens of thousands marched peacefully against the measure because they fear further erosion of civil liberties - not Wong in Nam Pin Wai.

WONG: (Through interpreter) I didn't break the law. Why should I care about emergency powers?

FENG: But Nam Pin Wai is also a village divided. In the last two decades, newcomers have moved into the indigenous villages. They're seeking more space, lower rents, and they're bringing with them different political viewpoints. Here's Kong, a 19-year-old student who was born and raised here.

KONG: (Through interpreter) People think that we are all violent and pro-government, and that's a misconception. There are many people living in this village who support the protests and who attend rallies.

FENG: Those divisions in the village are why one Nam Pin Wai-born resident named Tsang said people need to remain independent of what goes on in Hong Kong.

TSANG: (Through interpreter) We have to stand on our own. We should not blindly follow one side or the other.

FENG: Most of all, Tsang muses¹⁸, residents just wish to be left alone, both by Hongkongers and by Beijing.

Emily Feng, NPR News, the New Territories, Hong Kong.

1 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。

7 bustle   

v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。

8 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

9 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 gangsters   

匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. 歹徒提出要给他一笔相当于他一年收入的钱。
• One of the gangsters was caught by the police. 歹徒之一被警察逮捕。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 clans   

宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派

参考例句：

• There are many clans in European countries. 欧洲国家有很多党派。
• The women were the great power among the clans [gentes], as everywhere else. 妇女在克兰〈氏族〉里，乃至一般在任何地方，都有很大的势力。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

15 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

16 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

17 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

18 muses   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才，我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
• Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网