Rallies in Hong Kong took place today in defense of Snowden and to prevent his extradition.
It's been my opinion that a quick and easy way for China to embarrass American would be to grant asylum, but whether or not that happens remains to be seen. This seems like an unlikely scenario, however Hong Kong can separately provide asylum, and China cannot intervene. Whether any party agrees to asylum or extradition is, of course, speculation at this point.
According to Hong Kong law, if the U.S. was to request the city to surrender Snowden, Beijing could step in only if its defence or foreign affairs would be significantly affected by Hong Kong's actions. Beijing is not allowed to interfere with any asylum proceedings.
More images available here
"The biggest Western government -- the U.S government -- is his enemy. Now he can only count on us, the power of Hong Kong civil society and our legal system," Ip Lam Chong of in-media told protesters. "I see this incident as a stress test for Hong Kong society and its legal system."
Claudia Mo, a member of the Hong Kong legislature who addressed the protesters, said the city of Hong Kong "owes Snowden at least some response."
"The U.S is supposed to be the champion of democracy, but it's been conducting blanket surveillance on a global scale," she said. "If the guy at the top has access to all our lines of communication, how is... anyone ever going to start a revolution?"
It goes without saying that the average Chinese citizen (and many in more repressed countries) view the US as a beacon of freedom and liberty. When the Party or more authoritarian governments prevent certain actions or rights, they sometimes use the US as an
example:
[The] idea of same-sex marriage [is] too advanced, not all western countries to allow same-sex marriages, even in United States, not every state has legalized gay marriage.
Therefore, should the US continue on this path of privacy intrusion and limitations of rights, we should all expect that more authoritarian governments will use this to crack down further on their own citizens.
Meanwhile ...
More than half of our Congress skipped out on classified briefings Thursday, because they wanted to start their breaks instead.
A recent briefing by senior intelligence officials on surveillance programs failed to attract even half of the Senate, showing the lack of enthusiasm in Congress for learning about classified security programs.
Many senators elected to leave Washington early Thursday afternoon instead of attending a briefing with James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), and other officials.
In all fairness though .... their work us super hard, and how can we expect them to participate in a meeting conducted by the head of the NSA about their spying? Well, they might have to leave for home a couple hours later!
As a result, we should all expect a great deal of attention on this matter from our elected representatives.
Further Actions
Should anyone wish further involvement with rallies in support of Snowden, and more specifically to protect our 4th amendment, check in with Restore the Fourth:
On July 4th, we are planning to hold a series of large, nonviolent protests in cities across the country. You can look for one near you by clicking on the resources link above. The protests will be uniform in their message: that the government of the United States of America must adhere to its constitutionally dictated limits of power and respect the fourth ammendment and the privacy of its citizens.
Lastly,
a worldwide petition calling on Obama's assurance that Snowden will be given due process is nearing 1 million signatories, and it's gaining votes quite rapidly.
To President Barack Obama:
We call on you to ensure that whistleblower Edward Snowden is treated fairly, humanely and given due process. The PRISM program is one of the greatest violations of privacy ever committed by a government. We demand that you terminate it immediately, and that Edward Snowden be recognized as a whistleblower acting in the public interest -- not as a dangerous criminal.