Lam chau (doctrine)

Hong Kong slang referring to mutual assured destruction

This article is about the Hong Kong doctrine. For the former island of Hong Kong, see Lam Chau.

Lam chau

Traditional Chinese| 攬炒
Simplified Chinese| 揽炒
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| lǎnchǎo
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping| laam5-2 caau2
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests

Background

* Extradition bill (Murder of Poon Hiu-wing)
* Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict
* Umbrella Revolution

Timeline

2019

* March–June
* July
* August
* September
* October
* November
* December

2020

* January
* February
* March
* April
* May
* June
* July
* August
* September

Major incidents

* 12 June
* Storming of LegCo
* Yuen Long attack
* Prince Edward station attack
* CUHK conflict
* Siege of PolyU

Tactics and methods

* Art and music
* Hong Kong Way
* "Glory to Hong Kong"
* Lennon Wall
* Lady Liberty Hong Kong
* HKmap.live
* Spark Alliance
* Yellow economic circle
* Mutual Assured Destruction

Fatalities

* Chan Yin-lam
* Chow Tsz-lok
* Luo Changqing

Reactions to the protests

* Allegations of police misconduct
* Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation
* Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
* Hong Kong Be Water Act
* National security law (NPCSC's decision · Local effects · Responses · Hong Kong Autonomy Act)

Reactions to the Hong Kong national security law

2020

* October
* November
* December

2021

* January
* February
* March
* April
* May
* June
* July
* August
* September–November

* Commons
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Lam chau, laam chau, or laam caau (Chinese: 攬炒; Jyutping: laam5-2 caau2; lit. 'embrace fry'), or burnism,[1] is a Hong Kong term referring to a concept of mutual assured destruction. The term was picked up by the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protesters as a doctrine against the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

## Etymology[edit]

The Hong Kong Cantonese phrase “lam chau” (攬炒) literally means 'embrace fry',[2] which journalist and City, University of London lecturer[3] Yuen Chan explained as meaning "if I'm gonna fry, I'm gonna drag you in with me", comparing it to the English language idiom "if we burn, you burn with us".[4] Comparisons of the term to the English phrase also drew comparisons to the novel and film series The Hunger Games, where a longer phrase, "fire is catching and if we burn, you burn with us", is used as a mark of the revolution overturning the dystopian society.[5] This English phrase has also been used by pro-independence protestors,[6][7][8] and was used as the title of a 2020 documentary about the protests.[9] Taiwanese magazine Commonwealth also suggested a literal translation of 攬炒 as "jade and stone burning together".[10]

## Use[edit]

Popularized by activist Finn Lau,[11] the term is most prominently used by Hong Kong scorched earth protesters[4] to promote the "burn with us" strategy of achieving Hong Kong liberation from the CCP rule. They call for international sanctions intending to damage Hong Kong financially, which would moreover damage the economy of Mainland China, and undertake protest actions that aim to see retaliation that damages both Hong Kong and China at large. One member of the group said that it is a doctrine of "phoenixism" (scorched-earth defense), saying that Hong Kong will burn but rise again.[5][12]

Other protesters have said that if Beijing feels a threat to their economy coming, they will give the Hong Kong protesters what they want so as to placate them and not receive the financial implications.[5] After the Hong Kong national security law was enacted by China at the end of June 2020, the LA Times reported that the idea of lam chau was "radical" when it emerged in the protest movement in 2019, but "is becoming a reality [...] accelerating each day as China and the U.S. stoke the flames of a conflict that looks set to explode in Hong Kong".[2] In June 2020, after the announcement of the security law, The Daily Beast reported that the term was being used as graffiti and a protest call, and that the ideology of it was being seen as a final resort.[13]

It is also used more broadly to refer to the idea of sanctions against Hong Kong bringing down China in general. Nonviolent Hong Kong protest advocate and law professor at the University of Hong Kong Benny Tai had written in April 2020 that he then saw lam chau as inevitable but thought it would take years, expecting Beijing to start by restricting freedoms slowly before bringing in a national security law and causing international sanctions themselves; in May 2020, when the Chinese government approved a decision allowing them to make the security law, he wrote that "Beijing has skipped straight to the endgame" and that "the CPC [is] speeding up laam chau".[2][1]

## Reactions[edit]

The Chinese Hong Kong Liaison Office responded negatively to the use of the term, telling protesters they "will only destroy Hong Kong".[5] Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong before the UK handed the territory over to China, also criticised it. Patten supports Hong Kong protesters but felt that wanting to bring destruction "would only make the situation worse".[5] Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong described it as "a lose-lose situation for everyone".[2]

After the Liaison Office publicly denounced the doctrine, it spread more. To oppose this, pro-Beijing groups in Hong Kong tried to push an opposite idea and started using the phrase "if you burn, you burn with them" to suggest the lam chau protesters were only hurting themselves.[1] Hong Kong political scholar Brian Wong also argued, in a piece published in The Diplomat in September 2019, that lam chau is dangerous; he wrote that the protesters advocating it do not have enough experience of Mainland China to see the differences between Hong Kong and Mainland China and recognise that Beijing sees the territory as replaceable.[14]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Pao, Jeff (2020-05-04). "Liaison Office slams 'burn with us' strategy". Asia Times. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
2. ^ a b c d "Analysis: With a new law for Hong Kong, Beijing makes clear sovereignty is its bottom line". Los Angeles Times. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
3. ^ "Yuen Chan, Author at Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
4. ^ a b Yuen Chan. "Canto lesson: 攬炒 pronounced laam chau, literally embrace+fry". Retrieved 2020-07-04 - via Twitter.
5. ^ a b c d e Pao, Jeff (2020-05-20). "Patten opposed to 'burn with us' strategy for Hong Kong". Asia Times. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
6. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, "If we burn you burn with us"". BBC. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
7. ^ "Foreshadowing History? Why Hong Kong's One Country, Two Systems Framework Could Survive in Name Only". CommonWealth Magazine. 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
8. ^ "r/FreeHongKongNow - IF WE BURN, YOU BURN WITH US". Reddit. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
9. ^ ""If we burn, you burn with us": a taste of Hong Kong's protests in four films | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
10. ^ "From 'Be Water' to 'Liberate Hong Kong' - The Evolution of the Protest Slogans | Across the Strait". CommonWealth Magazine. 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
11. ^ "「攬炒」一詞源於撲克牌遊戲 Ben Sir教路泛民迎戰建制炮轟". 香港01 (in Traditional Chinese). 2020-05-07. Archived from the original on 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
12. ^ Tsoi, Grace (2020-06-12). "The city of two masks faces a new crisis". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
13. ^ Hong, Brendon (2020-06-01). "When Peaceful Protest Doesn't Work, What Do You Do? They're Asking That in Hong Kong, Too". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
14. ^ Wong, Brian (6 September 2019). "Why the Mutually Assured Destruction Rhetoric in Hong Kong Is Dangerous". The Diplomat. Retrieved 4 July 2020.

## External links[edit]

* Wong, Brian (6 September 2019). "Why the Mutually Assured Destruction Rhetoric in Hong Kong Is Dangerous". The Diplomat. Retrieved 4 July 2020.

* v
* t
* e

2019–2020 Hong Kong protests

Part of democratic development in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

Causes|

* Extradition bill
* Murder of Poon Hiu-wing
* Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict
* Umbrella Revolution

History|

| Timeline|

| 2019|

* March–June
* July
* August
* September
* October
* November
* December

|

2020|

* January
* February
* March
* April
* May
* June
* July
* August
* September
* October
* November
* December

2021|

* January
* February
* March
* April
* May
* June
* July
* August
* September–November

Incidents|

* March 15 2019 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* March 31 2019 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* April 28 2019 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* June 9 2019 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* 12 June
* Storming of the Legislative Council Complex
* Yuen Long attack
* Hong Kong Way
* Prince Edward station attack
* Siege of Chinese University of Hong Kong
* October 20 2019 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* November 2019 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* January 19 2020 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* May 24 2020 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* September 6 2020 Hong Kong protest [zh]
* Siege of Polytechnic University
* 2020 detainment of Hong Kong residents at sea by China

Elections|

* 2019 District Council election
* 2021 Legislative Council election
* pro-democracy primaries
* disqualification controversy
* postponement
* mass resignations
* mass arrests

Deaths|

* Chan Yin-lam
* Chow Tsz-lok
* Luo Changqing

Police misconduct|

* Allegations of police misconduct
* Controversies of the Hong Kong Police Force
* Independent Police Complaints Council

Tactics and methods|

| Music|

* "Glory to Hong Kong"
* "Do You Hear the People Sing?"
* "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord"
* "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido"

|

Symbols|

* Black Bauhinia flag
* Guy Fawkes mask
* Lady Liberty Hong Kong
* Pepe the Frog
* Winnie-the-Pooh

Others|

* Art and music
* Social media
* Boycotts of Chinese products
* HKmap.live
* LIHKG
* Lennon Wall
* "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times"
* Liberate Hong Kong
* Spark Alliance
* Telegram
* Yellow economic circle

Reactions|

* Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation
* judicial review
* Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
* Hong Kong Be Water Act
* Hong Kong national security law
* NPCSC's decision
* local effects
* international responses
* Hong Kong Autonomy Act

Related articles|

* COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
* Blitzchung controversy
* Civil Human Rights Front
* Demosistō
* Disappearance of Simon Cheng
* Emergency Regulations Ordinance
* Fujian gang
* Human rights in Hong Kong
* Lam chau
* Memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests
* 30th
* 31st
* 32nd
* Milk Tea Alliance
* National Anthem Ordinance
* Reclaim Sheung Shui
* San Uk Ling Holding Centre

* Commons
* Category

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