Uranus Pluto square and Hong Kong 

In my last article about ” China under Uranus Pluto square ” I mentioned that I would write about Hong Kong and Taiwan . Recent events in Hong Kong that may cause concern are also relate to Uranus Pluto square.  This is a study I would like to share .

Hong Kong was a British Colony until 1 July 1997 . As it is a westernised city, the people of Hong Kong enjoyed a high level of freedom and some democracy.  For businessmen,  Hong Kong is a gateway into the Chinese trading market. Here you will find all you need from interpreters and bankers to consultants and resources. Hong Kong is also one of the important financial markets in Asia as it used to have clear financial regulation and was watched by the Hong Kong government. Hong Kong also plays a leading role in the asian entertainment  industry, pop music , film making.  I bet you all know Jackie Chan and Jet Li, they began their acting careers in Hong Kong.

I mentioned in the previous article that Hong Kong changed after 1997, in recent years there are several things you can hear in Hong Kong that you rarely heard before:  Anti China tourist sentiments and a call for Hong Kong independence . As I visit Hong Kong since 1997 I notice the changes . The word HongKonger appeared this year showing the awareness of  local identity. 

Here is Hong Kong’s chart we use 1st July 1997 at midnight.

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Hong Kong’s chart has

3 degree of Aries Ascendent

Mars in 5 degree Libra near Descendant

2 degree Capricorn Mc 

Sun in 8 degree Cancer in 4th  House

Moon in 19 Taurus in 2 th

So/Mo midpoint in 13 Gemini 58 ( Mutable signs ) and 28 degree Cardinal signs  

Neptune conjunct  So/Mo

As/Mc midpoint in 18 Fixed signs and 3 degree Cardinal signs

Uranus in 7 Aquarius  sextile Pluto in  4 Sagittarius , this suggests that Hong Kong is more easily affected by Uranus Pluto cycle. 

Before 1997

Historians usually believe that Hong Kong’s history was started from 26 Jan 1841 when Sir Charles Elliot KCB arrived in Hong Kong and raised the British Empire flag.  We don’t know about exact time but this chart still has a tight Uranus Pluto semi-sextile which suggests that Hong Kong really has something to do with Uranus Pluto cycles. In 1960 while the Cultural Revolution occurred in China , Hong Kong was also affected . 

Hong Kong was ruled by the British Empire from 1841.  However the Chinese Qing government did not recognise its sovereignty, until 1842 when the British Empire defeated China again in the First Opium war and forced its government to sign Treaty of Nanking. Then, Hong Kong was handed over to British Empire.   Some Hong Kong Astrologers use the time when the British Empire and China signed the Treaty of Nanking on 29 Aug 1842 for Hong Kong’s Chart.  However we don’t have exact time and perhaps it when the treaty came into force wold make more sense, which was after 26 Jun 1843.  However, as the British army were first present on 26 Jan 1841 and never left from that date, perhaps that is a more logical date to use. 

Uranus Pluto conjunction Leftist Riots 1967 

From May to September 1967,   Leftists lead a series of Anti Colonial Government protests and Strikes. In the End it led to riots, including several terrorist attacks with bombs. 52 people died including 11 Police officers  and a Radio host, murdered as he opposed the riots.

BHK4-67

This happened when Uranus Pluto conjunct  in Virgo  opposite 1841 chart’s Moon Uranus and Venus . 1967 Solar Eclipse Mars was on 16 Libra forming a T square with 1841’s Pluto in Aries and Chiron in Cancer.  Eclipse New Moon was square 1841 chart’s Neptune and Node suggesting that  the Chinese communist party was the main supporter of these riots as part of the Cultural Revolution.  

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Hong Kong  After 1997

In 1999, two years after the return to China, I asked my Hong Kong friends what was different from when they had been a British colony.  Most of them told me:     

     “Nothing. We work, we eat, we dance, we race horses, we can still say whatever we want to say.” 

Now, 15 years later, I see anti-government protests getting bigger and bigger on 1 July year by year.

Hongkongers are not really happy about their government and Beijing for many reasons: terrible living environment and ridiculous house prices that cause whole families to have to live in a small studio;  they feel their life space has been invaded by Chinese tourists;  Public Transport problems, education problems and low salaries for labourers.

During recent Uranus Pluto square, I observed a few social movement in Hong Kong and saw it fit in to an Astrological view of Uranus Pluto cycles.

Hong Kong Chief Executive election 2012

Hong Kong government and Beijing has been criticised since the Hong Kong Chief Executive election 2012.  In 2005, the major parties in the Hong Kong legislative council voted in favour a of direct election system for the Chief Executive.  However this has been blocked by Beijing. The election on 2012 was vote by a 1200 member Election Committee most appointed by Beijing.  This election caused several protest in Hong Kong , pro-democracy supporters call it small circle election. Protest groups also hosted a People version of the election before the official Chief Executive election 2012.

Since Hong Kong people complained about not only Power from Beijing influence their local government’s decision, Government pro Beijing but ignore what local people need.

HK1

The Solar Eclipse chart of November 2011 in Hong Kong has Uranus right on Asc and square Pluto in 10th , New Moon in 8th House square Chiron in 12th.  (1)

HK2

In 2012 Hong Kong ’s Aries Ingress chart has Uranus in 9th conjunct MC square Pluto in 6th. (2)

Dispute of 2012 Moral and national education – Cultural Revolution 

In September 2012 the Hong Kong Government planned to introduce the new subject of Moral and National education in primary schools in 2012 and secondary schools in 2013.

The subject material was mostly teaching that: they should love love China and the communist party; the best political regime is Chinese communist regime. Such Nationalist views raise arguments in China and several Students groups had stand out protests as this new content was more like Brainwashing.

The anti Moral and national education protester has several conflicts with The pro Beijing supporter during 2012 and 2013.There were also some conflict s in University between pro Beijing students group and pro democracy student group. 

During these conflicts there are several similar point as 1967 riots . The subject material was full of Chinese Communist Nationalism propaganda, pictures, articles, story and songs made people think about the propaganda used during the Cultural Revolution .

Red Guards phenomena 

The pro-Beijing group challenged the pro-democracy group with violence and interrupted several talks hosted by pro-democracy and students groups. This behaviour has been criticised as “Red Guards” Red Guards were those huge number of young people who participated P.R.C Cultural Revolution during 1960s .

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Red Guards

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the pro-Bejing Nationalist groupe

Not only were the pro-Bejing Nationalist group called “Red Guards”, the main part of anti-Nationalist-propaganda protesters were a group of young students called  Scholarism, these students are aged from 16 -20, mostly from High schools. This group of Young Hong Kong citizens  led several protests about moral and national education outside of the Government HQ, joining the 1 July anti government protest and join Hong Kong dock strike in 2013. Their protest against government power was criticised by pro Beijing politicians as anti government and like the Cultural Revolution “Red Guards”. 

Another point making 2012-2013 similar to 1967 is that the Police department took no action to against violent attacks that disrupted the pro-democracy group meeting, this caused tension between People (pro-democracy) and Police, analysts point out that the level of tension as high as 1967 riots.  

Let us look at Eclipse and Ingress chart on 2012 The Luna Eclipse has Sun Moon opposition on Horizon and conjunct Venus , Uranus square Pluto and Uranus rule 3 rd house ( Education ), Neptune and Chiron 3rd house represent Education and Young People, Neptune was Station on this chart and also rule 4th house , home , land , root and sense of belonging , this chart  suggest the confusing identity of Hongkonger . The argument on education , They rise a question  Does China our country or just another colony country   

HK4

Let us look Libra ingress chart as this is the moment when HK government announced the project  of Moral and national education , Sun rule 3 rd house and form a T square with Uranus Pluto , Mercury also in this T square . Neptune Chiron conjunct in 9 house but very close to MC. 

2013 Hong Kong dock strike

This Event should also count as part of the Uranus Pluto square event in Hong Kong , as Hongkongers usually have a good name as being hardworking, they cope with bad working conditions and low salary.  Most people are afraid of losing their job so they bite their tongue and work hard. 

In early 2013, Dockers requested a rise in their wages as their salary in 2013 was 13% lower than in 1997. The Docks are owned by Hong Kong business tycoon Li Ka-Shing ’s Cheung Kong Holdings but the workforce is out-sourced by several small companies. 

The companies denial of the dockers’ request made dockers start to get support form outside including unions and the media. The Dockers opened Facebook page  to highlight their terrible working conditions.  Journalists with hidden camera came and revealed awful working condition. They usually worked in a cage, 68 ft above the ground for 12 hours a day.  They had to eat lunch while working (no lunch break and no time for the toilet, don’t ask me how they sorted that out) and faced all sort of dangers without insurance for their dangerous job . 

The strike started 28 March 2013. As the dockers would not earn money during strike, The union raised funds to help the striking dockers and got support from all around Hong Kong.  The students group, Scholarism, supported  this strike, as did the international docker network, with support from dockers in  Japan, Taiwan and Australia.  However the government’s reaction was criticised as too slow and supporting he business tycoon rather than the dockers.    

The strike ended in May after the companies promised wage rises of around 9% and a promise to improve dockers’ working condition, including allowing lunch and toilet breaks.

The workers attracted many supporters among student unions and pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong. Most citizen especially young citizens were aware how huge corporations dominated their life.  In supporting the dockers’ strike, they are venting the frustrations and resentments caused by cramped, expensive living conditions.

2013 – 2014 Worry about the loss of freedom of speech 

In the last year, news abouts protests and anti government feelings have disappeared from Hong Kong’s mainstream media as most of it is owned by a pro-Beijing media tycoon.  Several small independent  media outlets who support the Citizen Movement have been harassed. Early 2014, Kevin Lau a former chief Editor of one such newspaper was seriously injured after a mafia attack.  Most people believe that attack was related to an investigation of corruption in China carried out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.  Kevin Lau lead this investigation in Hong Kong.  This attack made Hongkongers worry they are losing their freedom of speech. 

From here the dock strike could be seen as part of global Uranus Pluto square movement, along with: the Nationalism Education conflicts between the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing groups; the tension between government, police office and citizens; violence toward each other and media workers being threatened by violent attack.  It is all similar like 1967. 

Both 1967 and 2012 -13 have a Uranus Pluto aspect.  In some events we can trace the direct link, such as the Nationalism subject material and the Red Guard which are influences from the Cultural Revolution, there are also another events which I will discuss later.   Other events are similar: a violent attack on a media worker; huge strike and the fight between pro Beijing and pro democracy factions. 

HK5

HK6

If we look  at 10 May 2013 Solar Eclipse Chart , New Moon was in 19 degree Taurus, surprisingly we will find the May 1967 Solar Eclipse has New Moon on 18 Degree Taurus, for who familiar with Eclipse this suggests this Lunation family will trigger Hong Kong event .  

HK7 Hong Kong 1997chart  has Moon on 19 Taurus where May 2013 Eclipse point fall on exact degree , 1997 chart also has  18 fixed As/Mc midpoint chart .

HK8

1841 chart has Node on 18 degree Aquarius  trigger by  Solar Eclipse on May 1967 by square (8).  Looks like18 Degrees of Fixed signs is a sensitive point  for Hong Kong. 

Another type cultural revolution ? 

In cultural-wise another thing gets my attention , it is the argument between traditional Chinese writing and simplified Chinese writing, at the moment China, Singapore and Malaysia are using Simplified and Traditional is used in Hong Kong and Taiwan.  In recent years, as more Chinese tourists go to Hong Kong, there are e lots of places changing road signs to simplified Chinese writing this is causing arguments in Hong Kong as most citizens are proud of the use of the traditional Chinese  system.  However people who support simplified Chinese think it is better to unite the writing system with China. The same situation happened in Taiwan. Funnily enough in a important national political council meeting in early 2014 , some Chinese politicians were suggesting switch back to Traditional Chinese for the first time after the Cultural Revolution.  Simplified Chinese Writing was born just before the Cultural Revolution in 1964 while Uranus Pluto conjunction and its influence getting stronger also been review whether should continue to use it during Uranus Pluto square.

Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement

The election of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive is a major political issue in Hong Kong.  The Beijing government is not happy to see Universal Suffrage happen in Hong Kong. The current Chief Executive was elected by a small group of representatives chosen by Beijing.  However pro-democracy Hong-kongers are expecting a higher standard of Universal Suffrage in 2017. The Pro-democracy movement proposed an idea of occupying central in Summer 2014 to display their determination. However Beijing soon denied the possibility of direct election in 2017. 

This lead to two other events in 2014.  The first was the civil referendum.  On 20 June 2014 pro-democracy hosted a poll about a proposal allowing the public, a nominating committee, and political parties to name candidates for the Hong Kong leader  which got 42% of votes in support of this proposal, this was not an official vote and the result was denied by the Hong Kong government and Beijing.  Also during this couple of days, Hong Kong University and the American IT company CloudFlare which both maintained this online poll system were facing huge hacker attacks. 

Another event was after the annual 1 July marches on the 17th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule which draws over 500,000 protesters (100,000 according to officials) and over 500 arrests as they take action about rehearsal Occupy Central, most of them were students. 

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Both Solar and Lunar eclipse on 2014 in Hong Kong has Neptune Chiron conjunct Dsc, the Cardinal grand cross was fall on Hong Kong chart ’s 1st-4th – 7th -10th houses and Uranus right on  Hong Kong’s natal Saturn ( 10th House ruler) , Transit Jupiter on Mercury (Students). 

An interesting observation happens around 20th of July when Saturn form a quincunx with Uranus and both Planets stationery, Saturn went direct and Uranus went retrograde . The Pro Beijing supporters also announced that there are over 930000 people signing an Anti-Occupy Central petition. Could it be the Government and Beijing powers represented by Saturn moves forward and Uranus (revolution rebelling ) moves backward?  

Hongkonger is awaking  

The recent Hong Kong is not like the one I knew before, from the environment of view.  This overcrowded island is getting more tourists, I used to jog around Victoria pier every time I visited Hong Kong.  I had to abandon this interest as now this area full of tourists from early morning to the evening and I can barely move when I go there. Local shops are disappearing, replaced by Luxurious fashion brand shop. 

Some Hongkongers see the Chinese government as just another colonial nation and local identity is rising.  Simply by insisting I am Hongkonger is a strong indication, which I rarely heard before. Although the voices are not strong enough to call for independence but the voice is there, which worries the PRC government.

Another observation is that Hongkongers are more aware of their life, Hong Kong people used to be criticised for only looking at material success and not caring about life and environment.  But I have noticed that they are changing in this.

Recently Hongkongers are caring more about: what is happened around them; what the government is doing; their living conditions; environment and house prices. Also they are more willing to help each other by using social networks. They spread strike news and support it, they notice where there are older people who need help.  I read a story on Facebook about several people stood up to help old people who picked up waste for sale but were fined by Police. In one way this shows tension between police and citizens , in another way Hongkongers are looking after each other. 

Uranus in Aries suggest some people’s unique identity are awaking under the threat of certain Strong powers represented by Pluto Capricorn and in Hong Kong they are proud to be Hongkonger.  

On 31 Aug 2014 China’s legislature ruled the candidates must be approved by more than half of a special nominating body. This rules out the hope of democrat support in Hong Kong. Could Uranus Pluto Square suggest more political struggle in Hong Kong if it does How far it will go and how long it will last ? Will it change Hong Kong totally ?   

 

 

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rodmagic@gmail.com

Rod has studied astrology for over 20 years, both through self study and through LSA and Faculty of Astrology. His favourite aspects are mundane and a humanistic approach to astrology. He has written a number of books on astrology in Chinese and has taught it in Mandarin for around 10 years. He is co-founder of the Academy of Astrology with Jupiter Lai, which aims to promote Western Astrology to Chinese speakers.