"The strike in Germany was a fascinating experiment for me"

It was very interesting for me to witness the strike that workers in Germany brought to a standstill last Monday. As an activist and student, I have gone on strike myself to protest the government and fight for various causes. But this was the first time that I was affected by a strike as a bystander.

My first thought: This is extremely impractical. I had to reschedule several things. Annoyed, I asked myself: "Does it really have to be on Monday?" Some of my friends said it was completely absurd to hinder the functioning of an entire country in this way.

At the same time, friends living in London made fun of us: "There's a strike in London every month, we've gotten used to it by now." As if strikes were part of their everyday life.

All of these comments sound very familiar to me – when we organized strikes in Hong Kong in 2019, I heard exactly the same phrases from the pro-Beijing camp. My next thought was, "Did the government supporters feel the same about our Hong Kong strike?" I thought that was interesting because I didn't think about it at the time.

It was logical for us to use every avenue to pressure the Hong Kong government to respond to our demands for democracy and respect for fundamental rights. It felt right and justified.

Of course, Hong Kong cannot be compared to Germany, and the background to the strike is completely different. But it's a fascinating experiment to stand on the other side in a vaguely similar scenario and see how I react. Strike is a protected fundamental right in Germany. It's not in Hong Kong.

So it is inconceivable that the same type of strike could take place there. Whether or not you support the reasons for the strike, I hope you will understand and respect the fact that the strikers are exercising their fundamental rights. Because by no means every person in this world has the opportunity to do so.