The cracks in China’s hold on its peripheral regions are becoming more and more evident with each new movement. The protests and acts of self-immolation that have taken place in Tibet and in Qinghai are the most visible and publicized but the protests in other regions like Hong Kong have been left out of the attention of the media.  It seems that a general question of autonomy is being called upon by many of the government’s ordained “autonomous regions”.  The idea of autonomy for the people that live in these regions and what the government believes to be autonomy are drastically different and I feel this is where the protests are getting much of their complaints.  Hong Kong, like Tibet and Xinjiang, have a culture and language all of their own and therefore hold a strong sense of regional identity. However, because of the paranoid nature of the Chinese government, if national identity is not the only or top form of identity then it is perceived as threat.  With this mentality more protests will arise and the ones that are already in action will continue and most likely gain ground.  The Chinese government is in a drastic need for revision of what they will consider a threat to national identity because the stance that they hold now will likely lead to a complete break down of legitimacy in their autonomous regions.  Lets hope that the protest in Hong Kong remain peaceful and productive.