Poland's former President Lech Walesa says, in order to overcome Communist domination, students and other rebels in Hong Kong must first organize themselves and then reach out to others for help.
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax on Tuesday afternoon, the Nobel Peace laureate considered the father of post-Communist Poland said the success of his Solidarity movement in the 1980's can be repeated today by the insurgents seeking an overthrow to Chinese domination of Hong Kong.
"If they listen to Walesa, they'll succeed," he said of those now locked in daily battles with well-armed Communist riot police.
Walesa spoke to Newsmax following a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence.
He recalled the start of Solidarity, which he launched as a shipyard electrician in Gdańsk, Poland in the late 1970's. He led a strike of 17,000 workers which mushroomed into a nationwide movement that would be pivotal to the end of Communism rule of Poland.
Solidarity, he emphasized, "was based on a simple principle — to ask some others for help."
Having created Solidarity and orchestrated the well-organized strike, Walesa noted, "we then asked Europe, the United States, and Canada to join us to get rid of Communism."
"They assessed what the burden was and then helped us," Walesa told us. "Now [the Hong Kong protest marchers] need to organize themselves and demonstrate they can get rid of their burden. Other countries will then decide whether they should or should not get involved with them."
Walesa, who became president a year after Communism was overthrown in 1990, underscored his view that "the future is in freedom and democracy" and "we need to continue and build a larger structure of freedom and the free market."
Summarizing the current clash in Hong Kong, he said, "Whoever has the better template and demonstrates which will work best will win."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2019 Newsmax. All rights reserved.