We don’t need to look outside the country. India can learn from its own experience in Kashmir, as to how an alienated young generation can become easy prey for extremist and terrorist groups and organisations, destabilising the economy and the nation.

In the case of China, is Taiwan or the Dalai Lama the bigger threat? Isn’t the real threat related to ill-health due to pollution, an ageing population, disintegration of the rural economy and the failure of the old centrally planned industrial model?

In the case of Hong Kong, are the few frustrated youngsters who are probably just provoking the government by seeking independence from China the real threat? Isn’t the real threat the deterioration of standards (take the MTR scandals for instance), falling standards of English, the broken public health system, an alienated populace that once was proud of values like the right to free speech, rule of law, the cleanliness of the city – and who don’t care any more, as they have totally lost hope and are living a life of quiet desperation? The list could go on.