Above: Protesters settle in for another night on streets of Hong Kong as government leaders leave to go to mainland China. Source EPA
The protests in Hong Kong have turned toward Beijing with an open letter from the students and the political leadership of Hong Kong going to the mainland this weekend.
The Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism published an open letter to President Xi Jinping which is reprinted in full below. In the letter they quote President Xi and tell him that the Hong Kong government has not been faithful to his claim that “We shall always listen to the people, respond to their expectations and ensure equal rights of participation and development, so as to maintain social justice.” They tell the president that Hong Kong’s “Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is acting exactly contrary to your vision.” Further, they point out the allegations of corruption surrounding Leung’s administration.
They also point out that “their support for the practice of civil nomination as the direction of political reform,” is not without precedent in China. They write “In mainland China, voters can nominate their local governments. Civil nomination, therefore, has its legal ground.”
They see no reason for the government to fear democracy with civil nomination of candidates and say it is not “subversion,” but see it as consistent with the Basic Law that governs Hong Kong, as well as “One Country, Two Systems.” They make the point that “If the Central Government is confident of her governance, she need not be fearful of a Chief Executive elected by Hong Kong citizens.”
The students also emphasize that this is not a “color revolution.” They write “The occupy movement today at Hong Kong is definitely not a color revolution or its alike, but rather a movement for democracy. The class boycott initiated by students and occupy movements across the city are our response to CY’s aversion towards public opinions.” This comes at a key time as the People’s Daily accused the Occupy of being a color revolution. Color Revolution describes a series of revolts where the United States aided so-called democracy movements in overthrowing nations that were part of the Soviet Union.
While the students focused on President Xi, the leadership of Hong Kong was in mainland China for trade talks. This included Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong Government Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and other high-ranking officials. This may be an opportunity for the Hong Kong leadership to get some guidance from the mainland government. Secretary Lam has said that any meeting with the students “must be held on the basis of the decision by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.” Thus, the central issue of civil nomination could not be resolved. Hong Kong government leaders cannot go further without approval from Beijing.
All of this comes at a time when the Hong Kong government called off talks with the students at the end of the week. In response the students escalated protests and protests grew dramatically, once again. It also comes when there have been arrests in Beijing for people acting in support of Hong Kong protesters. For example, ArtNetNews reported that a “Chinese arts correspondent working for the German daily newspaper Die Zeit has been detained by Police in Beijing after attempting to attend a poetry reading by local artists in solidarity with the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.” Another poet was arrested for tweeting a picture of him posing with an umbrella, in front of a Taiwan flag, holding up his middle finger, reportedly there have been 25 arrests in mainland China for support of the Hong Kong protesters.
Open Letter to President Xi Jinping from Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism
Dear President Xi,
According to the International Monetary Fund, China will soon become the world’s greatest economy. For many, they will take pride in this extraordinary economic success of China.
You proclaimed to pursue “The China dream” – the dream of all people, which shall therefore be realized by the people, and for the people. We presume you would agree that real accomplishment can only be achieved from a bottom-up approach by the people.
Now, Hong Kong people have made clear that the same dream for the previous 30 years: the implementation of genuine universal suffrage and the establishment of a system which respects equal rights and guards the well-being of Hong Kong people in the generations to come.
You once said, “We shall always listen to the people, respond to their expectations and ensure equal rights of participation and development, so as to maintain social justice.” Don’t Hong Kong people’s persistence for an equal system echoes with your thought?
Hong Kong people’s proposal of the abolition of Functional Constituencies and Civil Nomination within the Chief Executive electoral framework or the nominating committee aims at guarantying equal participation and rights, with a view to achieve an equal development and protect social fairness and justice. Sadly, at this very moment, our Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is acting exactly contrary to your vision.
Seven hundred thousand Hong Kong people vowed explicitly their support for the practice of civil nomination as the direction of political reform. Nevertheless, Leung’s report to NPCSC failed to account faithfully Hong Kong people’s wishes. It is an outrage to witness how he manipulated our view to “Hong Kong people’s disagreement with the Legislative Council reform and abolition of the functional constituencies”.
It is a complete disregard of public opinion and denial to Hong Kong people’s expectation. The framework of the political reform issued by the NPCSC is a result of the government’s untrue report. If the Hong Kong government had been honest about public opinion, they would have confessed to their fault, rectify and, most importantly, include Hong Kong people’s genuine wishes in the direction of electoral reform.
In mainland China, voters can nominate their local governments. Civil nomination, therefore, has its legal ground. There can be no reasons for the Hong Kong government to fear practicing civil nomination. It is an agreed fact that the current Chief Executive election system is not capable of bettering Hong Kong any further.
While anti-corruption campaigns are under way in mainland China, CY Leung, who has been keeping $50M in secrecy, remains unfettered. There will only be more citizens, disillusioned with our corrupted institutions, marching and protesting, as long as no genuine democracy is practiced in this place.
It is our profound hope that none of our future generations shall repeat our path, but enjoy genuine freedom and democracy, and pursue their dreams. The occupy movement today at Hong Kong is definitely not a colour revolution or its alike, but rather a movement for democracy. The class boycott initiated by students and occupy movements across the city are our response to CY’s aversion towards public opinions.
We demonstrated peacefully, but were confronted by violence; we howled, but were made silent by pepper spray and full-geared police. Yet the choking gas lingered in Central could not scare the citizens, but only triggered more to stand against this unscrupulous government and affirm justice.
A genuine universal suffrage should never be drawn equivalent as subversion. It rather serves to exhibit the high degree of autonomy embodied in Basic Law. National defense and diplomatic matters have always been administered by the Central Government. If the Central Government is confident of her governance, she need not be fearful of a Chief Executive elected by Hong Kong citizens.
Genuine universal suffrage will only reaffirm such autonomy and be another exemplar of yours. Our respect towards the principle of “One Country, Two Systems” is the precise reason to put forward that Hong Kong shall resolve Hong Kong’s problems and citizens’ opinion must be given heavy weight. This is precisely the reason why HKSAR government should be guilty of misunderstanding us, and shall help to rectify the political reform by urging NPC to withdraw her decision.
The current situation catches attention not only from Hong Kong, but also China, Taiwan and even the rest of the world. We have high hope for you to take this matter closely. It is by no means worthy letting a corrupted official jeopardizes “One Country Two System” and blemish the grand “China Dream”.
For the sake of a democratic political system, fellow students are willing to give up their studies or even risk their lives. Only at this moment can we realize how disgraceful our city is and how terrifying she has been suppressing us. It is only when a generation is sacrificing all of their time and efforts on street protest can we notice how CY Leung has antagonized this very generation.
Some twenty or thirty years later, students fighting for democracy today will then become the pillars of the city. As 2047 approaches, any decisions today will cast a significant influence in our pathway towards democracy. We believe that nobody is eager to see his succeeding generation bet their lives for democracy and a better Hong Kong.
We, as students, urge to settle these issues of Hong Kong:
1) The HKSAR government must bear the sole responsibility, be accountable to Hong Kong citizens and rectify herself
2) To establish a democratic system that affirms equal rights
3) To uphold the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”: Hong Kong problems to be settled in Hong Kong; Politics to be settled by Politics
Yours sincerely,
Hong Kong Federation of Students
Scholarism
11 October, 2014