Hong Kong

Hong Kong Update & In-Depth Look At Roots Of Conflict

October 6, 2014 The ROAR Collective, www.roarmag.org Resist! China, Hong Kong, Occupy Central

Hong Kong’s Undersecretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Lau Kong-wah and representatives of the Federation of Students held another round of preparatory talks at the University of Hong Kong campus during the evening of October 6. Both the students and government want talks to go forward this week between the Federation of Students and Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. Both sides agree that the talks will be conducted in the open and that it will be a series of talks, not just one meeting which Lau describes as “conducted on an equal and mutually-respectful basis.” The students are seeking a substantive dialogue, not just a casual chat or a consultative session.

Hong Kong: Now The Hard Part, Kick US Out, Build Consensus

October 5, 2014 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! China, Hong Kong, Occupy Central, Umbrella Revolution

Hong Kong has had two successful revolts against the government prior to these protests. In 2003, protests of 500,000 people stopped the implementation of a national security law that would have undermined civil liberties. And, in 2012 students were able to stop a new curriculum from being put in place that would have emphasized patriotism for China. Many of these students are involved in the current protests. Thus, the people of Hong Kong have experienced political success. The protests today are facing a much more difficult issue, the doctrine of ‘one country, two systems,’ which is at a potential breaking point because the idea of self-governance, real democracy where Beijing does not approve candidates who run for office, challenges Communist Party rule. Activists should not feel like they accomplished nothing if these protests do not immediately gain them the democracy they want. The awakening of a national democracy movement is a major advancement and it is common for successful social movements to go through a mass awakening, followed by no immediate change. After the protests, the job of the movement is to persevere and develop national consensus that cannot be ignored. They must convince the people of Hong Kong and the leadership in Beijing that their vision of real democracy and a fair economy are the best path for the nation.

Hong Kong: US Should Be Protesting For Democracy Too

October 3, 2014 Lawrence Lessig, www.huffingtonpost.com Organize! Campaign Finance, China, Corruption, Democracy, Hong Kong, US

There's not much particularly Chinese in the Hong Kong design, unless Boss Tweed was an ancient Chinese prophet. Tweed famously quipped, "I don't care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating." Beijing's proposal is just Tweedism updated: a multi-stage election, with a biased filter at the first stage. Today, in the US, there's a "green primary." To run in any election, primary or general, candidates must raise extraordinary sums, privately. Yet they raise that money not from all of us. They raise it from a tiny, tiny few. In the last non-presidential election, only about .05 percent of America gave the maximum contribution to even one congressional candidate in either the primary or general election; .01 percent gave $10,000 or more; and in 2012, 132 Americans gave 60 percent of the superPAC money spent.

Hong Kong: Game-Changing Social Movement?

October 2, 2014 Dorothy Grace Guerrero, www.focusweb.org Resist! Democracy movement, Hong Kong

The critical moments are early Friday morning and next Monday morning, because both are working days. The police are now looking for a "reason" for repression, and the protesters’ violation of the law is already being mentioned. Student organizers claim they will take action soon and occupy the government headquarters. If this happens, it could legitimize repression. Repression could also occur if the protesters become divided and their numbers thin out because they are too tired or frustrated. Some activists from Hong Kong think that if they remain peaceful, it is less likely that the People’s Liberation Army will be mobilized, because it concerns the international image of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The use of tear gas by police at the beginning of the Occupy event was widely condemned, as it already had a substantial impact on Hong Kong’s image, with lots of pictures in the international press.

The Umbrella Revolution

September 30, 2014 Vivienne Chow, www.creativeresistance.org Resist! Art, Creative Resistance, Democracy, Hong Kong, Protests

From CreativeResistance.org. Through tear gas and the sweltering sun, umbrellas have been an indispensable tool for Occupy Central protesters in the streets — becoming a new symbol of protest for a more democratic Hong Kong. As the civil disobedience movement entered a second day on Monday, logos for the “umbrella revolution” or “umbrella movement” began spreading on social media. Kacey Wong, an artist and assistant professor at Polytechnic University, shared images of an umbrella in fiery red-orange, from the Resident Evil films, in an attempt to inspire other artists to come up with designs.

Instagram Blocked In Mainland China Amid Hong Kong Protests

September 30, 2014 Lucy Wang, www.shanghaiist.com Resist! China, Democracy, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Hong Kong, Protests

Instagram has been blocked in mainland China since Sunday, in what is believed to be an attempt to stop pro-democracy protest images in Hong Kong from spreading to the mainland. News of the student-led pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong have gripped headlines since its start last week, with the massive Occupy Central demonstration taking a particularly dark turn yesterday when Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the thousands of unarmed protestors. As photos and videos of the attacks flooded social media websites, China has seemingly cracked down on the dissemination of information.

Hong Kong Protests Grow In Response To Police Abuse

September 29, 2014 Austin Ramzy and Alan Wong, www.nytimes.com Resist! China, Hong Kong, Occupy Central, police brutality

A wave of protest in Hong Kong extended into the working week on Monday as thousands of residents defied a government call to abandon street blockades across the city, students boycotted classes and the city’s influential bar association added to condemnation of a police crackdown on protesters a day earlier. The continued public resistance underscored the difficulties that the Hong Kong government faces in defusing widespread anger that erupted on Sunday, after the police used tear gas, pepper spray and batons to break up a three-day sit-in by students and other residents demanding democratic elections in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.

At Least 38 Injured As Police And Protesters Clash In Hong Kong

September 28, 2014 Alan Wong and Chris Buckley, www.nytimes.com Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong

In a significant escalation of their efforts to suppress protests calling for democracy, the authorities in Hong Kong unleashed tear gas and mobilized riot police with long-barreled guns Sunday to disperse crowds that have besieged the city government for three days. But thousands of residents wielding only umbrellas and face masks defied police orders to clear the area. Hours after the police sought to break up the protest, large crowds of demonstrators remained nearby, sometimes confronting lines of officers and chanting for them to lay down their truncheons and shields. Police officers were also injured in skirmishes with protesters. Streets of a city known as a safe enclave for commerce became a nighttime battleground. The police issued a statement Sunday evening saying that a “lockdown” had been imposed on several downtown areas, including the vicinity of the central government’s offices, and declared any assembly near the offices “unlawful.” Officials reported 78 arrests. But late into the night, many thousands of residents remained on the streets, denouncing the police crackdown and staging sit-ins in several neighborhoods outside the original protest area.

Democracy Protests In Hong Kong Heat Up

September 27, 2014 Yimou Lee and James Pomfret, www.reuters.com Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong

Tens of thousands of people massed in the heart of Hong Kong late on Saturday to demand more democracy, as tensions grew over Beijing's decision to rule out free elections in the former British colony. The crowds swelled less than 24 hours after riot police used pepper spray to disperse protesters around government headquarters, arresting more than 60 people opposed to the Chinese government's tightening grip on the city. The unrest underscores the obstacles China faces in Hong Kong as a restive younger generation challenges its influence over the densely-populated financial hub. One protester said she had joined the protests to secure a better future for her five-year-old son, who was by her side wearing swimming goggles to protect him if the police fired more pepper spray. "If we don't stand up, we will be worried about his future," said the 33-year-old woman named Li. "He can't choose his own future." The demonstrators broke through a cordon late on Friday and scaled perimeter fences to invade the city's main government compound in the culmination of a week-long rally to demand free elections.

What Is Hong Kong’s Occupy Central Movement?

September 23, 2014 BBC, www.bbc.com Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Occupy Central, Protest

Tensions are high in Hong Kong amid a row about how the city's leader should be elected. Elections are due in 2017 - but the Chinese government has issued a ruling limiting who can stand as a candidate. Democracy campaigners are planning to occupy the city's business district in protest - a move denounced by China. The BBC explains the movement. What does Occupy Central want? Occupy Central with Love and Peace, known as Occupy Central, is a civil disobedience movement proposed by democracy activists in Hong Kong. The campaigners want political reform and democratic elections that meet international standards. They are planning a non-violent occupation of the business district, Central, in response to the Chinese government's ruling against open elections in 2017.

Students Demand Response From China On ‘Fake Democracy’

September 23, 2014 DW, www.dw.de Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Protest, Student Activism

"How can a few people decide Hong Kong's future? Why not seven million of Hong Kong's people?" Alex Chow, the general secretary of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, cried out before several thousands protesters in Hong Kong on Monday. Last month, China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress, announced that a new "broadly representative committee" would nominate candidates for Hong Kong's next chief executive in the 2017 election. The move was seen as a reversal of China's promise that the elections in three years would be the first since the handover to be decided by universal suffrage. In response to the policy change by Beijing, students from a number of universities in Hong Kong are staging a series of mass protests throughout the week in what has been billed by pro-democracy activists as a "new era of civil disobedience."

Hong Kong Protest Leaders Shave Heads For Democracy

September 14, 2014 Lu Chen, www.theepochtimes.com Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong

The three initiators of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central movement and 40 others shaved their heads on Tuesday to express their determination to fight for universal suffrage. “Never resign to fate, never give up,” said Chan Kin-man during the head shaving. Chan, along with Benny Tai and Chu Yiu-ming, started Occupy Central. “Our most important mission is to promote civil society, to protect the essential value, and not to let the freedom and rights we have go backward,” Chan said. The head-shaving protests the decision by the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party’s rubber stamp legislature, the National People’s Congress, to continue the system of indirect elections for Hong Kong’s chief executive. That system assures that Beijing has effective control over the election results. The decision was made despite prior promises that Hong Kong would enjoy universal suffrage in the 2017 election for chief executive.

Occupy Central In Hong Kong Begins Civil Resistance Campaign For Democracy

August 30, 2014 Peter So, www.scmp.com Resist! China, Civil Disobedience, Democracy, Hong Kong, Occupy Central

Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting says the movement’s supporters will gather on Sunday – after Beijing officially lays down its framework for political reform – to mark the beginning of a “continuous and long-term” civil disobedience campaign. Tai promised the campaign will be peaceful and rational. “If the campaign begins to lose control or violent acts occur, I will stand at the front of the crowd to stop them,” the legal academic added. He told RTHK on Thursday that the finer details of the movement’s “final resort” – a mass sit-in on Central streets – were still under consideration after Beijing on Wednesday laid out a restrictive draft framework for the city’s first popular election of its leader in 2017. But Tai said weekly protests would be held as part of the civil disobedience campaign, and he will shave his head to show the “spirit of sacrifice”. Thousands of university students are expected to boycott classes in mid-September, said Alex Chow Yong-kang, general secretary of the Federation of Students.

Democracy Battle In Hong Kong Competing Demonstrations

August 18, 2014 Al Jazeera, www.aljazeera.com Resist! Democracy, Hong Kong, Occupy, Protest

Tens of thousands have protested in Hong Kong against plans by pro-democracy activists to paralyse the city centre with a mass sit-in unless China grants acceptable electoral reforms. Public discontent in the semi-autonomous Chinese city is at its highest for years, with concern at perceived interference by Beijing and growing divisions over how Hong Kong's leader should be chosen in 2017 under the planned reforms. Pro-democracy campaigners from the Occupy Central group have pledged to mobilise protesters to block roads in the Central financial district later this year if authorities reject the public's right to nominate candidates for the chief executive post. But the movement has been strongly criticised by Beijing and city officials as illegal, radical and potentially violent. The Alliance for Peace and Democracy, backed largely by Beijing-friendly groups, organised Sunday's rally. It said the silent majority of the city's seven million residents do not support the Occupy movement. "We want to let the world know that we want peace, we want democracy, but please, do not threaten us, do not try to turn this place into a place of violence," alliance co-founder Robert Chow told the AFP news agency. Police estimated that about 110,000 people took off from Victoria Park, many of them wearing red clothes and waving Chinese.

Lessons In Dissent From Hong Kong’s Youth

July 7, 2014 M.A., www.economist.com Educate! Activism, Hong Kong, Student Activism, Youth

HONG Kong’s youth are scarcely known for being political animals: little wonder, given the example set by their pragmatic elders. Doing well at school, finding a decent job and getting their hands on the latest iPhone tend to be higher priorities than politics. Yet a breed of young activists is challenging the presiding apathy, riding a wave of political activism that is sweeping the city. An unofficial ballot on electoral reform that ended on Sunday drew almost 800,000 votes, while an activist threat to “Occupy Central”, the main business district, hangs in the summer air. The annual July 1st protest march drew a large turnout; though peaceful, it ended in over 500 arrests, mostly of students. A timely documentary, now showing in Hong Kong, portrays two of the young rebels. Joshua Wong is a “rock star” among young activists, as Li Ping Kong, a producer of “Lessons in Dissent”, puts it. In 2011, at 15, Mr Wong founded Scholarism to fight against the government’s proposed “Moral and National Education” curriculum. With their allies, the secondary-school protest group (pictured above, in 2012) decried the government’s plans as an attempt to peddle patriotic, pro-Communist party propaganda through, for instance, teaching a distorted version of history.

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