Hong Kong

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.

More Than 500 Arrested In Hong Kong Democracy Protest

July 3, 2014 Chester Yung, Edward Ngai, and Ned Levin, www.online.wsj.com Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Protest, Protesters Arrested

Police arrested 511 people who refused to leave a street in the financial district Wednesday, a day after a huge crowd marched across the city to mark the anniversary of the city's handover to China by denouncing interference from Beijing and demanding democratic elections. Those arrested were mostly students who had vowed to stay in the park in the city's Central district until 8 a.m. Police began clearing the park in the early morning hours and the last students were taken at that time after the crowd counted down to 8 a.m. Some of those taken away by police shouted and struggled, while others walked or were carried silently. Police held signs over the crowd telling them to board police buses. The protesters were arrested for unauthorized assembly and obstructing police officers, police said. None of the protesters has been formally charged. Tuesday marked the 17th anniversary of the end of British colonial rule and the city's return to Chinese sovereignty, a public holiday that has become a day of protest. Demands for universal suffrage are growing while the public is increasingly concerned about Beijing's approach to the city, which was promised a high degree of autonomy after the handover.

Democracy Rally In Hong Kong Today

July 2, 2014 Hong Wrong, www.hongwrong.com Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Protest

Organisers say 510,000 people rallied for full democracy on the streets of Hong Kong Island today. Demonstrators assembled in Victoria Park at 3pm and headed peacefully down Yee Wo Street to Hennessy Road and on to Statue Square in Central. Hundreds of thousands queued patiently in the sun, though several had to be treated by medics for exhaustion. Hundreds were still departing from Causeway Bay as night fell. As protesters left the park, they chanted for police to release them and open up more lanes. Throughout the day, frustrated participants – stuck in bottlenecks around Causeway Bay and Wanchai – demanded the police let them proceed. However, the authorities have threatened to sue the organisers – the Civil Rights Front – claiming they disobeyed orders. Patchy rain throughout the day and smothering humidity did little to dampen turnout. Every conceivable progressive civil group and NGO was present along the protest route. Many collected donations, gave out leaflets or rallied the crowds with chants and slogans. Gay groups, the Hong Kong Journalists Association, environmental groups, the Professional Teachers’ Union, independent media groups and political parties were amongst the dozens of organisations present. Almost half of Hong Kongers now say they mistrust the central government.

Hong Kong Prepares For Mass Protest Against Beijing Control

July 1, 2014 Jonathan Kaiman, www.theguardian.com Resist! China, Democracy, Elections, Hong Kong, Occupy, Protest

Hong Kong is braced for protests on Tuesday, which organisers expect will draw at least 500,000 people, potentially making it the region's largest demonstration in recent history. The scale of the protests reflects frustration at Beijing's plans to choose Hong Kong's next chief executive. Nearly 800,000 residents – more than a fifth of the city's electorate – had cast ballots in an unofficial "referendum" as the polls closed on Sunday, according to the vote's organisers. The pro-democratic protest group Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) announced that 798,000 Hong Kong residents had voted in its "civil referendum", an unofficial vote on how their next chief executive – the region's top official – should be elected. Beijing has bristled at the poll. One government official called it illegal and invalid, while China's state-run media has called it a farce and a folly. The referendum website has been barraged by highly advanced cyber-attacks.The region's activists remain unmoved. "The turnout [at this year's protest] will be a sort of signal, just as the referendum was a signal of the number of people who are satisfied with Beijing's method of choosing the chief executive," said Benny Tai Yiu-ting, an assistant law professor at Hong Kong university and one of the movement's leaders. "It takes just two minutes to vote. But attending the rally – that takes a lot of time and effort. That's evidence of stronger determination."

Hong Kong Police Train For Occupy Central

June 27, 2014 Samuel Chan, www.scmp.com Educate! China, Hong Kong, Occupy, Police, Protest

Officers surround ‘sit-in’ and remove ‘protesters’ in drill ahead of civil disobedience movement "Protesters" blocked a road on the grounds of the Police College in Aberdeen yesterday in what force insiders described as a "major exercise" to prepare for possible trouble during the Occupy Central mass sit-in. All parking at the college was suspended for the day to facilitate the seven-hour exercise, which began at about 10am. During a simulated march, there were chants of "make way" and "stop the northeastern New Territories new-towns plan" from the 30 or so protesters, all of whom were officers. One group barged into police and another blocked the road. Officers then formed a cordon around the sit-in, while other police arrived with barricades. Protesters lying on the ground were carried to a bus nearby.

Hong Kongers Defy China Over Next Leader

June 25, 2014 Oiwan Lam, www.globalvoicesonline.org Create! China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Occupy

About 700,000 Hong Kong citizens have voted so far in an unofficial referendum hosted by civic group Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) on democratic electoral reform, earning the ire of communist China. China has promised Hong Kong a direct vote for the next chief executive in 2017 instead of election via a largely pro-Beijing committee made of up representatives of different economic sectors and Hong Kong politicians. But the Chinese government insists that all candidates should be selected by a nominating committee, claiming that it is the only lawful means to do so according to the former British colony's constitution — the Basic Law. People in Hong Kong, which enjoys a high level of autonomy under the “one country, two systems” principle, worry that the nominating committee is a way for China to ensure only puppet candidates are chosen. One of the criteria of a chief executive set by Beijing is he or she must “love the country and love Hong Kong.”

Business Groups Fear Hong Kong Occupy Protest

June 18, 2014 Kelvin Chan, www.thestate.com Resist! China, Finance, Hong Kong, Occupy, Protest

Foreign business groups in Hong Kong on Wednesday joined the city's billionaire tycoons in opposing a pro-democracy group's plans for an Occupy-style protest while activists burned copies of a policy document asserting Beijing's authority over the Asian financial center. In a newspaper ad, the Canadian, Indian, Italian and Bahraini groups called for organizers to rethink plans to blockade the central business district to press for full democracy. It's the first time foreign businesses have waded into the debate over Hong Kong's political future, which intensified after Beijing released a policy paper Tuesday reiterating that it has ultimate control over the former British colony. The document was seen as a warning ahead of the protest. Outraged pro-democracy activists reacted by burning copies of the paper in front of the Chinese central government's liaison office. Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China in 1997. Under a principle known as "one country, two systems," the freewheeling capitalist bastion is allowed to keep Western-style civil liberties until 2047.

Hong Kong’s Leader Warns Pro-Democracy Activists Against Mass Protest

May 24, 2014 Reuters, www.reuters.com Resist! China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Occupy, Protest

(Reuters) - Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were warned on Thursday against holding mass protests as part of their campaign for the right to choose their own candidates for a poll in 2017 to elect the capitalist hub's next leader. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said during a stormy legislative session that the authorities were ready to act if the activists pursued a campaign of civil disobedience named "Occupy Central" to seal off the city's business district unless Beijing allows a truly democratic poll. "We are not going to sit with arms folded, and we are not going to underestimate the seriousness of the matter," Leung said, as several radical lawmakers raised objections and called for his resignation. "Even if you do so, you are not going to force the central authorities to accede to your demand," Leung said. "I, myself, the Security Bureau and police put a lot of emphasis on this and we are working on all fronts, including getting prepared for operations," he added, without saying what measures might be taken.

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