OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 24: Full coverage of the day’s events
Hong Kong's High Court orders protesters off roads in Mong Kok and Admiralty
Judge demands clearing of some areas in Mong Kok and Admiralty as government and students prepare for long-awaited dialogue
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 4:33am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 11:36am
A man pushes a handcart at a protest site in Mong Kok. Police have accused protesters of using children as "human shields". Photo: K.Y. Cheng
The High Court yesterday ordered pro-democracy protesters to leave main roads in Admiralty and Mong Kok immediately, as top officials and student leaders explored ways to make progress in talks on political reform, due to begin today.
A government source said the administration had recognised it was unrealistic to try to disperse protesters by force and expected the demonstrations that have paralysed parts of the city since late last month could continue for at least another month.
However, in an interview with The New York Times, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying hinted at possible intervention by the central government if the situation remained unresolved.
"So far Beijing has left it to the Hong Kong government to deal with the situation, so I think we should try our very best … to stay that way," he was quoted as saying. "Challenging myself, challenging the Hong Kong government, at these difficult times will do no one any service, will do Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy no service."
The Court of First Instance yesterday granted three injunctions - two for Mong Kok and one for Admiralty - requiring the protesters to leave.
Granting the Mong Kok orders, Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor agreed that "the defendants' behaviour in the demonstration has caused obstruction … exceeding the boundary of what is reasonable in light of the length of the demonstration, the extent of the demonstration and the increasingly violent confrontation between the protesters and the police."
The orders, for portions of Nathan Road between Argyle Street and Dundas Street, and Argyle Street westbound between Tung Choi Street and Portland Street, had been sought by taxi operators and a minibus company.
The Admiralty injunction, sought by the owners of Citic Tower, requires protesters to clear emergency vehicle exits and the car park entrance of the building at the junction of Tim Mei Avenue and Lung Wui Road, next to the government headquarters. Poon said: "The court is not a forum where political views are vindicated or argued. The court is only to apply the law and to uphold the rule of law."
Meanwhile, parties to today's talks, due to start at 6pm, were considering a key demand of the protesters that the government submit "supplementary information" to the national legislature to reflect events since late August when it set the framework for the 2017 chief executive election that sparked the protests.
At the beginning of the televised talks at the Academy of Medicine in Aberdeen, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and a Federation of Students representative will give five-minute opening remarks. There will be a 90-minute discussion before the meeting ends with 10-minute closing remarks from each side.
The federation's secretary general, Alex Chow Yong-kang, expected the talks to focus on political reform, although the police's reaction to the protests, including the use of tear gas and pepper spray, would be difficult to avoid, he said.
Academics were speculating, meanwhile, whether the Communist Party Central Committee's plenum that opened yesterday in Beijing would touch on the Hong Kong protests.
Ye Haibo , a law professor from Shenzhen University, said the issue might be brought up, stressing that the city's political reform had to be in line with the Basic Law and the decision by the National People's Congress Standing Committee.
But Chen Xinxin , a legal affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the issue was unlikely to be discussed. "There is no need to set new rules to solve the problems facing Hong Kong. "
Also yesterday, the US consulate rejected an assertion that forces in foreign countries had instigated the protests. "We categorically reject accusations that we are manipulating the activities of any person, group or political party in Hong Kong," it said.
Gary Cheung, Jeffie Lam, Thomas Chan, Teddy Ng in Beijing, Joyce Ng
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as High Court orders protesters off roads
Commissioner of police must act to reopen our city
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 4:49am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 4:49am
Police officers guard in Mong Kok during "Occupy Central" Movement.
For nearly 50 years I was involved in Hong Kong with our police and the criminal justice system. I have been distressed to see the police treated so badly.
They have had abuse shouted into their faces by the young and old; they have had barriers, which they were properly mounting, forcibly pushed onto them. When citizens have shown their opposition to the occupiers of parts of the city, and police have had to try to keep the peace, they have been criticised for partiality. And more recently they have had objects thrown down on them from a flyover above.
The thing that the police fear most is disorder, which in its various forms can lead to unlawful assembly and then rioting, and their inability to enforce the law, which they have a statutory duty to uphold without fear or favour.
The rights of free speech and assembly are not total and do not extend to permitting breaches of the peace and interfering as they are with the rights and freedoms of others. The whole of our success as a finance centre of the region is threatened, if people can't get to work, and, for example, visits for many to hospital and clinics become too difficult.
The organisers of Occupy Central, realising the mad genie that they have let out of the bottle, seem to have left the young students to their own devices. And let's not condemn the students for wishing for more democracy. It is commendable that they are politically involved. But they have made their point. Hong Kong is their home and they (and we) must live with China our sovereign power. China would not approve a chief executive who it sees as against its political and national interests.
The commissioner of police must show leadership and act to reopen our city. His men are losing heart. Those who don't clear away and continue to protest must be arrested and charged. I am sure our Department of Justice knows of the range of offences available, from public nuisance and obstruction under the Summary Offences Ordinance Cap. 228 punishable with short sentences and fines, to the more serious unlawful assembly and riot punishable with longer prison sentences.
There can be few police forces in the Western world that would have kept their patience as our policemen and -women have done.
David Tolliday-Wright, Discovery Bay
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Commissioner of police must act to reopen our city
Sincerity is key if talks to end Occupy impasse are to succeed
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 4:49am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 8:23am
Alex Chow Yong-kang (left) and Carrie Lam will meet tonight.
All eyes will be on the live broadcast of talks between the government and the Federation of Students this evening. Shelved amid rising tension earlier, the dialogue will be the first since the Occupy Central movement began late last month. It may be unrealistic to expect a major breakthrough, but engagement remains the only hope for a peaceful conclusion to the stand-off. It is imperative that both sides make the most of this occasion to build common ground rather than drifting further apart.
Barring last-minute changes, five representatives from each side will meet at the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in Aberdeen. Moderated by the head of Lingnan University, the two-hour session will be broadcast live from 6pm. The transparency is welcome. The people can see for themselves how the crisis is tackled by the stakeholders involved.
The exchange probably will not yield much. True, the demand for the National People's Congress Standing Committee to withdraw its electoral framework for the 2017 chief executive poll is no longer mentioned. The students also stopped urging more people to block the streets ahead of the talks. But the outlook remains just as gloomy. With Beijing still acting tough, even if the local government accepts the students' revised demand to submit a supplementary report to the national legislature for consideration, it merely gives people a false sense of hope that Beijing will have a change of heart. With patience wearing thin and emotions running high, there is no guarantee of a peaceful outcome.
Politically, the government and students are still poles apart. But only through dialogue can the stalemate be resolved peacefully. It is to be hoped that today's talks will be the first of more to come. Even if compromises cannot be made at this stage, both sides should be seen to be making efforts to narrow their differences.
More goodwill gestures are needed to keep up the momentum. Protesters retreating from the streets would be a good start. The government, too, should show more commitment. The impasse stems from discontent that nomination for the next chief executive will be controlled by elites with close ties to Beijing. To enhance public participation in the process, the electoral base of the nominating committee should be made as broad as possible. This can, hopefully, address the aspirations for democracy in some sectors.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Sincerity key for talks to succeed
Let Hong Kong, not Beijing, deal with democracy protesters
UPDATED : Tuesday, 21 October, 2014, 4:49am
Pro-democracy protesters gather during a rally of the ongoing Occupy Central movement in Admiralty. Photo: EPA
If Beijing really trusts Leung Chun-ying and his government, it should seriously consider stopping its micro-management of the official handling of the Occupy protests. Despite official mainland statements that repeatedly express complete support for the chief executive, signs are that Beijing is deeply involved in the response to the unrest.
As a result, the Hong Kong government is increasingly toeing the party line; over the weekend it alleged that the Occupy movement is funded and manipulated by "external forces from different countries from different parts of the world".
"This is not entirely a domestic movement and it is getting out of hand," Leung reportedly said. This is simply unhelpful and counterproductive. I leave aside the controversy over the existence or non-existence of foreign forces. What Leung's public statements mean is that he is adopting Beijing's view that the unrest is not a manifestation of deep-seated social discontent but a matter for national security.
While I support Beijing's stance that our constitutional reform concerns the mainland as much as Hong Kong, the current protests are a matter for Hong Kong to handle - if nothing else, simply on practical grounds.
When the government takes a more conciliatory stance, protesters lose momentum and public sympathy, especially from those whose livelihood and children's schooling have been adversely affected. But just when that happens, hardline statements and police actions galvanise the protesters. A good example of the convoluted hard-soft approach is the tortured path to talking to the students. The forum could have taken place more than a week ago - instead of today - if government No 2 Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor didn't angrily call it off.
The suspicion was that Lam and Leung were abruptly instructed by higher-ups from the mainland to call off the meeting. So just when the city was losing patience with the protests, they gave an excuse to Occupy leaders to take the moral high ground.
Seeing the error of their ways, perhaps mainland honchos have now finally sanctioned a meeting. Let the Hong Kong government deal with Occupy. It will quickly run out of steam, absent of official provocations.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Let Hong Kong deal with the protests
Let Hong Kong, not Beijing, deal with democracy protesters
Pro-democracy protesters gather during a rally of the ongoing Occupy Central movement in Admiralty. Photo: EPA
If Beijing really trusts Leung Chun-ying and his government, it should seriously consider stopping its micro-management of the official handling of the Occupy protests. Despite official mainland statements that repeatedly express complete support for the chief executive, signs are that Beijing is deeply involved in the response to the unrest.
As a result, the Hong Kong government is increasingly toeing the party line; over the weekend it alleged that the Occupy movement is funded and manipulated by "external forces from different countries from different parts of the world".
"This is not entirely a domestic movement and it is getting out of hand," Leung reportedly said. This is simply unhelpful and counterproductive. I leave aside the controversy over the existence or non-existence of foreign forces. What Leung's public statements mean is that he is adopting Beijing's view that the unrest is not a manifestation of deep-seated social discontent but a matter for national security.
While I support Beijing's stance that our constitutional reform concerns the mainland as much as Hong Kong, the current protests are a matter for Hong Kong to handle - if nothing else, simply on practical grounds.
When the government takes a more conciliatory stance, protesters lose momentum and public sympathy, especially from those whose livelihood and children's schooling have been adversely affected. But just when that happens, hardline statements and police actions galvanise the protesters. A good example of the convoluted hard-soft approach is the tortured path to talking to the students. The forum could have taken place more than a week ago - instead of today - if government No 2 Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor didn't angrily call it off.
The suspicion was that Lam and Leung were abruptly instructed by higher-ups from the mainland to call off the meeting. So just when the city was losing patience with the protests, they gave an excuse to Occupy leaders to take the moral high ground.
Seeing the error of their ways, perhaps mainland honchos have now finally sanctioned a meeting. Let the Hong Kong government deal with Occupy. It will quickly run out of steam, absent of official provocations.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Let Hong Kong deal with the protests
CY Leung: 'Democracy would see poorer people dominate Hong Kong vote'
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in a file photo. Photo: AP
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told media that if the government met pro-democracy protesters’ demands it would result in the city’s poorer people dominating elections.
In an interview with foreign media, carried in the Wall Street Journal, theFinancial Times and the International New York Times, the embattled chief executive reiterated his position that free elections were impossible.
Demonstrators have paralysed parts of Hong Kong with mass rallies and road blockades for more than three weeks, in one of the biggest challenges to Beijing’s authority since the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests of 1989.
Leung’s comments were published just hours before talks between senior government officials and student leaders to end the impasse are scheduled to take place later on Tuesday.
China has offered Hongkongers the chance to vote for their next leader in 2017. But only those vetted by a committee expected to be loyal to Beijing will be allowed to stand - something protesters have labelled as “fake democracy”.
Leung said that if candidates were nominated by the public then the largest sector of society would likely dominate the electoral process.
“If it’s entirely a numbers game and numeric representation, then obviously you’d be talking to the half of the people in Hong Kong who earn less than US$1,800 a month [HK$13,964.2],” Leung said in comments published by the WSJ, the FT and the INYT.
The chief executive said, however, that the government was willing to listen to student representatives in a first dialogue meeting set for Tuesday evening. “We’d like to listen to the students as to what they have on their minds, and what their proposals are,” Leung said. “We are all ears.”
“There could be a compromise, somewhere in between, by making the nomination committee more acceptable to these students,” he said.
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong has one of the biggest income divides in the world, with growing discontent at increased inequality and exorbitant property prices fuelling the protests which turned increasingly violent at the end of last week.
There are fears any further clashes between police and protesters could derail Tuesday’s discussions.
Leung’s latest comments are likely to further fuel the anger of protesters who see him as hapless, out of touch and pandering to the whims of a small number of tycoons who dominate the financial hub.
His quotes also echo that of Wang Zhenmin, a well-connected scholar and regular adviser to Beijing.
Wang said recently that greater democratic freedom in the semi-autonomous city must be balanced against the city’s powerful business elite who would have to share their “slice of the pie” with voters.
“The business community is in reality a very small group of elites in Hong Kong who control the destiny of the economy in Hong Kong. If we ignore their interests, Hong Kong capitalism will stop [working],” he said in August.
Leung played down expectations ahead of the long-delayed talks with student leaders that will be broadcast live.
“We are not quite sure what they will say... at the session,” he said.
沒有留言:
張貼留言