Occupy Central
Occupy Central is a civil disobedience movement which began in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014. It calls on thousands of protesters to block roads and paralyse Hong Kong's financial district if the Beijing and Hong Kong governments do not agree to implement universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legislative Council elections in 2020 according to "international standards." The movement was initiated by Benny Tai Yiu-ting (戴耀廷), an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, in January 2013.
Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement (Chinese: 雨傘運動; pinyin: yǔsǎn yùndòng) is a loose political movement that was created spontaneously during the Hong Kong protests of 2014. Its name derives from the recognition of the umbrella as a symbol of defiance and resistance against the Hong Kong government, and the united grass-roots objection to the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) of 31 August.
The movement consists of individuals numbering in the tens of thousands who participated in the protests that began on 28 September 2014, although Scholarism, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, groups are principally driving the demands for the rescission of the NPCSC decision.
The movement consists of individuals numbering in the tens of thousands who participated in the protests that began on 28 September 2014, although Scholarism, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, groups are principally driving the demands for the rescission of the NPCSC decision.
Occupy Central site in an area surrounding the Legislative Council and Central Government Offices at Tamar were cleared 22-06-2015.
Hong Kong reform vote
The Hong Kong government’s political reform proposal for how the city elects its leader by universal suffrage for the first time in 2017 is based on a strict framework set by Beijing. The plan limits the number of candidates to two or three and requires them to win majority support from a 1,200 strong nominating committee. Arguing that this does not constitute genuine universal suffrage, pan-democratic lawmakers have vowed to reject the package, while pro-democracy groups have protested. The government’s resolution was to be put to a vote by the 70-member Legislative Council in June 2015, requiring a two-thirds majority to be passed.
POST OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 256
POST REFORM VOTE：DAY 71 (28-08-2015)
POST REFORM VOTE：DAY 71 (28-08-2015)
Full coverage of the day’s events
Coconuts HKFrontline
Occupy student trio to deny charges
Three prominent student leaders involved in Occupy Central say they will plead not guilty to charges of inciting or taking part in an unlawful assembly when they appear in Eastern Magistrates' Courts on Wednesday.
Former Federation of Students secretary general Alex Chow Yong-kang said a not guilty plea will give them the chance to explain to the public the core meaning of civil disobedience, while Scholarism convener Joshua Wong Chi- fund insisted that Civic Square, which they are accused of storming, was a public place in 2012 and 2013.
The third defendant is Chow's successor Nathan Law Kwun-chung.
The three yesterday reported to police headquarters in Wan Chai where they were charged.
"Certainly I will not plead guilty, because once you do so, you cannot defend yourself ... once you plead guilty, it means the civil disobedience will come to an end," Chow said.
Wong dismissed the police accusation that he was breaching the peace. He said gathering at a square was not equal to occupying the road. He denied that he was breaching the law, and accused the police of "political persecution."
The alleged offenses relate to a student protest on September 26 during when some climbed over a fence into Civic Square in Tamar. This sparked the Occupy protests that lasted 79 days.
Wong is charged with inciting other people to join an unlawful assembly and joining an unlawful assembly. Law was charged with inciting other people to join an unlawful assembly while Chow was charged with joining an unlawful assembly.
About 50 people including Civic Party lawmaker Kenneth Chan Ka-lok and "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung backed them when they arrived at police headquarters by raising yellow umbrellas and flags.
Another Scholarism member, Derek Lam Shun- hin, who was charged with common assault, will report to police today at 10am.
Occupy trio report to police for ‘arrest by appointment’
Three student activists reported to the police headquarters in Wan Chai for “arrests by appointment” on Thursday morning under charges of unlawful assembly during the pro-democracy Occupy protests last year.
Scholarism convener Joshua Wong, along with Hong Kong Federation of Students’ secretary general Nathan Law and ex-secretary general Alex Chow, are expected to be formally charged with joining an unlawful assembly and inciting others to do so during the Occupy movement last year.
Over a dozen people showed up at the police station in support of the trio.
The trio outside Wan Chai Police HQ. Photo: 社會民主連線 via Facebook.
Wong criticised the “arrest by appointment” as being deliberately timed to come just as the August 31 anniversary of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s decision on Hong Kong electoral system reforms is approaching.
“They’re prosecuting us for entering a place that anyone should be able to enter, and saying it’s an unlawful assembly—we suspect… political considerations involved,” he added.
The trio were arrested for breaking into the East Wing Forecourt of the Central Government Office (Civic Square) on September 26 last year.
The NPCSC’s decision on August 31 last year mandated that those running in the chief executive elections need to be pre-approved. It sparked widespread discontent and layed the roots for the Occupy movement.
Update (12:55pm): In a statement on Facebook, Joshua Wong announced that he had been formally charged by the police with taking part in an unlawful assembly and inciting others to take part in unlawful assembly. He will appear at Eastern Magistrates’ Court on September 2. Wong said that he could not understand how entering the Civic Square would constitute “a breach of peace,” as had been stated on the details of the charges.
Emily Lau said Feng Wei wanted to keep the meeting low-profile. Photos: TVB, Xinhua
Why meeting with Beijing official was kept hush-hush: Emily Lau
A lunch gathering of five Democratic Party members and the deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office on Wednesday was not a closed-door meeting, party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said.
Lau did not notify the party’s central committee, other party members and the public about the meeting with Feng Wei until Thursday, causing some to wonder why.
A spokesman for the government said it had been notified before the meeting.
At a press briefing Thursday, Lau admitted that some committee members were not happy about being kept in the dark.
She said it was Feng who wanted to keep the meeting low-profile, as Beijing didn’t want any publicity, Ming Pao Daily reported Friday.
“The meeting would not have happened if we insisted on publicizing it beforehand,” Lau said.
She said the idea for the meeting was raised by former secretary for justice Elsie Leung Oi-see before the Legislative Council voted on the government’s electoral reform package on June 18.
Lau said Feng did not come to Hong Kong specifically for the meeting but was in the city to take care of other affairs.
Besides Lau, the other members of the Democratic Party at the lunch included vice-chairmen Lo Kin-hei and Andrew Wan Siu-kin, chief executive Lam Cheuk-ting and lawmaker Wu Chi-wai.
It was the first meeting between a central government official and pan-democrats since they defeated Beijing’s framework for the 2017 election for chief executive in the Legco vote.
Some observers interpreted the meeting as an attempt by Beijing to divide the pan-democratic camp.
Lau said she did not know whether it was so but stressed she had made it clear to Beijing that her party is against such a strategy.
She said Feng was told at the meeting that a face-to-face dialogue is necessary and Hong Kong is now facing a serious governance problem.
The Democrats also told him the central government shouldn’t listen only to pro-establishment people, so as to avoid misunderstanding Hong Kong’s situation.
Johnny Lau Yui-siu, a China watcher in Hong Kong, said the meeting was hardly an ice-breaker.
He said while a meeting like this is worthwhile, it remains to be seen whether Beijing truly wants to mend its relationship with the pan-democratic camp or is just trying to divide it before the district council elections in November.
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