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.
OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 61: Full coverage of the day’s events
Catholic teenager who met the Pope arrested in Hong Kong
Protesters in Hong Kong (Photo: PA). Below, Giovanni Pang with the Pope (Credit: UCA News)
Giovanni Pang, who took a selfie with Francis in South Korea, is one of 100 arrested protesters
A Catholic youth who took a selfie with Pope Francis has been arrested in Hong Kong.
Giovanni Pang met the Pontiff when he visited South Korea in August. On Tuesday night he was one of over 100 people arrested at the protest site in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong, according to UCA News.
Mr Pang, who works as a member of the liturgy and youth commissions in Hong Kong diocese, went to the protest site to help students as bailiffs removed barriers and arrested leaders of the pro-democracy movement after two months of sit-in rallies.
His friend Henry Chan, a radio DJ, wrote to Pope Francis on Facebook early on Wednesday morning.
“Do you recall Giovanni Pang from Hong Kong who met you twice in South Korea earlier?” he wrote. “May I let you know this issue and bring it to the Vatican’s kind attention?”
Mr Chan said the Hong Kong diocese sent a representative to the police station to check on Giovanni Pang’s situation.
When they met in South Korea Pope Francis avoided answering the teenager’s question about the “control and oppression” of Catholics in China. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi later said the Pope had decided to avoid political topics during the pastoral event.
The protest movement’s student leaders Joshua Wong and Lester Shum were among those arrested at the scene, according to the Hong Kong Federation of Students and the student activist group Scholarism.
Dear God! ’Pope selfie’ teen arrested in Mong Kok calls on Vatican for help
Divided Hong Kong must cultivate its moderate voices
Susan Chan says to heal the social divide, Hong Kong leaders should work more with moderate voices such as Jasper Tsang and Ronny Tong
UPDATED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 4:05am
Jasper Tsang has shown an understanding of the concerns and demands of both Hong Kong and the mainland. Photo: Sam Tsang
The Occupy movement has been dragging on for over 50 days now and many are watching anxiously to see when and how it will end, and how our society, now so divided, can heal, as well as how we can move forward on political reform.
To break the deadlock, we need renewed efforts by different camps and different sectors. Two political figures have stood out in the recent chaos for their ability to think beyond the boundaries of the camp to which they belong, and remain sensible.
The first is president of the Legislative Council, Jasper Tsang Yok-sing. After the attempted storming of the Legco building, Tsang said that he believed the attack was led by a group of people different from the Occupy protesters, even as pro-establishment legislators were linking the attack to the movement.
When he was interviewed recently by The New York Times, Tsang provided a balanced analysis of the current political scene, how the relations between the mainland and Hong Kong have changed since the return of sovereignty, and what may happen if there is no universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017.
In all this, he showed an understanding of the concerns and demands of both Hong Kong and the mainland. When commenting on the Occupy movement, he did not speak ill of the participants or resort to stereotypes, such as by repeating the claims that the students were "being manipulated".
The other standout is Ronny Tong Ka-wah. Unlike those who have twisted some concepts to justify the defiance of court injunctions, he has pointed out the dangers in doing so, and has placed the emphasis on the rule of law.
Before the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress laid down the framework for the 2017 chief executive election, Tong had put forward proposals that did not focus on the single element of public nomination, with a view to finding a middle ground.
Confrontation and antagonism will lead us nowhere. If Hong Kong does not achieve universal suffrage in 2017, the effectiveness of governance will of course suffer, and so will the whole of society, as no place can thrive with ineffective governance and without good leadership.
In addition, society will suffer long-term damage from having two or more camps not only holding different political views but also bearing grudges against one another.
In 2012, we were able to broaden the electoral base of the functional constituencies and therefore have a more representative Legco because the Democratic Party, with strong support from the late Szeto Wah, was able to withstand pressure from others who disapproved of the government's reform proposal to ensure its passage.
For Hong Kong to emerge stronger and better following the Occupy movement, we need leaders who are liberal-minded, willing to listen to others with different views, who have the courage to stand up against pressure and are willing to give and take.
The government should work with people like Tsang and Tong, and utilise the principled idealism of the late Szeto Wah to encourage these people to speak up more.
Susan Chan is secretary general of the Business and Professionals Federation of Hong Kong
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Finding balance
'Democracy or nothing' is no choice for a better Hong Kong
Franklin Koo says the debate on what Hong Kong needs for a better future has been too narrowly framed from the start. Pro-democracy activists should rethink their method for success
UPDATED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 4:04am
Students are led to believe there is only one formula to a better future for Hong Kong, but there is no evidence to prove that the formula is sound.
When we were young, we were often taught to solve problems with only one clear and correct answer. There was a reason for that; it was much more efficient, easier to grade, and the solution safeguards against any evaluator harbouring prejudices or subjective views. For instance, we were often given multiple-choice questions.
However, while this method is a cost-efficient way of testing, real-life problems are never solved in such a fashion. The methodology is too simple to account for other important factors and, in many ways, it hinders our ability to make objective and informed judgments.
Consider this question: Please choose one of the following that may lead to a positive future for Hong Kong: A. Fascism; B. Anarchy; C. Democracy.
The majority are likely to choose C, simply because the other alternatives are not desirable for a positive future. However, the framing of the issue has already limited the scope and complexity of other pressing issues. This is a common conceptual problem, leading us to believe that C is the only correct solution for a positive future. But is democracy really what the doctor ordered to cure ailing Hong Kong?
The definition of a "positive future" is different for everyone. A utilitarian would favour happiness; an economist, wealth; a youth may look for steady employment opportunities and affordable living; and, an elderly person, health care, clean air and free space.
Democracy itself is just as unclear. There are pros and cons to it, just like any other form of government. Ironically, even with democracy in 2017, there is currently no leader or candidate in Hong Kong that could win the popular vote. One thing is for sure, universal suffrage does not guarantee a positive future; no democratic country has reached utopia - not even close.
With that in mind, consider the basic underlying argument of the Occupy Central movement based on the following formula: Democracy = A Positive Future for Hong Kong. This is the foundation of the protests and the essence of what demonstrators are fighting for. However, democracy cannot be switched on with a simple push of a button, so supporters believe civil disobedience is required, so this formula has evolved into: Democracy + Civil Disobedience = A Positive Future for Hong Kong.
Students are led to believe this is the one and only formula, but there is no evidence to prove that the formula is sound. Also, democracy is also often equated with words such as liberty and freedom, but this concept is not without its critics. As a quote widely circulated on the internet says: "Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights which may not be taken, not even by a 99 per cent vote." After over a month of occupation, it appears that the formula lacks its most important element - the essential conclusion for Hong Kong's future, as the leaders are becoming increasingly unsure as to where the protests will lead. The Occupy movement is still going on because the students sincerely believe democracy and civil disobedience are required to secure Hong Kong's future.
Who can blame them when our school system is notorious for its emphasis on a single correct answer and rote learning? Hence, when faced with the limited political options available, democracy becomes a desirable fall-back choice. But, given the current circumstances and Hong Kong's unique relationship with mainland China, can democracy realistically guarantee Hong Kong a positive future and solve its many political and social problems? Or is democracy the simple answer to choose, one that avoids the difficult task of addressing each problem individually?
Let's consider other possibilities. Indeed, we could substitute many other variables for "Democracy + Civil Disobedience" - within the confines of the Basic Law - just as there are infinite possibilities for, say, X+Y=10. Democracy + Civil Disobedience was never the formula for success before 1997, and Hong Kong did just fine. Singapore is also doing fine under an "authoritarian democracy", which suggests that any formula will evolve and change to meet the current environment.
If anything, there is probably only one constant in the development of Hong Kong, and that is the rule of law. So we could say that: Rule of Law + X + Y = A Positive Future for Hong Kong. This is why any injunctions and laws ought to be obeyed, because this is the basic foundation on which our livelihoods are governed.
With each day of the prolonged occupation, the rule of law is being eroded, risking Hong Kong's one constant and consistent factor in its rise from a fishing village to an international economic hub. Based on the above formula, this is one variable Hong Kong cannot erode, as any degradation in the rule of law would also degrade the positive future.
Hong Kong is at an important juncture. The government, the protesters and other residents will need to think deeper and identify the real causes of frustration, since there is no one "be all and end all" formula. Whatever the future holds for Hong Kong, solving its problems will not be as easy as answering a multiple-choice question. Reality does not offer the opportunity to simply guess the correct answer if you don't know the answer. The risk of being incorrect is too great, and our rule of law too important to risk.
There is no certain formula that can ensure our future, so it is time to end the civil disobedience and mend the divide, protect our rule of law, and move forward as a society to find all the "Xs" and "Ys" necessary to secure Hong Kong's future.
Franklin Koo is an accredited mediator and author of Power to the People: Extending the Jury to the Hong Kong District Court.franklin.koo@gmail.com
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Wrong formula
Lawyers question police clearance of Mong Kok protest site
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 4:04am
Lawyers and demonstrators lambasted the police's clearance of the Mong Kok protest site - an exercise in which at least 148 people were arrested in what pan-democrats called questionable circumstances.
Police also raised legal eyebrows when they arrested three volunteers carrying materials from Mong Kok to the Admiralty sit-in zone on suspicion of theft.
In Mong Kok, officers cleared road blocks located outside the area stipulated by the injunction.
The swift intervention by police in Mong Kok, just five minutes after the bailiffs started their work, stirred the emotions of protesters, who said the minibus drivers' association that launched the injunction had reneged on a promise to remove objects rather than people.
More surprising to the protesters was the presence of about 100 "helpers", said to be authorised by the association.
Student Wil Mak said the rule of law had been trampled on.
"If [police] want to clear us, they could announce we're [breaking the law] and make arrests. There is no need to use the injunction order to hide their intention," he said.
The Federation of Students said the action showed that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's administration "attempted to borrow the name of the injunction to carry out what is in effect a clearance".
Legal-sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok said police had failed to comply with the court's instruction. "I think the police action has not followed the procedures ... to explain the gist of the injunction order to the people at the scene, before they start the arrests."
Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said police were entitled to carry out their duties in accordance with other ordinances aside from those stipulated in the High Court.
"If there is any person who takes the view that the bailiffs are not performing their duty properly, I am sure they can take the matter to the appropriate venue," Yuen said.
He added that the plaintiff of the injunction could authorise people to help clear the site.
Seventeen people arrested during the police clearance on Tuesday night and during the early hours yesterday appeared in Kowloon City Court. Two men - a student, 19, and an unemployed 20-year-old - were charged with assaulting a police officer. The others, aged 19 to 69, were charged with obstructing public officers. All were granted bail of HK$100 to HK$500 on condition they would not enter an area enclosed by Dundas Street, Shanghai Street, Mong Kok Road and Fa Yuen Street before they return to court on January 14.
Occupy co-organiser Benny Tai Yiu-ting avoided a small-claims action as the plaintiff, Kwun Tong district councillor Marco Ma Yat-chiu, wrongly stated his tour bus company name in a claim of HK$450 lost business.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Lawyers question police clearance
Mapping Hong Kong's future beyond Occupy Central
The sit-ins have to end sooner or later and protest organisers are starting to think about how to keep the spirit of the movement alive
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 4:04am
Sixty days into the unprecedented pro-democracy sit-ins, the government's intransigence and the protesters' persistence have led to a stalemate.
As the sit-ins drag on with several surveys suggesting public support for the movement is waning, Occupy Central's co-founders are planning to surrender to police next Friday. Dr Chan Kin-man, the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming and Benny Tai Yiu-ting hope their arrests will answer critics who say the protesters' defiance of injunctions in Admiralty and Mong Kok have eroded the rule of law and signal to those still occupying the demonstration sites that it is time to go home.
They also hope, as Chan says, to "search for ways to keep the spirit of the movement alive" at a time when it has splintered into factions, with Chu saying "the unhealthiest phenomenon" of creating fake enemies has emerged in the pro-democracy fight.
Pressure has mounted on the sit-in organisers since courts cleared the way for bailiffs and police to dismantle some of the protest areas in Admiralty and Mong Kok, and the Bar Association warning that Occupy protesters' defiance of injunctions to clear the streets posed a threat to the rule of law.
The number of occupiers - and their morale - has been falling as Beijing remains unwilling to bend to their core demand - that the public be given a voice in deciding who will be the candidates in the 2017 chief executive election.
Sies Chan Kwan-yin, an occupier in Admiralty, said he would answer the calls of the movement's founders to retreat after they have turned themselves in to the police.
"I am a supporter of Tai's campaign; that is the reason why I came forward in the first place," said Chan, who has been camping at the site for almost two months. "I agree with him that the movement has to end one day, and this is the right time."
But another occupier, Yves Leung, said she would stay put. "The government has not answered our demands and shows no intention of negotiating with the student activists at all. We have to stay to put pressure on the authorities. If we leave now, the whole purpose of the movement would be gone," she said.
Her attitude is matched by that of the student leaders, who say it is "unjustifiable" to retreat as the protests have yet to achieve anything concrete.
The two-month-long occupation may have attracted the world's attention but it has yielded only minor concessions: a government report to Beijing that will reflect the public's sentiments and a platform that would be set up to gauge views on further constitutional changes beyond 2017.
Despite the lack of measurable gains, Chan Kin-man, a sociologist at Chinese University, already has ideas on how to keep the movement alive in the post-occupation era.
Hongkongers have used the occupied sites in Admiralty, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay to project how their ideal society should be - a place where everyone has an equal say, Chan says, adding that the spirit should remain and play a role in district council elections, which have long been dominated by pro-Beijing figures.
"District councils should no longer be only about repairing pipes," he said. "It's time to rejuvenate the councils and let people participate in building our community."
Chan envisions a social charter where different sectors of society voice the values that they think should be upheld from a bottom-up approach. Different groups - designers, environmentalists, students, blue-collar workers and many others - had come together during the protests to voice support for the pro-democracy cause, said Chan, adding that he hoped such alliances would not dissipate with the crowds.
"We should not talk about vague plans anymore. [The different sectors] should also come together and put forward an action plan for their own areas under the charter - and implement it without relying on the government but with the help of civil society," said the sociologist, who predicted that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's administration would be a lame-duck government in the coming years.
"That is why [Occupy Central] wants to go beyond the occupied sites. There are so many things we can do that should not be put on hold," he said, adding that all these plans would be announced soon after the trio hand themselves in to police.
Fellow Occupy leader Chu said: "People have started to create fake enemies and have failed to direct their rage towards the real one - Leung - as the campaign has lost its direction. This is the saddest thing to see ... a great movement - which has attracted hundreds of thousands people - wilt in this way."
He saw the upcoming district council elections as one of the ways to fulfil the protesters' slogan - "reseize our future".
Pro-establishment lawmaker Felix Chung Kwok-pan, of the Liberal Party, who once called on the government to make concessions to resolve the impasse, said the city's political landscape had definitely changed over the past 60 days, although the protesters have seemingly won no real concessions from the government.
"From the pro-democracy supporters to those who oppose Occupy … everyone is more aware of politics and has become actively involved in it. They have realised politics is not something distant," said Chung, who represents the textile and garment sector in the legislature.
He said the protest had inevitably posed threats to the city's economy and perhaps shaken the foundation of the rule of law, but he believed the effects "might not be too bad".
While the student leaders have accused the Hong Kong and central governments of "losing a whole generation" in this battle, the prolonged protest has also left society severely divided.
Chan, who specialises in social movements, said the sit-ins had unintentionally strengthened the pro-Beijing factions in Hong Kong, driven people to the radical fringe and marginalised middle-ground pan-democrats such as the Democratic Party.
But he believed the moderate Hongkongers who are now against Occupy would eventually swing back to becoming involved in a push for more progressive politics.
Chan also brushed off the idea that the protests had failed to bear any fruit.
"What the 'umbrella movement' has achieved has already gone beyond anyone's imagination," he said, pointing out that the city's desire for democracy and the principle of non-violent struggle was unprecedented, strong and deep-rooted.
A cultural studies scholar at Lingnan University, Chen Yun-chung - a key supporter of the protests and the proposed social charter - however, warned that the Occupy trio's retreat at this moment might have an adverse impact on the city's future protest culture.
"Basically we have achieved nothing substantial so far," he said. "Pan-democrats have staged numerous protests before which have proved useless. If we still fail to achieve anything this time with a rally of this scale … protests in the future would no longer be that peaceful."
Lawmaker Chung, however, said he saw signs of a better future for the city because of the protests, a view that puts him at odds with his pro-establishment colleagues.
"To be fair, the quality of this group of youngsters [who are leading the protests] is actually pretty high," he said.
"Hong Kong's future might not be that bad with them around, as long as these students get back on the right path."
Additional reporting by Emily Tsang
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Mapping city's future beyond Occupy
After 60 days, final push to remove Occupiers is over in just a few hours
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 4:04am
This time the end came quickly.
Occupiers camped out in Nathan Road, Mong Kok, were taken by surprise when a special police squad stormed their site and ended their 60-day sit-in.
"I was really frightened," said a female protester. "I saw a group of officers suddenly push in.
"They didn't give us enough time to retreat. It could have caused a stampede."
The clearance was in stark contrast to Argyle Street a day before, when protesters were given time to negotiate with bailiffs and legal representatives from the Chiu Luen Lightbus Company before the matter went to police.
Yesterday police stepped in almost immediately after a failed attempt by protest leaders to stop people wearing red hats and "I Love Hong Kong" T-shirts from clearing the barricades.
"All those that needed to be arrested had been arrested the night before," said a police source close to the matter when asked how the entire road could be cleared in several hours.
It started at about 10am when Scholarism's Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Hong Kong Federation of Students' Lester Shum and Raphael Wong Ho-ming, from the League of Social Democrats, questioned the identities of the group, who were said to be authorised helpers.
Watch: Hong Kong police clear Occupy site in Mong Kok, arrest leaders
Among them were familiar faces from the two taxi groups, the Taxi Association and Taxi Drivers and Operators Association, and anti-occupy supporters seen from previous clashes.
Efforts by protesters to force the group to declare their identities descended into chaos.
A police special squad in helmets soon stormed the scene, sealing the area off Wai Fung Centre and arresting the two student leaders as well as Raphael Wong. The squad then pushed protesters along Nathan Road in the direction of Tsim Sha Tsui, using cutters and bare hands to dismantle tents.
All that was left of the makeshift Guan Yu temple during the action was the altar, while the "church" was dismantled. Books and couches in the abandoned community "library" were removed. As the police pushed forward, some protesters in helmets, goggles and masks held makeshift wooden shields in anticipation of a baton charge. The retreating bunch - some holding hands - appealed to the squad to advance slower, only to find their request went largely unheard.
"Police kept pushing us back, shouting at us and threatening us with arrest. It was obvious they were using scare tactics," said Ah Sum.
It took roughly an hour for police to push protesters to the zebra-crossing near Dundas Street, the borderline the injunction covered.
They were dispersed about 90 minutes later.
The clearance on Tuesday lasted almost all day, as police faced an immense challenge to disperse a crowd that formed in Portland Street after the clearance in Argyle Street.
A number of clashes continued into the night and the early hours of yesterday.
Chief Superintendent Steve Hui Chun-tak said police officers encountered "strong resistance" when they were assisting the bailiffs in dispersing the crowd on Tuesday.
There were 14 clash points between the protesters and police around Poland Street, Nathan Road and Argyle Street throughout the night since 4pm on the day, during which many protesters attempted to obstruct the roads.
On Tuesday night there were frequent scuffles at the junction of Shantung Street and Nathan Road. Police baton-charged the crowd and pepper-sprayed protesters after they tried to break through a police cordon there. Protesters, geared up with helmets and protective goggles, also set up new barricades.
The nightly confrontation ended after a last stand-off at the intersection of Nathan Road and Shantung Street at around 3.15am yesterday.
Chris Lau, Ernest Kao, Emily Tsang, Danny Mok and Timmy Sung
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as After 60 days, final push is over in just a few hours
Thousands of police stationed in Mong Kok to stop Occupy protesters re-taking the streets
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 4:04am
About 6,000 police officers will be assigned to the cleared streets and nearby areas in Mong Kok until Sunday to prevent a reoccupation by protesters angered by removal tactics yesterday, according to a police source.
Clashes erupted again in Mong Kok last night. From 10pm, hundreds of people made repeated attempts to reoccupy roads, hours after traffic on Nathan Road returned to normal following the two-month occupation by pro-democracy activists.
There was pushing and shoving between the crowd and police. One man was left with a bloodied head and several people were subdued and taken away. Police reinforcements were sent in and red flags were raised warning people not to charge.
A total of 148 protesters were arrested during the two-day operation in which the occupied area in nearby Argyle Street was reopened on Tuesday.
Watch: Scenes from police action in Mong Kok, arrests
The source said police would have 3,000 people on the ground at any time until Sunday, when a reassessment would be made.
"The police will continue to make their best effort to prevent people from obstructing the road again," Chief Superintendent Steve Hui Chun-tak said.
Occupiers said they were not deterred. "I will come back later. We cannot lose Mong Kok no matter what," Kumi Lam said.
Those arrested yesterday included Wong Ho-ming of the League of Social Democrats, Joshua Wong Chi-fung of Scholarism and Szeto Tze-long and Lester Shum from Hong Kong Federation of Students. They were arrested for various offences including contempt of court and obstructing police.
The police source said Mong Kok was still considered "high-risk" and there was a hint last night of what might be in store. Several hours after the barricades fell, part of the road had to be closed again as police moved to break up new crowds.
Alex Chow Yong-kang, of the Federation of Students, said his group felt the Occupy movement "still had energy", but further action would continue to embrace the principle of non-violence.
Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit, Democrat Helena Wong Pik-wan, the Labour Party's Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung and the Professional Commons' Charles Mok said they would not support any violence.
All six lanes of Nathan Road, northbound and southbound, were reopened at 3pm yesterday after the clearance supported by about 3,000 police including the crack Police Tactical Unit.
Police took over from bailiffs enforcing an injunction by taxi groups - who said their business had been damaged by the protests - after tension flared over the involvement of clearance workers said to have been authorised by the taxi groups.
Samuel Chan, Ernest Kao, Chris Lau, Timmy Sung, Emily Tsang, Joyce Ng
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 6:17am
UPDATED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 6:17am
Protests expose vulnerability of an unloved government
One point that is frequently made in conversations about the protests is that they have achieved nothing. In a banal sense, that is true. The protesters have not achieved their key aims, which included the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and significant electoral reform.
That said, the large numbers of protesters that turned out - far more than most people imagined - was a big demonstration of the dissatisfaction that has been growing in Hong Kong in recent years, particularly among young adults and students. This has made the government sit up and take notice although it has yet to formulate a credible response.
People have been genteelly protesting for months on Saturday and Sunday afternoons but have achieved nothing. People want political reform because they believe it increases the chances of having a government prepared to do something about their concerns rather than heeding or second-guessing Beijing. However, the white paper and the August 31 decision by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress left many with the sense that the mainland was attempting to wind back Hong Kong's freedoms.
There has been an outpouring of discussion about the political economy of Hong Kong, its contradictions and divisions, the inbuilt institutional biases favouring the tycoons, and the government's interaction with the central government. People are more politicised and aware. The "high degree of autonomy" that was presumed to exist under one country, two systems has turned out to be a lot lower than people assumed. The police can clear the streets, but this a stopgap measure. There needs to be a political solution.
Social tensions were cooled in 2004 with a change in government and a booming economy. That won't work this time. People are clearly fed up with the disruption to business and transport that has been caused by the protests and the government may think it has been clever by allowing them to drag on, thus driving a wedge between the protesters and the public at large. The hope is that this will deter further support for those proposing to demonstrate for electoral change.
Another way of looking at the government's strategy of dealing with the protests is that it reflects its lack of legitimacy. The government had little choice in accepting the widespread public obstruction that accompanied the protests and severely disrupted the normal business of Hong Kong. In other countries with a government elected by popular mandate, the protests would have been cleared almost immediately with the public's backing. It is unthinkable that these protests would have been allowed to drag on for this long in Europe or the United States.
The big fear of the government and presumably of the central government is that a tough crackdown in the initial stages of the protest might have led to a popular backlash - a risk these governments were not prepared to take. The protests have exposed the vulnerability of an unloved government.
The government's hard-line stance against political reform also demonstrates the mainland's horror of making concessions to demands for broadening democracy in Hong Kong. The problem is the Communist Party thinks concessions might be the start of something on the mainland. The one country systems arrangement contains a fundamental inequity. It divides Chinese people into two groups: those with rights and freedoms and those with less.
Since the central government is not going to make concessions, it leaves the Hong Kong government even more paralysed and unloved than it was before all this started. In other words, with no way out.
Have you got any stories that Lai See should know about? E-mail them to howard.winn@scmp.com
Time to end the occupation - peacefully
Bernard Chan says protests have highlighted problems we must now solve
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 11:56am
On Tuesday morning, I had half an eye on the TV news from Mong Kok, where bailiffs and police were preparing to dismantle pro-democracy protesters' barricades. For a long time, little happened. Bailiffs read out the court injunction, and activists shouted back.
Suddenly, I looked up and saw buildings and police cars being set alight. The action had turned to Ferguson, Missouri, where serious disorder had broken out after a grand jury decided not to indict policeman Darren Wilson over the shooting of Michael Brown. Then the news switched back to Mong Kok. People were slowly moving a tent to the roadside.
The first few days of the Occupy Central civil disobedience campaign were chaotic and worrying. Scenes of tear gas being fired were shocking and made headlines around the world. That aroused public sympathy for the mainly young demonstrators, while the police - in a difficult situation - were left looking less good.
Things could probably have been handled better. But the students acted on the spur of the moment, and it was an unprecedented situation. In the following days and weeks, the protest sites were mostly calm. International coverage even made the street camps into tourist attractions. The police mainly kept a low profile.
One journalist with local roots wrote a moving account of the first few weeks of the protests in a leading international magazine. The tear-gassing of unarmed civilians, he wrote, reminded him of scenes in Islamabad, Cairo and Ferguson.
I have checked. Islamabad this year has had scores of deaths in terrorist attacks. Some 800 people died in Egypt's 2011 revolution, and anti-regime protests in Cairo this year have claimed yet more lives. Ferguson, as we have seen, has burning vehicles and rock-throwing. Whatever strife we have in Hong Kong, there is simply no comparison.
That writer went on to mention some of the background to Hong Kong's unrest. Demand for more accountable government is very strong, he said. Poor public trust in the government, a rising wealth gap, unaffordable housing and the dominance of tycoons left ordinary people with little choice but to take to the streets to be heard.
Maybe he was being a bit dramatic, but I think we all recognise - or should - that he is basically right. Not everyone agrees that blocking streets was the best way of doing it, but the protests have certainly succeeded in getting these messages across.
This should mean it is time for the protesters to pack up and leave. In the past few weeks, more and more of my contacts locally and overseas have asked why the Hong Kong authorities have been so lenient. My response is that while public opinion has increasingly wanted to see the protest end, most people oppose anything that could lead to violence. It is best to be patient.
It is wrong to see the protesters' occupation of the streets, or their eventual departure, in terms of a victory or a defeat for anyone. Society has been split over these tactics. But we must come together to solve some fundamental questions - about political reforms, about our economic structure, and about how to achieve a society that everyone can accept as basically fair.
The TV news on Tuesday afternoon showed police in Mong Kok facing uncooperative crowds, using pepper spray and making arrests. In Ferguson, meanwhile, stores were being looted, buildings were going up in flames. Later on, there were shootings, and National Guardsmen were sent in.
I am sure Hong Kong will see more bickering and protests, and that demonstrators will remain mostly orderly and our police professional. If everyone accepts a need to keep it peaceful and rational, we should succeed in solving our problems.
Bernard Chan is a member of the Executive Council
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Time to leave the streets,but without losing the peace
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 5:00pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 27 November, 2014, 7:41pm
Pan-democratic legislators must stop hiding behind the students
Albert Cheng says lawmakers should do their duty as the elected voices of the people and resign en mass - to take the fight to the government
The student leaders are mindful of their moral obligation to those who have followed their appeal to occupy the streets. They consider it irresponsible to ask their supporters to quit the sites, despite the prolonged stalemate. As a result, no one has taken charge to make a decision to withdraw.
The students have completed their historic mission. They have awakened the majority of the silent majority, especially those who were born in or after 1980. Some critics say the community has been polarised and torn apart.
The fact is nobody can call Hongkongers politically apathetic any more. The umbrella movement has achieved what the democratic camp has failed to do over the past three decades in articulating the people's aspirations for true democracy.
The students can make an honourable retreat from the streets at any time, with or without a consensus of the occupiers. No one is in a position to challenge their integrity. I, for one, am impressed by their courage, persistence and sense of justice.
Beijing has blacklisted even students on the fringes of the campaign and barred them from entering the mainland. Lester Shum of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and Joshua Wong Chi-fung of Scholarism, among others, were arrested during the violent police clearance of the occupied site in Mong Kok this week.
The actions of the police in the Mong Kok clearance were dubious. They were supposed to assist bailiffs, on request, to remove obstacles in the areas specified in the injunction order. Instead, they used the civil injunction as a pretext to clear the entire site. This is in sharp contrast with what took place when a similar court order was executed near Citic Tower, opposite the Legislative Council building at Tamar.
The police are, of course, entitled to clear the site under the law, as Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung has said. And people have asked why they did not do so. However, the police have misled the public and the protesters into believing they were not there to clear the Mong Kok site but only to step in when the bailiffs were not able to carry out their duties.
The police acted as if they were under orders to clear the site at a specific time. The operation happened to take place during Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's trip to Seoul. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was conveniently out of town, too, leaving Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, as deputy chief executive, to face the music. Leung should know by now that the only way for him to regain popularity points is to stay out of sight.
The students have done their very best. They have made enough personal sacrifices and contributed more than their fair share in pursuit of the dream of democracy for the city. It is high time for the elected representatives who claim to be bearers of the democracy banner to step forward and take the campaign to its next phase.
Twenty-seven of the 70 legislators claim to be democrats. They have been hiding in the shadow of the students.
They have not even bothered to condemn the police violence in Mong Kok, despite the many cases of apparent overuse of force being uploaded to social media. Their conspicuous silence is likely to encourage the police to use the same iron-fist tactics against occupiers in Admiralty and Causeway Bay in the near future.
Their so-called pan-democratic camp is ill-disciplined and has been infected with internal bickering, party rivalry and personal conflicts. Its members have been sidelined by the students for the past two months.
Their role in the movement has been insignificant. When they speak, they often send mixed signals.
The democrats have pledged to mount a comprehensive non-cooperation movement in reaction to the government's intransigence over political reform. Yet, 23 of them have put forward proposals as part of the public consultation exercise for next year's policy address and budget. They should have boycotted the process in the first place, if they are serious about being non-cooperative.
They have pledged to bog down the government by filibustering. Given their track record and own personal agendas, the democratic camp is doomed to disagree and split.
Before that happens, all 27 should resign en mass from Legco in protest. Together, they received more than a million votes in the 2012 Legco election. They are the ones who can lay claim to representing the electorate. The government certainly has no claim to legitimacy for any action or policy it makes.
The democratic legislators have done enough ducking and hiding behind the students. The public expects them to assume centre stage and act as they are meant to - as elected voices of the people.
Albert Cheng King-hon is a political commentator.taipan@albertcheng.hk
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Pan-dem legislators must stop hiding behind the students and take the lead
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