POST OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 77 (02-03=2015)

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.

Occupy Central site in Causeway Bay was cleared as police moved in  ...

POST OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 77: 

Full coverage of the day’s events on 02-03

Pan-dems freed after visit to cops


 

Several pan-democrat heavyweights were arrested and then released over their involvement in mass protests for free elections.

They were the latest targets of a police probe that, campaigners say, is tantamount to intimidation.

They included Democratic Party lawmakers Albert Ho Chun- yan and Helena Wong Pik-wan, founding chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming, Civic Party chairwoman Audrey Eu Yuet-mee and IT-sector lawmaker Charles Mok.

They were arrested yesterday on grounds of taking part in an unauthorized assembly.

All were released unconditionally at police headquarters in Wan Chai, but told that the police reserve the right to prosecute them in future.

The arrests came in a fresh wave of police roundups after the 79-day Occupy Movement between September and December last year, which saw tens of thousands of protesters occupying thoroughfares in Admiralty, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay.

There were 32 arrests last month, including Occupy co-founders Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Scholarism convener Joshua Wong Chi-fung, and Federation of Students secretary-general Alex Chow Yong-kang and deputy secretary- general Lester Shum. None has been charged.

The Democratic Party lawmakers entered the police station shortly after 9am, holding small yellow umbrellas, the symbol of the campaign.

They left about three hours later after being shown videos and news clippings of their involvement in the movement.

After leaving the station, Ho said: "[The police] did not set a condition for bail. Perhaps they knew we would not accept any bail conditions."

Meanwhile, Eu said the arrests are a show that wastes both manpower and resources.

Her views were echoed by Mok, who criticized the police for making "selective arrests" and the government for not wanting to solve the political problems before them. 



Parties cool on blanking 2017 vote



Responses from political parties and public submissions on a blank ballot option for the 2017 chief executive election remain lukewarm, Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet- ngor said.

On the idea from academics, including University of Hong Kong professor Albert Chen Hung-yee, Lam also does not believe a blank or a "none of the above" option will draw across-the- board support of parties for the administration's political reform package.

A second round of consultation on reform ends on Saturday, with Lam saying she will continue to lobby for support from pan-democratic legislators.

But other political parties and groups support reform according to guidelines laid down by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, Lam said.

"The opinions given to us from several political parties are quite clear," she said yesterday. That is to base reform for 2017 on the NPCSC "framework to map out a concrete proposal on universal suffrage in the CE election."

Lam was speaking after receiving reform submissions from several parties.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said the candidate with the most votes should be the winner. That was after it previously said a winner should have more than 50 percent of votes.

The party also proposes lowering the threshold to 120 endorsements, or one- tenth of support, from the Nominating Committee for a candidate to run in the "members' recommendation" stage of the chief executive election.

Chairman Tam Yiu-chung said one round of voting is required instead of two, with two or three candidates.

A reform proposal from the Business and Professionals Alliance is for a potential candidate to have 100 recommendations from the Nominating Committee in the initial stage. Also, obtaining at least half of the votes of the committee will open the way to enter the race.

The New People's Party hopes 30 seats on the Nominating Committee may be reserved for women.


In Beijing, meanwhile, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference spokesman Lu Xinhua said the central government stance on reform has been consistent and it supports the SAR administration in pursuing democracy in an "orderly and gradual" manner.