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.
POST OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 87:
Full coverage of the day’s events on 12-03
Liberal Party urges more action against protesters
The Liberal Party has staged a rally outside the Police Headquarters in Wan Chai, calling for more stringent action against possible anti-parallel protests in the coming weeks.
Liberal Party lawmaker, Vincent Fang Kang, said the police have been too lenient with the protesters who assaulted tourists and local residents under the guise of anti-parallel trading activities.
'CY card' hard to play for reform push
How can the stalemate over political reform be resolved?
How can the opposition be persuaded to pass the reform bill that is due to be tabled in a few months?
That, as everyone admits, is going to be extremely hard - if not a mission impossible.
Recently, a self-proclaimed authoritative source close to Beijing played the "CY card" - a reference to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying - in order to scare at least some of the opposition lawmakers into supporting the reform bill.
The result was disastrous.
The CY card isn't new and is extremely hard to play. Basically, it's the art of choosing the lesser of two evils, or better the devil you know, etc.
It goes that the August 31 decision by Beijing is an evil because it greatly curbs the people's right to nominate 2017 chief executive election candidates.
However, balance that against the other evil that the unpopular Leung will most likely be re-elected by the 1,200-member Election Committee.
Not only that, hand in glove, the dreaded Article 23 would be passed - if the opposition doesn't bend and vetoes the reforms set out by the August 31 evil, as expected.
There have been attempts to trot out the CY card in the past year, but they have all failed because not everyone can play it.
The pan-democrats can't.
First, they're opposed to the August 31 decision and it would be self- contradictory to commit otherwise.
Second, although some suspect the CY card is an opposition ruse to create a ladder to climb down from the impasse, the weakness of this theory is that the pan-democrats don't need to go such lengths just to change their mind.
Can government officials play it?
Absolutely not. Otherwise, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor would have found it much easier to promote the reforms during the public consultation periods.
Then, can the pro-establishment camp play it? It depends. But hard- liners won't do it because this would contravene Beijing's unyielding stance on the political reforms matter.
During the recent annual sessions of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, state leader Zhang Dejiang discussed the issue a couple of times - first calling it a hard mission, and then saying take it or leave it.
The remarks were uncompromising.
In the latest development, Basic Law Committee chief Li Fei, who was expected to meet the pan-democrats in Hong Kong next month, has apparently canceled his visit. Given all the signals, Beijing is prepared for a showdown rather than compromise.
Furthermore, Beijing trusts Leung more than ever since the Occupy Central protests ended. So it would be strictly verboten for anyone in the pro- Beijing camp to link Leung with passage of Article 23 to create a truly disastrous evil.
Perhaps only the moderates or others who seriously hate Leung would bother playing the C Y card. But, in doing so, they should know their warning is bound to be ignored because they're too small potato to assert themselves unless they're perceived to be an authority.
NPC Standing Committee member Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai said that no matter who said it, she believes it was nothing personal, and Beijing won't use CY as the bargaining chip.
Irregardless, public attention has now been drawn to the card.
Coconuts
Hong Kong student group spent HKD220,000 on Occupy Central protest
All those instant noodles and cardboard mattresses add up, it seems.
The newly revealed financial records of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) show that it spent nearly HKD220,000 during last year’s pro-democracy protests, which lasted for almost three months.
The money was apparently spent on things like equipment, brochures and supplies, including food and, of course, umbrellas.
The student group decided to open up its books to put to bed claims that it received overseas funding for the campaign.
"The disclosure serves as a rebuttal to those who uglify Occupy as a foreign-funded campaign and accuse us of receiving millions in illicit donations from unknown sources," Tommy Cheung Sau-yin, a member of the federation, told the.
He further added that HKFS received funding from Scholarism, Hong Kong’s other politically-focussed student group, pan-democratic parties, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, and individual local donors.
Throughout the protests, government officials alleged that the well-eorganised demonstrations had been influenced and funded by foreign sources.
Executive Council member and lawmaker Regina Ip said it was only "common sense" to suspect Occupy had foreign backing just by looking at the abundance of supplies at the protest sites.
The newly revealed financial records of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) show that it spent nearly HKD220,000 during last year’s pro-democracy protests, which lasted for almost three months.
The money was apparently spent on things like equipment, brochures and supplies, including food and, of course, umbrellas.
The student group decided to open up its books to put to bed claims that it received overseas funding for the campaign.
"The disclosure serves as a rebuttal to those who uglify Occupy as a foreign-funded campaign and accuse us of receiving millions in illicit donations from unknown sources," Tommy Cheung Sau-yin, a member of the federation, told the.
He further added that HKFS received funding from Scholarism, Hong Kong’s other politically-focussed student group, pan-democratic parties, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, and individual local donors.
Throughout the protests, government officials alleged that the well-eorganised demonstrations had been influenced and funded by foreign sources.
Executive Council member and lawmaker Regina Ip said it was only "common sense" to suspect Occupy had foreign backing just by looking at the abundance of supplies at the protest sites.
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