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Sunday, October 19, 2014
Hong Kong Protest: the Rest of the Story
Police have been working very long hours.
Trying to rest during breaks
They were abused endlessly by the protesters, see http://tinyurl.com/kr255n8
The press has been extremely biased in its reporting, interviewing predominantly the protesters and their leaders, praising them as peaceful, yearning for democracy, criticizing those who oppose the street blockage, and denigrating the Hong Kong police. The protest is not a spontaneous student movement. Rather, it is a well funded and well organized anti-government undertaking. Wittingly or unwittingly, the press has become a handmaiden of the dark forces behind this protest to topple one of the freest cities that had been the pride of East Asia.
Well-equipped protesters charging at the police
On August 31st, the Chinese National People’s Congress adopted a framework to give the millions of Hong Kong registered voters universal suffrage in the 2017 Chief Executive election. Two to three candidates will be chosen by a 1200-member Nominating Committee. Each candidate must have the endorsement of more than half of the Committee members. The exact composition of the Committee has not yet been decided. According to Wikipedia, based on the last election in 2012, a similar committee included: • 1,044 members elected from 38 sub-sectors, • 60 members nominated by the religious sub-sector, and • 96 ex officio members
Protesters breaking windows at Legislative Council Building
Each sub-sector, known as a Functional Constituency, elected its own representatives, from accountancy and banking to social welfare and wholesale. All in all, these sub-sectors included about 240,000 constituents from all walks of life.
Protesters breaking into the Legislative Council Building
This NPC framework of using a Nominating Committee adheres to the provision of Article 45 of the Basic Law–Hong Kong’s mini-constitution and the Sino-British Joint Declaration (PDF).
Another protester smashes the window of LegCo
The framework further requires two-thirds of the Hong Kong Legislative Council votes to pass. But the pro-democracy movement leaders don’t like the
Protesters use fire extinguishers to attack the police
Nominating Committee. They want open nomination because they say the Committee is stacked with pro-Beijing elites and not broad-based enough. They also insist that the Chief Executive, C.Y. Leung, resign.
Beijing has announced that the 2017
election must be in accordance with the Basic Law, meaning no open
nomination, and Leung has indicated he would not resign. If the Legislative Council does not pass the Beijing adopted framework, then the 2017 election will revert back to the 2012 election process, without universal suffrage. The next Chief Executive would then be elected by a 1200 member Election Committee, composed of basically the same members as the Nominating Committee but with a different name.
Protesters use their umbrellas to attack the police
Some 200 protesters trapped 3 policeman, punching
them and insulting them with the F bomb
Umbrellas provided by the organizers to the protesters.
Wonder if they had planned the
Umbrella Revolution name ahead of time
In a press release on September 5th, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in response to the China’s election framework said, “We welcome the confirmation that China’s objective is for the election of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive through universal suffrage.” It continues to say “there is no perfect model”.
26 supply centers just at Admiralty
Margaret Thatcher's private secretary, Lord Charles Powell, recently said. “Hong Kong has very extensive autonomy - far greater than we believed actually
could be achieved when the Hong Kong joint declaration with China was
negotiated. They have had far better conditions – including political
conditions - than any other city in China. But the bottom line is they are a
city in China.”
Our Electoral College system for the presidential election is an indirect election. Factcheck.org reports that four of our presidents did not win the popular vote. The United Kingdom’s Parliamentary system in its prime minister election is not direct either.
Free supply of tents and pallets
Protesters scale a 10 foot fence of the government building
Because of their distaste for the NPC decision, university students began a one week student strike on September 22nd. The pro-democracy proponents had scheduled an “Occupy Central” movement to begin on October 1st, to coincide with the Chinese national day, with the purpose of paralyzing the city’s financial district. However, at the scheduled conclusion of the student strike, on September 26th, a student leader, Joshua Wong, urged the protesting crowd to scale a 10-foot high fence of the government administration building at Admiralty.
Free supply of water
That caused pandemonium and the peaceful protest became disruptive. Wong was arrested for entering government property without authorization, disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly. He was released 46 hours later under the habeas corpus provision of the Basic Law. His arrest
brought out many more demonstrators.
Not just tents, but hard hats also
Riding on the chaos and emotion of the students, the Occupy Central leaders, comprised of two university professors and a minister, moved up the occupation in the early hours of September 28th. The Occupy organizers had told protesters to bring goggles and sleeping bags.
At the Admiralty site, organizers were giving away everything the protesters might need, from water and gas masks to
Police warned crowd before using force
umbrellas and snacks. It would seem they were prepared for pepper spray, if not tear gas. That evening, there were tens of thousands of protesters. While mostly peaceful, many of the protesters were pushing the police from both ends, using their umbrellas to poke at the police.
There are 26 supply centers at the Admiralty protest site Banner on top reads, "Umbrella Revolution".
Outnumbered and surrounded, the police launched 87 rounds of hand-thrown tear gas after pepper spray did not stop the charge. Police stood their ground and did not advance or charge the crowd. As a result, when the tear gas dissipated, the protesters returned. No one was seriously injured.
Din, Din
The police use of tear gas was roundly criticized by the media. It also shocked many people in Hong Kong as this was only the second time since Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997 that tear gas was deployed. Not happy, many more protesters came out to voice their displeasure, Joshua Wong urged people to go out on the streets in Mongkok, a densely populated working class neighborhood. Causeway Bay then followed.
More din, din
Now that the protest is in its second month, the effect of the protest has been felt by just about everyone in the City. The Hong Kong stock market dropped by more than a thousand points from 24,306.16 on September 19th to 22,932.98 on September 30th. L’Oreal was the first international business to ban all travel to Hong Kong.
The number of tourists visiting Hong Kong is expected to drop significantly. Hundreds of bus routes have been suspended or diverted because of the street blockage. The already congested Hong Kong traffic has become much worse. Many people and students have to add another hour or more to their daily commute.
Reading area in the middle of the street
Many stores and banks at the affected areas were temporarily closed. Those stores that do open have to hand carry inventory to their businesses as no trucks can get near them. In that sense, the Occupy Central leaders’ goal of paralyzing the City has been achieved. However, the businesses affected are not the intended big financial businesses in Central. The stores in Mongkok and Causeway Bay include many small retailers and restaurants.
Supply Center
A number of restaurants have already closed down. Taxi, mini-van, tram, and truck drivers are losing hundreds of dollars a day in wages and revenue, not to mention commissions sale people. LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, and Dior, announced its Asian sales plummeted by 50% in the past few weeks. Tag Heuer Watches are laying off 46 people in Switzerland and Cartier will put people on a shorter work week.
Pakistanis came out to support the government
Resentment against the protest is rising everyday. Anti-protesters have come out in droves. The Small Claims Court has been clogged with plaintiffs suing the protest organizers for loss of income. Some people have tried to remove the barricades and tents in the occupied areas causing scuffles between the two groups, in Mongkok in particular. Most of them are simply citizens affected by the protest, not gang members. Some 980,000 people signed a petition in the first 4 days of a signature drive urging the protesters to stop occupying the streets. By the end of the 9 day signature drive, over 1.83 million people have signed the petition. But this was mostly ignored by the press. The press kept stressing the Occupy Central drive got some 800,000 signatures.
Shooting hoops
An unintentional consequence of the protest is the breakdown of the family units. News media have reported that the overwhelming majority of the protesters are young and their parents mostly do not condone the protest. This has created a deep wedge between the two generations. Many couples have also split up and many people are being “unfriended” on Facebook as a result. This heavy burden will take a long time to heal.
Dancing on the street
While the protesters say their goal is to achieve genuine universal suffrage, many observers believe that this is just a catchphrase. The real causes of the unrest are social, including limited space resulting in high housing costs and shortages of columbarium, the wealth gap, and the Hongkongers contempt for China and the visitors from the Mainland.
Playing Ping Pong
Hong Kong is very free and democratic already and its residents have enjoyed a high degree of autonomy and rights. The fact that these protesters have blocked thoroughfares for more than a month without worry is a clear example of that. What other government would tolerate that kind of prolonged disruption and demonstration?
Playing Mahjong
Bill Clinton’s “It’s the economy, stupid” may very well be part of the reason. Even though the Hong Kong per capita income is higher than ours, there is a huge wealth gap and most young people simply cannot afford to set up their own homes. The government has built a lot of public housing, but home prices are still very high in spite of the efforts. The first Chief Executive, Chee-hwa Tung, had a grand plan for housing but he was side-tracked by the SARS outbreak and the housing plan fell victim. Today, an apartment in the city center costs $1,750 per sq.ft. Outside of the city center, the cost is still $1,075 a sq. ft.. Rents are equally high. This has caused a lot of anger and frustration.
Dressed like Captain America, he knocked an elderly
gentleman to the ground and was arrested.
Notice what his T-shirt says Chinese Hongkongese
The people in Hong Kong blame it on the government and believe that the current government is not as competent as the British colonial government. Hong Kong actor Anthony Perry once joked that the people would even blame an earthquake on the Chief Executive. He may be spot on about that. Then there are the tourists from Mainland China. It’s a double-edged sword. With over 40 million visitors from the Mainland every year, they provide a lot of jobs and businesses to the City. On the other hand, they have also caused a lot of tensions among the local residents.
Generator at the protest site
Stealing electricity
Stealing water from fire hose
Using umbrellas as weapon
Mainlanders can be easily identified on the streets, they speak Mandarin
instead of Cantonese, the dialect dominantly used in Hong Kong, with
suitcases in tow for the goods they buy. Streets become even more
crowded. Shopkeepers cater to these visitors first because they are big
customers. They empty the store shelves leaving little for the locals,
from basic needs like baby formula to luxury items such as jewelry and
name brand merchandise. Additionally, until the government put a stop
to it, many expecting mothers came to Hong Kong to give birth. That
took up hospital beds. Many Hongkongers also don’t approve of the
government granting
A Mainland tourist with luggage in tow
150 Mainlanders residency in the City on a daily
basis. And last but not least, Hongkongers often do not consider the
Mainlanders to be civilized. All of this has resulted in their hatred
for the Mainlanders. Many
Protester gone wild, shouting at Mainland visitor
Hongkongers call them “locusts”. That hatred is extended to China. Being a former British colony, the Hong
Kong people are very Westernized. Many youths in Hong Kong today do not identify themselves as Chinese. They are unwilling to accept Hong Kong
as part of China. It is not unusual to see the former Hong Kong
colonial flag with the Union Jack in every demonstration.
The text on the flag reads,
"I'm a Hongkonger, not a Chinese."
The protesters insist that Beijing promised "genuine" universal suffrage for the 2017 Chief Executive election back in 2007. Here is what the NPC said in 2007, "The election of the fifth Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region in the year 2017 may be implemented by the method
of universal suffrage, that after the Chief Executive is selected by
universal suffrage, the election of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region may be implemented by the method of
electing all members by universal suffrage."
Union Jack & Stars and Stripes at protest site
Universal suffrage is exactly what the NPC is offering the people in Hong Kong. It should be understood that the Basic Law would still govern. Article 45 of the Basic Law says, "The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR shall be selected by election
or through consultations held locally and be appointed by the Central
People's Government. The ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief
Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly
representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic
procedures."
The Sino-British Joint Declaration simply says, "The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be composed of local inhabitants. The chief executive will be appointed by the Central People's Government on the basis of the results of elections or consultations to be held locally."
China and some Hong Kong politicians have alleged the U.S. is partly
to blame for the unrest, not just meeting with protest organizers but
also funding the movement. Direct evidence is hard to find. Here is
some of what is known.
Fox interviewed Dr. Michael Pillsbury, Defense Policy Advisor and Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute in this video.