Protest leaders and Hong Kong government refuse to budge
Tens of thousands gather for third night of demonstrations on eve of national day and neither side is willing to compromise
Pro-democracy protest leaders in Hong Kong and the region’s government refused to budge as a critical day approached for the mass demonstrations.
Tens of thousands packed the city’s downtown areas for a third night on Tuesday, chanting “We love Hong Kong” and giving new meaning to the nickname “umbrella revolution” as they stood through a thunderstorm. Previously they used them to ward off teargas and shelter from the sun.
Organisers warned they would step up their actions if the region’s chief executive did not meet them by midnight on Tuesday.
Wednesday is China’s National Day – which celebrates the foundation of the people’s republic by the Communist party – and a public holiday, meaning more people will be free to protest. A spokesperson for the student group Scholarism said members would try to attend the flag-raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia square in the morning, but would not chant slogans or seek conflict if they were allowed in.
Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, earlier said the central government would not change its mind over electoral rules and urged demonstrators to withdraw. “Occupy Central founders had said repeatedly that if the movement is getting out of control, they would call for it to stop. I’m now asking them to fulfil the promise they made to society, and stop this campaign immediately.”
But he also reiterated that China’s People’s Liberation army was not needed to maintain security, telling reporters: “When a problem arises in Hong Kong, our police force should be able to solve it. We don’t need to ask to deploy the PLA.”
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing: “We fully believe in and support the Hong Kong SAR government to deal with this issue.”
But Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, which organised class boycotts that sparked the mass protests, said: “If Leung Chun-ying doesn’t come out to Civic Square before midnight … then I believe inevitably more people will come out on to the streets.”
He said options included widening the protests, a strike by workers and possibly the occupation of government buildings.
Joshua Wong, the high profile leader of Scholarism, wrote on Twitter: “Some people have begun to fear that the campaign’s direction will become blurry and hence asked me what is our next step. Please allow me to briefly recap the three major goals … to oust CY Leung, to fight for civic nomination and to make [Beijing] withdraw its decision.”
Occupy Central, the other grouping key to the protests, said in a tweet that it would announce new civil disobedience plans on Wednesday and co-founder Chan Kin-man renewed its call for Leung to quit. He said that would at least suspend the occupation while people decided on the next move.
Figures released by Hong Kong University’s public opinion programme – taken before the wave of protests started – gave Leung a net popularity rating of minus 35 percentage points.
The protests have been sparked by Beijing’s insistence that universal suffrage for the 2017 election of the next chief executive must be tightly controlled, with a committee stacked with pro-Beijing sympathisers picking a handful of candidates.
Underneath that lie broader concerns about the future of the region and its ability to protect its identity and freedoms.
The demonstrations have developed their own life, with many of those attending saying they did not identify with Occupy Central or the student groups.
Police have stepped back, maintaining a discreet presence, after the use of teargas and pepper spray at the weekend inflamed rather than dispersed the protests.
So far the anti-Occupy groups have been relatively quiet. But Robert Chow of the Silent Majority group which has opposed the movement, said: “What Occupy Central has achieved is simply holding Hong Kong hostage and disrupting the livelihood of general Hong Kong people.”
In the UK, Nick Clegg said that he would summon the Chinese ambassador to make clear his “dismay and alarm” over the handling of the protests.
“It is essential that the people of Hong Kong have a genuine choice of chief executive in 2017, through universal suffrage,” the deputy prime minister said.
“Britain and China have solemn obligations to the people of Hong Kong to preserve their rights and freedoms, under the terms of the Joint Declaration signed in 1984 by prime minister Margaret Thatcher.”
He told Sky: “I don’t know anyone, anywhere who thinks that universal suffrage means an election where candidates can only stand if they have been vetted by somebody else.”
David Cameron earlier said he was “deeply concerned” by the situation.
The White House on Monday urged authorities in the region to show restraint in responding to the sit-in, and urged protesters to express themselves peacefully.
“We believe that an open society with the highest possible degree of autonomy, and governed by the rule of law, is essential for Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity,” spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the German leader was following events closely, adding: “Our hope is it that government forces in Hong Kong react with consideration, so that the rights of the citizens are upheld and their opinions can be voiced freely.”
China’s People’s Daily newspaper has accused “foreign anti-China forces” in league with “extremists” of stirring up the protests, but veteran democracy activist Martin Lee said such accusations should not deter foreign countries from commenting.
“The international community has a moral obligation to speak up for us,” he said, noting that China had lobbied other countries to support the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the return of Hong Kong when it was signed.
He added that the whole atmosphere of Hong Kong had changed thanks to the protest. “You see so many young faces, clearly outnumbering adults. It’s their Hong Kong – it’s their future,” he said.
“I think the Chinese leaders will be doing themselves such a big favour if they give Hong Kong’s young people what has been promised.”
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