MCLC: Occupy Central

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Occupy Central
***********************************************************

Source: The Guardian (3/6/14):
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/06/occupy-central-hong-kong-democ
racy-campaign

Occupy Central gives downtown Hong Kong a taste of disobedienceCampaigners
want thousands to take over Hong Kong's financial district, as China
signals disapproval of western-style democracy
By Tania Branigan

As he lay on the tarmac of a central Hong Kong street, gazing up at the
skyscrapers, Chan Kin-man came to a realisation. "I have been living a
very comfortable life – up in an office, writing articles, encouraging
people to negotiate. Suddenly, I have to prepare myself to go to jail.

"It was a very striking moment for me," said the 55-year-old academic
later. "I have been too comfortable. And at some point, Hong Kong people
have to sacrifice something to make people believe we are serious about
democracy."

His epiphany came during a test run for Occupy Central, a pro-reform civil
disobedience campaign that wants to see thousands take over Hong Kong's
financial district – much to Beijing's alarm.

On Thursday, one of China's top leaders reportedly said that importing a
western-style democratic system to the region could prove catastrophic.
Zhang Dejiang, who heads the leading group on Hong Kong affairs, said that
copying a foreign electoral system could "become a democracy trap … and
possibly bring a disastrous result", Ma Fung-kwok, a delegate at
Thursday's closed-door meeting, told Reuters
<http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/thomson-reuters/140306/china-parli
ament-head-warns-western-style-democracy-hong-kong>.

Britain showed little interest in developing democracy in Hong Kong until
the 1997 handover to China loomed. Then, under the "one country, two
systems" framework, it negotiated greater freedoms for the region and a
commitment to eventual universal suffrage.

Authorities agree votes for all should be adopted when the region has a
new chief executive in 2017
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1440224/national-peoples-congre
ss-would-see-universal-suffrage-hong-kong>, but want to ensure there are
no unwelcome candidates.

"It is obvious that the chief executive has to be a person who loves the
country, loves Hong Kong and doesn't oppose the central government," the
region's chief secretary for administration, Carrie Lam, has said.

Opponents complain that nominations will be channelled through a committee
packed with Beijing loyalists, and want the public to gain the right to
put candidates forward too.

Unless Beijing shifts by the end of the year, Occupy's organisers say they
will risk their careers and freedom to press for change.
Chan and his co-founders – Benny Tai, another academic, and Baptist
minister Chu Yiu-ming – hardly appear rabble rousers. Chan peppers
conversation with references to the sociologist Jürgen Habermas. The full
name of the movement is the hippy-ish Occupy Central with Love and Peace.

Non-violent civil disobedience – modelled on the activism of Martin Luther
King and Mahatma Gandhi – would be the last resort, after mass
deliberative meetings that would form the basis for negotiations by the
opposition pan-democratic parties that are backing Occupy.But opponents
claim the campaign threatens chaos.

Robert Chow Young, a television host and a leader of the pro-business
Silent Majority group, called the campaigners evil. He paints a graphic
picture of a paralysed city and plunging stockmarket, with law and order
breaking down.

"Let us not let some dreaming, wild-thinking person think they can be
immortalised by doing something crazy. Why should we suffer for them? What
do we stand to gain?" he asked. "Nothing. What do we stand to lose?
Everything."

A poll by the non-partisan Hong Kong Transition Project
<http://www.hktp.org/list/constitutional-reform-brief.pdf> (pdf) found
that 54% were opposed to Occupy Central, and only 38% supported it –
though were Beijing to warn against participation, campaigners would gain
support.

The polling report concluded: "If the promise of direct, fair and free
election of the chief executive, and of having a real choice of
candidates, is broken, there will very likely be very strong reactions,
[which] many fear will not be peaceful or without damage to Hong Kong's
economy."

Public discontent appears to be fed by concern about the poor performance
of the region's chief executives, living costs and the influx of mainland
visitors, which some complain has raised property prices and eroded
culture even as it increases the region's income.

People have come to expect more say and younger people are especially
supportive of democracy.

Mass revolts have on occasion forced the authorities into climb-downs. In
2003 plans to implement article 23 of the Basic Law – requiring the region
to pass laws banning acts of "treason, secession, sedition and subversion"
– were dropped after half a million took to the streets. In 2012,
proposals for compulsory "patriotic and national education" were scrapped
after critics accused the government of trying to brainwash children,
launching large-scale protests.

While Hong Kong residents will not accept Hobson's choice, an inherent
tendency to conservatism would prevent them from electing someone prone to
provoking or antagonising Beijing, argues Albert Ho, a veteran Democratic
party legislator.

But he acknowledges that campaigners are pushing at "a very heavy door –
because that door is democracy not only for Hong Kong but for the whole
country, symbolically".

Beijing not only has to be willing to cede a degree of power, but also to
risk the possibility that mainland citizens will draw inspiration from the
region.

Many suspect the threat of Occupy Central stands a better chance of
swaying Beijing towards a compromise than would an actual occupation. "We
have a few bullets," said Ho. "We hope we don't have to fire the gun."