2014-11-06
A man (R) walks by tents at the encampment of pro-democracy protesters on an occupied highway in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong, Nov. 6, 2014.
AFP
The influential Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) stepped up calls for direct talks with officials in Beijing over protesters’ demands for full democracy in the former British colony, saying the group isn’t looking for trouble.
Student leaders of the five-week-long pro-democracy movement, which is encamped on major highways and intersections in downtown Hong Kong in a bid to win public nomination of candidates in 2017 elections, have been discussing a visit to Beijing all week, though concrete plans have yet to emerge.
“If the Hong Kong government believes that this problem can’t be resolved here in Hong Kong, and that only Beijing can address [the isssue], then I think a trip to Beijing is absolutely necessary,” said Alex Chow, leader the HKFS—the most popular political grouping in the city.
But he said protest leaders want to send a positive message, and may avoid Beijing during the leaders’ meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which ends on Nov. 13.
“Our purpose is to have a dialogue, and not provocation,” Chow said. “That’s why everyone thinks it might be acceptable to go to Beijing after APEC is over.”
The move comes as the Occupy Central protesters, who have blocked three sections of highway in downtown areas of Hong Kong since Sept. 28, say they won’t leave unless Beijing withdraws an Aug. 31 ruling by China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) on Hong Kong’s electoral reforms.
Some protesters are also calling for the resignation of embattled chief executive C.Y. Leung over the use of tear gas and pepper spray on umbrella-wielding protesters, after which the Occupy protests swelled to hundreds of thousands at their height.
Leung also raised hackles last month when he said the system must be weighted to prevent people on a low income from dominating Hong Kong politics.
The NPC announcement said that while all five million Hong Kong voters will cast a ballot in the election for Leung’s successor, they will only be allowed to choose between two or three candidates approved by a pro-Beijing committee.
The 1,200-strong election committee, which voted Leung to power in 2010 with just 689 votes, has just 7.5 percent representation of pan-democratic politicians, far less that the broad popular support those groups enjoy.
Current pan-democratic lawmakers in the territory’s Legislative Council (LegCo) were voted in with some 56 percent of the popular vote, compared with just 44 percent won by pro-Beijing politicians.
Broker
Students are currently trying to find a highly placed pro-Beijing intermediary to broker the trip on their behalf, Chow said.
