Student boycott a naïve manifesto of HK extremists

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-9-10 0:13:01

Student representatives of the Hong Kong Federation of Students on Sunday announced they would stage a weeklong boycott of classes starting September 22. They also demanded public nominations for the post of chief executive to be implemented for the 2017 election, called on Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the three officials responsible for political reform to step down, and asked the National People's Congress to apologize to Hong Kong people. It's estimated that thousands of students will join the strike on the first day, a small slice of Hong Kong's university students.

Another student activist group, Scholarism, is preparing to launch a strike in secondary schools. Such an act is repugnant to mainstream Hong Kong society.

Many schools in Hong Kong oppose the upcoming boycott of classes. It's not a united campaign of all students in Hong Kong, but radical behavior of a minority. In history, influential student movements were those highly recognized by all the students and widely supported by society, which is totally different from the planned strike by a minority of Hong Kong extremists. 

The framework and roadmap for Hong Kong's political reform have been formulated. Therefore, the influence of the school boycotts will be negligible.  

The radical pan-democratic camp is apparently behind the scenes. They manipulate at will some vehement students who are obedient to them. Those students are susceptible to seditious slogans and speeches. They are unable to independently reflect on what is in the interests of Hong Kong, how Hong Kong should handle relations with the mainland and what kind of problems Hong Kong is facing.

Young students are often viewed as the promise of society. The radical pan-democratic group wants to take advantage of society's tolerance of students, making use of them to illegally confront the central government. Young students preparing to participate in the boycott should be taught to distinguish the legal expression of political dissent from an act of sedition. If they are embroiled in an illegal act, they will be held accountable.

Once the strike begins, Hong Kong will become the sole metropolis plagued with protests in East Asia, which will further jeopardize Hong Kong's image as an Asian financial hub. 

The vision of students is limited, and almost all student movements are manipulated by adult forces. If Hong Kong's students fall under control of extremist forces who advocate "Occupy Central," that will be a tragedy for all young Hongkongers.

The radical pan-democratic group has the obvious intention to mess up Hong Kong. They are looking for a prudent approach to evade punishment by the law.

But they should know that if the stability of Hong Kong is damaged, penalties for those instigators will be unavoidable. 



Posted in: Observer

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