Talks with Occupy could bring breakthroughs

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-10-23 18:48:03

Representatives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Students held long-awaited talks on Tuesday, in a bid to seek any possibility for breaking the standoff in the Occupy Central movement, the first dialogue in nearly one month protest.

It's a laudable move by the Hong Kong government to hold talks. This displays the authorities' sincerity and willingness in addressing the current confrontation, although the two sides failed to narrow down their gap on the method of electing the region's chief executive in 2017.

The Hong Kong government said after the talks that it will submit an official report to the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office that reflects the public's views regarding the changes in elections for Hong Kong's top post, which was set out by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on August 31.

As the Hong Kong authorities are often blamed for not conveying the public's message to the central government, the offer shows that the government is playing an appropriate role as a bridge between the society and the central government.

The dialogue, to some extent, serves as an opportunity for the student protesters to express their dissatisfaction and is hence helpful for bringing breakthroughs in the current standoff.

But it's too early to be optimistic about the development of the movement. The protesters were firm that the framework set on August 31 should be revoked and candidates for the city's top post be nominated by citizens or political parties. But such demands will in no way be met by the government.

I know that some locals are planning to go to work in the day and join the movement in the night. Under such circumstances, it's very likely that the Occupy protest will continue.

However, voices of opposition to the Occupy movement are mounting recently, as it has severely affected the lives and business of many residents. A loss of HK$2 billion ($258 million) has been caused so far just to the transport industry. The movement has been somewhat messy and gone out of control, a judgment also echoed by local business unions.

Before launching the movement, the organizers were fully aware that the protests were against local laws and would bring negative effects to the region's rule of law. But as the occupied areas expand to more places and people from other sectors and even external forces join, they may have not expected the movement to be so extensive and cause so many losses. The orders of the organizers don't even necessarily work out now.

Such a movement may add to the risks of a wider gap between the mainland and Hong Kong in terms of mutual understanding. But on the other hand, the central government will likely give a comprehensive consideration to the reactions from all walks of life in Hong Kong when making decisions regarding the region in the future.

The student protesters seek to implement universal suffrage for the election of chief executive, and the spirit of political participation is worth affirmation. But even in Western countries elections are not always practiced in this way.

There are different models of democracy, and every country and region has to find one that best applies to its reality.

It may be a well-known fact that the movement has been financially backed by some external forces or foundations, but it may be exaggerated to compare the street protests to a color revolution as seen in countries like Egypt and Tunisia. Such a revolution seeks a power shift by nonviolent means, but protesters in the Occupy movement only want to voice their demands with no intentions to topple the government.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Sun Xiaobo based on an interview with Zhu Shihai, a professor specializing in the study of Hong Kong with Macao University of Science and Technology. sunxiaobo@globaltimes.com.cn

Posted in: Viewpoint

blog comments powered by Disqus