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Hong Kong renews protests

October 10, 2014

Thousands have returned to Hong Kong's streets after the government canceled talks with student leaders. Protesters say plans by China's central government give them no real choice and do not amount to genuine democracy.

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Hong Kong Protest
Image: Reuters/Carlos Barria

Friday's protests came after a week that saw flagging support for demonstrations. Activists demand a greater say in choosing Hong Kong's leader and the resignation of city Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. The demonstrators have vowed to stay in the streets until the government responds.

"If they do not give a just, reasonable answer to all the occupiers, there is no reason to persuade people to retreat," said Alex Chow, of the Federation of Students.

Thousands first flooded the streets about two weeks ago, following an announcement by officials on the mainland that they would place restrictions on the city's first-ever direct elections for its leader, promised for 2017 - an encroachment on the semi-autonomy Hong Kong has historically enjoyed under China's centralized system.

On Thursday, Hong Kong's government canceled talks to end the standoff scheduled for Friday, claiming that students' call for more people to occupy the streets had "severely undermined" the potential for negotiations.

'Prosperity and stability'

In September, China's government announced that a 1,200-member committee stacked with pro-government elites would nominate candidates for the 2017 election before the public votes.

On Friday, China's premier reiterated Beijing's stance on the status of Hong Kong: "The central government of China has always had the guiding principle: one country, two systems," Li Keqiang said in Berlin, where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

China Hong Kong Demonstration
Umbrellas became the symbol of the movement after the protesters used them to shield themselves from tear gasImage: Reuters/B. Yip

"The people of Hong Kong manage Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy and we have seen in practice that there has been no change to this policy, and there will be no change."

'No change' to Hong Kong system

He added that "maintaining the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong is not only in China's interests but is mostly in the interests of the people of Hong Kong" and promised to protect the legitimate interests of foreign investors in the city.

While Merkel hosted the Chinese premier for business talks in Berlin, crowds filled up Hong Kong's Admiralty neighborhood, near the city's government headquarters, chanting, "Our Hong Kong, ours to save." The thousands of protesters gathered in the city included high school students in uniforms as well as office workers who came straight from work.

The protests in Hong Kong have been compared to the 1989 demonstrations on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in which security forces killed hundreds of unarmed democracy advocates.

mkg/sb (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)