(Here is an article from Dr. G who pasted a long story introducing what happened in recent HK.)
For
my overseas friends who care about Hong Kong...
Thanks
for asking me about Hong Kong! I am so happy to know that indeed you did watch
the news about Hong Kong these days and you did want to know more about Hong
Kong from your friend here but not from the media. Yes it is no good nowadays
to believe in the media alone but not your own encounter and experience.
My
point of view...neutral enough?
I
may not be able to tell you the whole story of the "Occupy Central
Movement" or the fate of Hong Kong. The more I read and hear from
different sources, the more confused I become. I don't know whom should I
listen to and trust. Therefore I decide to feel it by myself. I think the best
way to understand the matter is to talk to the people, listen to them, feel
their hearts and emotions and learn from history and analyze the situation on
our own.
I
don't know where to start with as I do not want to bore you but if without
knowing the development history of Hong Kong, its hard for you to understand
the matter here...Anyways, let's open our heart and share here...
A
glimpse of the development history of Hong Kong over this century…
Hong
Kong started out as a fishing port over a century ago; it was a British colony
since year 18421. With its favorable position at the southeastern coast of
China and the deep and calm Victoria Harbour, it soon became an important
trading port between the east and the west. In addition, Hong Kong people are
so hardworking that the older generations did a few jobs at a time with the
only hope for improving the living condition for their family and loved ones.
In
its development over this century, Hong Kong was not on smooth path. It was
once deeply challenged by the ill corruption among the government officials and
policemen. Hong Kong people once accepted this as a social norm. Not until year
1967, Hong Kong did enjoy a fragment of stability among the rich and the people
in power. The lives of the civilians on the other hand were poor. The
hardworking workers felt that their endless effort paid was never well
recognized by their bosses. Their rights and pay were never parallel to their
work done. The anger among the public was on the verge of breaking out. There
came the 1967 riot2 with some provoking voices from China where a heated
cultural revolution3 was undergoing. Large-scale demonstrations and strikes
against the British colonial rule and the corrupted police force were spotted
around the city. Around 57 Hong Kong people and policemen died, 800 people got injured
and over 2,000 people got arrested in the riot. Hong Kong was deeply hit by
this riot. Stock market slumped; people lost the faith in the city and
relocated overseas. Since then, Hong Kong government established ICAC4, an
independent body to combat corruption. Meanwhile, a series of laws to protect
the rights of employees were set up and Hong Kong was ruled with abundant
welfare policies by the British government thereafter.
With
the opening up of China in 1976 by its leader Dang Xiaoping at that time, both
Hong Kong and China experienced a fantastic growth in their economies. Hong
Kong, with its low tax system, well-established legal framework, world-class
education system, freedom of speech, publication, cultural diversities, it soon
stood out as a strong and competitive city. Between 1961 and 1997 Hong Kong's
gross domestic product grew 180 times while per-capita GDP increased 87 times5.
Hong Kong gradually transformed from a manufacturing driven economy to a
service oriented economy. Tourism, retailing and financial services all become
the important pillars to Hong Kong’s economy.
You
can see it now as the world recognized international financial centre. All
these achievements are closely adhered to China’s robust development as well.
Under
the Convention of Peking6 signed in 1860, the British Government should return
Hong Kong’s sovereignty to China in 1997. In December 1984, the British
government had reached an agreement, the Sino - British Joint Declaration7 with
the Chinese government. They agreed that Hong Kong will be ruled under
"One country, two systems"8 for 50 years starting from 1 July 1997
till 2047. Hong Kong can keep its capitalist system and the way of living
according to the Hong Kong Basic law9. This was understood as a remarkable
milestone for Hong Kong and China's development.
In
June 1989, China Tiananmen Square Protest10 broke out. It was a massive protest
led by the local university students fighting for democracy and economic
reform. Students went on hunger strike and sit in the public square. There were
over one million protestors at the high time in Beijing Tiananmen Square. The
Chinese government finally used troops and tanks to clear the square on June 4.
Many students got injured and died. Since then, not much press coverage could
be found locally in China about this incident.
Many
Hong Kong people decided to relocate overseas with the fear of losing freedom
of speech, competitiveness, democracy, clean legal system etc. ahead of 1997.
Many however returned to Hong Kong after seeing the even more robust growth in
the economy for Hong Kong and China after the handover of Hong Kong in1997.
Hong
Kong enjoys its reputation, fame and glamour today from all over the world…
The
well- established legal system, the freedom of speech and publication, the
independent legislative and judiciary power, the diversity of cultures,
religions and society, the hardworking, nice and well educated people, the
modern way of living in Hong Kong all attract people around the globe to come
to Hong Kong to visit, trade, set up business and even settle down. Everyone
here contributes and embraces these core values of Hong Kong. We are proud of
the success and stability of Hong Kong!
Despite
all these excellent achievements you see these days, it was never easy for Hong
Kong to arrive to today's state. The Japanese occupation in 1941-1945, the riot
in 1967, the signing of the Sino- British Joint Declaration in 1984, the Asian
financial crisis in 1998, the outbreak of SARS in 2003, the worldwide financial
turmoil in 2008 all struck Hong Kong with hard challenges. Regardless of all
these set back, Hong Kong people are still brave in handling each of the above
crisis and become stronger and stronger over time.
Growing
social problems in Hong Kong…
Amid
the fame we share, Hong Kong people on the other hand are always stretching
their ends to catch up with the high living standard here. We work overtime
just to secure our job so that we can afford the rocketing rentals and housing
price. We struggle to live in small house and avoid possible conflicts among
packed neighbors. Do you know that Hong Kong is just 1,104 square kilometers
big in size but has been accommodating more than seven million people? Local
resources are scare and are being exploited at a rate faster than the
government can cope with. Living standard on a whole deteriorated along the way
despite we may hold more cash on hand when compared with the old days.
Fear
of losing Hong Kong’s core values…
Without
mentioning the growing social problems and the failure of the immediate
recognition of these problems by the Hong Kong government, it proposed to enact
the Article 2311,a security law to protect national security in 2002.
Meanwhile, the government proposed to pass the anti- subversion law. People
fear that the freedom of speech, publication would be eroded if such law and
bill got passed. Massive protests were carried out and over 500,000 people went
on street on 1 July 2003 to oppose the proposals. The bill was then shelved
indefinitely. The public outrage against the bill gradually becomes an urge for
the government to introduce universal suffrage12.
Debates
over how to achieve the universal suffrage in the election of the chief
executive in 2017 and the legislative council in 2016 have been heated. In
March 2013, the Central government said that the candidate of the chief
executive of Hong Kong should be someone who love the country and love Hong
Kong. Anyone oppose the Central Government cannot be the candidate. People
worried that this is exactly the screening of candidates by the Central
government, which conflicts the objective of the universal suffrage. Some
people think it is better to have universal suffrage even though there is
screening. Some people though think it was a fake universal suffrage and
refused to take it. Therefore, civil nomination of candidate becomes the most
arguable point in the debates.
In
October 2013, our chief executive CY Leung formed a task force headed by the
Chief Secretary of Administration, Ms Carrie Lam and asked for public
consultation on the universal suffrage. The consultation period ended in May
2014. However, before the release of the consultation paper in July, the
Central government released a White paper13 in June 2014. The White paper reiterated
that the Central Government has comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong,
which is the only source of its autonomy. In addition, the White paper also
demanded the local judges in Hong Kong to be patriotic. Over 1,800 lawyers were
drawn onto street to protest, expressing worries on judiciary independence.
Earlier
this year, the Central government wanted to roll out the national education in
local schools. However, it was found out that the curriculum was somehow
incomplete in the sense of showing all the development history of China. Local
students, parents protested for days outside the government headquarter banning
the national education.
The
outbreak of the Occupy Central Movement…
On
Aug 31, 2014, the Central government further released the election framework13
and made it so firm that the universal suffrage should meet with the
requirement set in the framework. Pan- democratic parties said that the
framework did not meet any international standard of universal suffrage because
there would not be any civil nomination on the candidate for the chief
executive. The Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) and the three leaders of
the “Occupy Central Movement” then initiated a series of civil disobedience
campaigns and street protests. Students boycotted classes and gathered outside
the government headquarter in Admiralty to discuss political and social
affairs. However, the policemen banned their assembly and used pepper spray and
87 cans of tear gas to clear the mass on September 28. The students used
umbrella to shelter themselves from pepper spray and tear gas. Therefore the
"Occupy central movement" was referred as " Umbrella
Revolution" by some of the mass media.
The
firing of the tear gas was a total failure to clear the mass but to provoke
more people to stand out to protect the students. There were over 100,000
protestors outside the government headquarters. The students and protestors
took up and blocked the main roads in Admiralty to Central for more than two
weeks. They set up tents to sleep on the roads, studied on the roads, sang on
the road but stopped the cars running on the roads. Other civilians copied
their action in other shopping regions like MONGKOK and Causeway Bay. The main
road like Nathan Road and Hennessy Road are blocked too. Traffic jams are seen
and complaints from people are heard. The general public got angry as they
complained about the huge impacts and inconvenience caused to their business
and social life. Violent conflicts were particularly seen from time to time in
Mongkok between the supporters and opposers of the Occupy Central campaign
Breakthrough
of the campaign was once seen as government agreed to talk to the students and
answer their request. Students asked for democracy and the civil nomination of
candidate for future governors. However, the government saying that the
requests from students were not reasonable and realistic and so they canceled
the talk suddenly. Hong Kong government again told students not to ask for any
change of the election framework released by the Central government on August
31.
Students,
protestors and policemen are all under huge stress now as protestors don't want
to leave their battlefield without any achievement made while they could not
obtain sufficient support from the general public of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the
policemen threaten to use increasing violence to clear the blocks so as to
restore social order. Both the personal safety of the protesters and policemen
as well as the future of Hong Kong are under huge threat.
Where
should Hong Kong go with the continuation of the movements and the severe
conflicts among protestors and the policemen?
Do
you have any opinion?
Reference:
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