HONG KONG | Protesters say bring on tear gas in vote tussle

Protesters stage a sit-in in the business district of Central in Hong Kong

Hong Kong pro-democracy activists say they want police to use tear gas and water cannon on them if China doesn’t meet their demands for the election of the city’s next leader.
A confrontation may come after China’s top political body, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, at the end of the month issues its decision on a electoral system to choose the city’s leader in 2017. Should the new rules not meet international standards or leave room for debate, at least 10,000 people will sit in the main streets of the central business district waiting to be arrested, said Benny Tai Yiu-ting, a University of Hong Kong law professor and founder of protest group Occupy Central with Love and Peace.
“We want them to use tear gas and water cannon,” Tai said in an interview that focused on the group’s strategy. “The chance for civil disobedience to win is you get the sympathy of the whole community.”
The threat has divided the city with tycoons, business groups and officials warning protests could turn violent and damage the city’s reputation as a global financial center. Tens of thousands joined an Aug. 17 march staged by a counter movement called Alliance for Peace and Democracy to protest Occupy Central’s planned action.
Robert Chow, a spokesman for the Alliance, said 1.5 million signatures have also been gathered agreeing to the statement: “I oppose violence. I oppose ‘Occupy Central.’ I support peace in Hong Kong. I support democracy in Hong Kong.”
“It is up to the legislators who say ‘we want international standards’ to negotiate with China,” said Chow. “Why bring turmoil into Hong Kong. Why Occupy Central? Why punish us?”
The Alliance’s march was clouded by allegations in local media that supporters who favor the government in Beijing paid participants to attend and booked restaurants to give out meals. Chow said there were only a few such instances and it would have been better if those who were paid hadn’t turned up.
China adopted Hong Kong’s Basic law, a mini-constitution, in 1990 and agreed to eventually allow Hong Kong citizens to elect their chief executive by universal suffrage among candidates nominated by a committee. In 2007, a target date of 2017 was set for the vote. The system would allow the Chinese government to vet the candidates, while opposition lawmakers are pushing for the process to permit candidates to be nominated directly by voters.
Public disquiet stirred after the Chinese government in June published a white paper that said the city’s chief executive and judges must be “patriotic,” and that the city’s autonomy, stated in the handover agreement for the former British colony, is bestowed by China.
Basic Law committee Chairman Li Fei said Aug. 22 that the election methods must be based on the mini-constitution rather than any so-called international standards.
Occupy Central is inspired by a civil-disobedience playbook set out by Gene Sharp, a U.S. academic whose work has inspired non-violent uprisings from Egypt to Serbia, Tai said. Sharp, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, argues that once authorities use violence against unarmed protesters they lose the sympathy of the rest of the population, leading to a shift in public opinion to support the protesters.
Hong Kong police, numbering about 28,500, would unlikely be able to disperse 10,000 or more peaceful protesters without having to resort to violence, said Tai.
Hong Kong’s police referred e-mailed questions to a June 4 statement by Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok which said the force would “take corresponding measures” against infringement of the law, which include blocking traffic and road access. It didn’t mention the means at the police’s disposal for breaking up protests.
Tai said he doubts China would turn to its People’s Liberation Army troops garrisoned in the city even after a former Chinese official said they might be needed to restore order.
“I don’t think the PLA will need to come in, because the police have the tear gas and water cannon – surely they can disperse us,” he said. “If they bring in the soldiers, that will be even more disproportionate.”
China deployed the PLA in 1989 to crush protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, unleashing a storm of international protest. People in Hong Kong mark the anniversary with a candlelit vigil, drawing more than 100,000 to this year’s event.

A police officer stands guard behind barricades in Central

An annual July 1 march to mark the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the U.K. to China swelled to the biggest protest in a decade this year. A student-led sit-in that followed the rally blocked bus routes and resulted in the arrest of more than 500 protesters for illegal gathering.
Students will consider a strike and further action should the NPC rule out civil nominations of candidates, said Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students.
Occupy Central, which isn’t insisting on civil nomination, wants to raise public awareness before taking any action.
“By making our plan known about from the very beginning, we generate public discussion,” Tai said. “It’s part of the social awakening process.” Bloomberg

npc starts discussing hk electoral reform

Hong Kong’s electoral reform began its second stage yesterday with the country’s top legislature discussing whether to revise election methods for Hong Kong’s chief executive and legislature.
The first step to reform began when Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying submitted a report to the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee in July examining whether to revise election methods for Hong Kong SAR’s chief executive in 2017 and its Legislative Council in 2016.
Lawmakers are now examining the report at the bi-monthly session of the NPC Standing Committee, which began yesterday until Sunday.
The report is based on the results of a public consultation by the Hong Kong SAR government from Dec. 4 last year to May 3.

David Tweed