Hong Kong pro-democracy protests paralysed the city !

[harmony]

Great quote Ahlungor.
I dont think Wallace faced the 1 billion strong empire of the Chinese communist party- but your point about pride is a good one

Go ahead people, and step on the dragons tail

Occupy Wall Street for example was a failure:

Occupy started in Manhattan's Zuccotti Park in 2011 and spread quickly
Every week seemed to bring news of mass Occupy arrests, including September 17, 2012, the first anniversary of the movement.
But eventually, Occupy dropped off the radar.
Occupiers left the parks they'd taken over, for a variety of reasons: evictions, violence, or the sheer effect of time

The New York Times newspaper reported in May 2014 showed extensive surveillance and infiltration of protest groups by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security

[AHLUNGOR]

Things that could only happen in a Hong Kong protest

Only in HK


By Samanthi Dissanayake
BBC News

Tear gas, pepper spray, feelings of anger and betrayal, crowds forced to run from riot police... and yet the protests retain that uniquely Hong Kong character.

Reporters and Hong Kong residents have shared their most surreal and charming experiences on the streets.



Doing your homework





Apologising for the barricade you put up





Deploying ancient arts of self defence with an umbrella





Concern for how fragrant fellow protesters are





Keeping off the well cut grass lawn when asked by a cardboard sign




Being the tidiest protesters on the block

[wilisno]

Well done Hongkies !

[harmony]

Just saw 730pm report on ABC
A Hong Kong Professor from the City University was interviewed as he protested on the streets
He allowed his name and face to be shown
Brave. Very brave
Well done and good luck

[tpol]

I too reckon that this is useless. Hk is gornskies and will become a Tasmania of China.

It will be a tourist centre.

A lot of the expats I know have already moved to Singapore or shanghai

If I were a hkonger and had children I would send them overseas to hedge my bet.

I Was in Taiwan earlier this year and it was slow. China has strangled the life out of it due to its disobedience

And hk will just follow suit of it continues this way

Imagine what will happen when the Yuan becomes hk currency

[kln]

I really wish them all the best as I cannot foresee any good solution if this drags on, it will only hurt their economy. It surely doesn't look like Beijing will change their mind and agree to what the people want.

However it's good to see some people acting peacefully during protests.

[AHLUNGOR]

If any one is interested in showing your support behind the Hong Kong people's democratic movement, please visit the support group site next to the Town Hall, corner of Park and York St

[kln]

If any one is interested in showing your support behind the Hong Kong people's democratic movement, please visit the support group site next to the Town Hall, corner of Park and York St

was there earlier, didn't notice it, will check it out next week, thanks for the info bro.

[WHITEDUDE]

WTFs the world coming to? These HK peeps should just relax & go have a good fuck or a RNT! Better still they should think themselves lucky & reflect back on the EMOBLA outbreak, or the beheadings FFS.

[harmony]

The Hong Kong protesters now demand a meeting with the Chinese government

Their road block significantly inconvenienced the HK CBD businesses, with an estimated total loss of over $100 million due to the road closures

I am betting it was the businesses hurting the most that asked the gangs to bring the violence

Having a meeting with the Chinese government, before or after a protest, is going to have the same result

The Chinese government dont suffer at all with the road closures, the local businesses and HK people do !

The protesters have very little to negotiate with

[Sextus]

Here is a very good article that was in the Financial Review. It is the very voice of reason and reasonableness and makes many valid and accurate points. The only way forward is for China to listen to the truth in the words of voices like this. Realise it is in their own interests that they recognise the unchangeable unique history of Hong Kong that has shaped the city and meet their just desires much more than just half way.

Ps. I've added some pics to the article.


Joseph Cheng is professor of politics at Hong Kong City University and convenor of the Alliance for True Democracy in Hong Kong.

People in Hong Kong feel cheated. The decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress at the end of August to restrict candidates for the chief executive of Hong Kong, to a list chosen by Beijing, will not allow a meaningful democratic choice by the city’s people.



The next chief executive will indeed be chosen in 2017 by universal suffrage, just as China promised. But the candidates will be picked by a nomination committee, which is elected by a very narrow franchise – one that is dominated by Hong Kong’s establishment. China’s leaders simply cannot accept a situation where the candidate they favour could lose, and a candidate not accepted by them might win.

Hong Kong people fully accept China’s sovereignty over the territory, and they have no serious intention of challenging the Chinese authorities. But they point out that since 1997, Chinese leaders have chosen three chief executives for Hong Kong, and their performance has been far from satisfactory. Why can’t Hong Kong people select their own leaders?

The community believes that it is sensible enough to elect someone who will co-operate with Beijing to ensure the territory’s stability and prosperity.

The Chinese leadership should not fear that Hong Kong people will elect someone bent on confronting Beijing.

In the eyes of the Chinese leaders however, Hong Kong people have shown only ingratitude for the political tolerance and economic support China has granted them. They have proven troublesome instead. Moreover, Hong Kong is no longer so uniquely important to China’s modernisation. Shanghai could replace Hong Kong, and professionals from the mainland could easily step in for talented people who chose to leave Hong Kong.

Hong Kong people therefore need to be aware of their limits. The time of Hong Kong’s “exceptionalism” in China is passing. The White Paper released by the Chinese government last June clearly indicates that whatever power Hong Kong has, it comes from Beijing, which will keep a central role in Hong Kong’s governance.

Leadership increasingly nervous

Ever since the massive rallies against Beijing’s anti-subversion laws in July 2003, China’s leadership has become increasingly nervous over Hong Kong. This has led to more interference and massive support for local pro-Beijing parties and politicians. These interventions have only created a vicious circle of resentment followed by more interference.

Hong Kong people believe they are not just fighting for a democratic electoral system. They’re also upholding their own core values, their lifestyles and their dignity. They worry Hong Kong may be relegated to being just another big city in China. They know that if they do not speak out now, they may have little chance to do so in a few years’ time.

The Occupy Central protesters, as well as other pro-democracy groups, realise it will be extremely difficult to change the decision of the Chinese leadership in the short term. But they want to tell the whole world they are not going to give up the cause of democracy – they will continue to fight. As long as they do that, at least they can maintain their dignity and principles.



Occupy Central’s current campaign may not last long. But when this campaign subsides, the pro-democracy groups will recuperate and plan another wave of protests. The purpose is to expose the lack of legitimacy of the Hong Kong government. Unless it ensures more democracy, it will find it extremely difficult to create effective governance.



Chinese leaders have to understand that Hong Kong is a free society. Without this freedom, the spirit of Hong Kong will be lost and it will become just another Shanghai.

From 1997 to 2008, public opinion polls showed that Hong Kong people’s trust for the central government and their identification with the Chinese nation had been growing. Since then, both trends have sharply reversed. This is something that the Chinese leadership needs to think about. But if it maintains its Marxist-Leninist mindset, it will find this hard to understand.


This I think is the bigger picture, and I'm not too worried about some capitalists maybe losing a few bucks in the meantime. If they can collectively lose 100m in just a couple of weeks it makes you wonder how much they make collectively for the other friggin' 50 weeks of the year when there are no street protests. And all the other years too. Makes you think they can maybe easily afford to lose a small percentage if it means the character and spirit of Hong Kong can be retained and enhanced through the brave actions of the protesters.

[Mr. Who]

Just for the record Sextus, the first week of October is always the biggest holiday week in China. In this week all of the hot tourist spots look like this...

xinsrc_0221104070734953270563.jpg

So it's actually quite reasonable that they lost $100m in aggregate. I've read somewhere that restaurants owners (as usual) spent huge bulks on all those fancy seafood to get ready for their golden week of the year. Now their crabs and lobsters etc got nothing better to do than dying in the tanks.

[mak695]

This I think is the bigger picture, and I'm not too worried about some capitalists maybe losing a few bucks in the meantime. If they can collectively lose 100m in just a couple of weeks it makes you wonder how much they make collectively for the other friggin' 50 weeks of the year when there are no street protests. And all the other years too. Makes you think they can maybe easily afford to lose a small percentage if it means the character and spirit of Hong Kong can be retained and enhanced through the brave actions of the protesters.

Its probably easy for you to say that collectively losing 100mil in a week is bad. But you have to think about the people that are living in HK, because in the end HK is pretty much runs on money and nothing else. Without money in HK your pretty much screwed. But what about the protesters? Arent majority of them students, Who get money from their parents? So in the end their just screwing themselves over. I'm actually surprised that the business' have let them block the streets for this long.

[harmony]

Agreed Mr Who
I just saw the student action as belligerent, and fruitless
Their protest only hurt not only the local Hong Kong businesses, but also the employees who go to work to support families etc.
A lot of local workers would have been told there was no job for the last 10 days because of futile protesting, and guess what ?
A lot of the lower grade workers, including cleaners, etc, would have been told there is no income for the period of the protests

How about staging the protest where you dont hurt the livelihood of your fellow citizens. Say, in a large park somewhere

Then I may have been half impressed

But then again, the students have nothing to negotiate with.Even if they surrender their lives, its not a strong enough negotiating position
China just have to stay firm with their decisions, and show who is really boss

Ive been in protests myself. I am not dissing protests. But dont hurt your fellow citizens financially, just to make your point
To get my respect, these students need to work volunteer for a few shifts for some of the businesses that were damaged by the protesting

By the way, China makes its decisions in Beijing, then communicates this to Hong Kong.
Since there are no protests in Beijing - you guessed it - nothing will change

In short, China knows which is the dog and which is the tail. And the tail should never wag the dog

Beijing do care about losing face with the International media.
But as long as they dont bring out the artillery, China knows they can continue to write the laws as they see fit

My previous analogy was that the protesters are merely stepping on the dragons tail
As it turned out, the protesters were always beneath the dragons tail

Once again guys, what tangible backdown did Beijing/mainland China make to the student proetests? Nothing. But China is happy to give tear gas

Your HK correspondent signing off

[s0019]

Agreed Mr Who
I just saw the student action as belligerent, and fruitless
Their protest only hurt not only the local Hong Kong businesses, but also the employees who go to work to support families etc.
A lot of local workers would have been told there was no job for the last 10 days because of futile protesting, and guess what ?
A lot of the lower grade workers, including cleaners, etc, would have been told there is no income for the period of the protests

How about staging the protest where you dont hurt the livelihood of your fellow citizens. Say, in a large park somewhere

Then I may have been half impressed

But then again, the students have nothing to negotiate with.Even if they surrender their lives, its not a strong enough negotiating position
China just have to stay firm with their decisions, and show who is really boss

Ive been in protests myself. I am not dissing protests. But dont hurt your fellow citizens financially, just to make your point
To get my respect, these students would work volunteer for a few shifts in some of the businesses that were damaged by the protesting

By the way, China makes its decisions in Beijing, then communicates this to Hong Kong.
Since there are no protests in Beijing - you guessed it - nothing will change

In short, China knows which is the dog and which is the tail. And the tail should never wag the dog

Beijing do care about losing face with the International media.
But as long as they dont bring out the artillery, China knows they can continue to write the laws as they see fit

My previous analogy was that the protesters are merely stepping on the dragons tail
As it turned out, the protesters were always beneath the dragons tail

Your HK correspondent signing off

See most of us have a point, but that does not mean they will get it. They do not need to earn their living. May be just for now. But yes , they are not afraid of that. All they spend on this ridiculous things are time and their fury of other things. A lot of them just try to be hero so they might been treated different with others. In this century , our young generation trend to hate to become ordinary and polite, because they think that's lame .

[cheungchau]

Rioter ? or peaceful demonstrator !!!?.. If this happen in St Louis, Georgia.. how would US police respond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzTZ...ature=youtu.be

[mak695]

Rioter ? or peaceful demonstrator !!!?.. If this happen in St Louis, Georgia.. how would US police respond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzTZ...ature=youtu.be

This is what I hate about the new generation coming through. They have no idea what real life is like and think they can get away with anything without any repercussions.

WTF did that kid think was gonna happen when he threw that bottle at the car.

I cant believe all the people there were egging the police office to hit him. WTF is wrong with these people

[s0019]

This is what I hate about the new generation coming through. They have no idea what real life is like and think they can get away with anything without any repercussions.

WTF did that kid think was gonna happen when he threw that bottle at the car.

I cant believe all the people there were egging the police office to hit him. WTF is wrong with these people

The protest has been carried for too long and have no solid achievement. They are losing it. If they lost like this, next time it will be far more difficult for them to setup another one. Their last card will be support from others(Local people, media,foreign country ). But this will need a key to launch: we have been attack by police on purpose. Once they have been hit (no matter how the story is), they will have the advantage they need.So this is how it happened.

[mak695]

The protest has been carried for too long and have no solid achievement. They are losing it. If they lost like this, next time it will be far more difficult for them to setup another one. Their last card will be support from others(Local people, media,foreign country ). But this will need a key to launch: we have been attack by police on purpose. Once they have been hit (no matter how the story is), they will have the advantage they need.So this is how it happened.

Majority of the local people already hate the protesters due to disrupting their daily lives and making them lose money. The media is pointless because everyone knows that what they've shown is what they want you to see, but there are people who have filmed the protesters actually starting trouble to begin with. And foreign country, I doubt any foreign country is going to go up against a super power like China. Even the US are having trouble trying to negotiate with them regarding other issues eg. Japan, Taiwan

They should just give up IMO because China has already given them a lot of freedom, if this protest happened in China it probably would have stopped on day 1 and never been told outside the country. Also the protesters would probably be put in jail or worse case scenario death penalty

[harmony]

"Majority of the local people already hate the protesters due to disrupting their daily lives and making them lose money."
Hits the nail on the head

If you want to stage a protest, that annoys local citizens and businesses, and leads to people losing their jobs due to the disruption, then you will not have the support of the local Hong Kong community
Just looked petulant and belligerent, with no respect for the local citizens

Next time you want a protest, try being a bit original
All of you get on the HK ferry and create a fuss that way, with 10 full ferries going up and down HK harbour

Oh, sorry, that wouldnt work. Students would rather make other people lose money, than lose their money on the ferry tickets

Or get some backbone and go protest in Beijing, where the new laws and decisions are actually made ! No, that wont happen, because we all know you will end up being jailed for life

So who really has the power, and wont let go ?