RFA
Approval by Hong Kong's legislature of electoral reforms proposed by Beijing that limit popular suffrage will spark angry street demonstrations by citizens of the former British colony, student leaders said on Monday.
The Hong Kong government on April 22 put forth an electoral plan for 2017 in line with guidelines issued by China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), on Aug. 31, under which Hong Kong's five million voters will each cast a ballot for the chief executive, but may only choose between two or three candidates pre-approved by Beijing.
“If the motion is to be passed in LegCo in June or July, people will definitely occupy LegCo,” Alex Chow, former Secretary General of Hong Kong Federation of Students, told RFA's Cantonese Service in an interview in Washington. LegCo is Hong Kong's 60-seat Legislative Council.
"It is for legislators to think about whether they can bear such consequences, in the political way or in the personal career way,” he said.
Nathan Law, Secretary General of Hong Kong Federation of Students, told RFA he wasn't sure any public reaction to the voting proposal would match in scale the mass Occupy Central democracy movement that blocked key highways in downtown Hong Kong for 79 days last year in opposition to Beijing's plan.
“There will be an explosion of anger if the proposal is passed and there will be a massive movement later on,” Law said.
Law said he was concerned that future protests could be "more radical" and "destructive" than last year's protests.
Chow dismissed as "ridiculous" assertions carried in Chinese state media that the universal suffrage campaign is Western inspired.
"It is very obvious that this kind of claim was constructed by the authorities because they would like to complicate the situation and to really oppress the activists by constructing such a false statement,” he said.
“If we look closely at the umbrella movement we will find no evidence that the people of the umbrella movement have received any donation or support from foreign countries,” said Chow.
The late 2014 protests took the yellow umbrella as its symbol after protesters used umbrellas to shield themselves from pepper spray and tear-gas in clashes with police.
Reported by RFA's Cantonese Service. Written by Paul Eckert.
HK police should consult Singapore counterpart what should be done to unruly mobs trying to stomp the legislature.
Apr 28, 2015 03:52 AM
"RFA's Cantonese Service in an interview in Washington"
WHY? Because there is no longer any audience and no appetite for these infantile views in Hong Kong: the agitators are merely playing to a US audience in the hope of securing additional funding and attention - they are not representative of "Free Asia", but of a vanishingly small group of disaffected and immature "Rebels Without a Cause". The fact that they have chosen Washingston as a venue to recite their banal political mantra speaks volumes
Apr 28, 2015 01:39 AM
“If we look closely at the umbrella movement we will find no evidence that the people of the umbrella movement have received any donation or support from foreign countries,” said Chow.
Excuse me, but isn't RFA, NED, NDI supporting the Umbrella Revolution?
Excuse me, but NDI's own website says that it does this:
"'The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong' Report Series
Between 1997 and 2011, NDI conducted a series of missions to Hong Kong to consider the development of Hong Kong’s election framework, the status of autonomy, rule of law and civil liberties, and the prospects for and challenges to democratization. NDI has published an ongoing series based on these assessments called The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong. The series is shared with media, government and international nongovernmental organizations to raise awareness of Hong Kong’s democratic progress."
And who paid for these colonial flunkies'trip to Washington DC?
Will they go to Baltimore to fight against the endemic human rights struggle against police killings in "Black Lives Matter" movement?
Apr 27, 2015 11:20 PM
