Hong Kong: Occupy Central anger over Beijing ruling

[webfact]

Hong Kong: Occupy Central anger over Beijing ruling

HONG KONG: -- Democratic groups in Hong Kong have vowed to fight a Chinese government ruling that effectively gives China control over the candidates for the next leadership election.

The election, due in 2017, will be the first in which the Hong Kong chief executive is directly chosen by voters.

However, China's legislature ruled the candidates must be approved by more than half of a special nominating body.

Angry democracy activists vowed to take over the Central business district.

Co-founder of the Occupy Central protest group, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, said: "This is the end of any dialogue. In the next few weeks, Occupy Central will start wave after wave of action.

"We will organise a full-scale act of occupying Central."

On Sunday a group of pro-democracy supporters protested in a park in front of Hong Kong government headquarters.

One protester, Henry Chung, told Agence France-Presse: "I am very sad. We have waited so many years. But now we have nothing."

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29004025


-- BBC 2014-09-01

[keemapoot]

Well, they've only had 17 years to prepare for this day. What did they think would eventually happen?

[canuckamuck]

Good ruck Hong Kong, it will make interesting news for a while, until you get shut down.

[submaniac]

Tienanmen square? Anyone remember that? The Chinese government does not have a good history with this entire democracy thing.

[Credo]

Hong Kong is too crowded for tanks. Beijing will have to come up with a new tactic.

My thoughts are with the people of Hong Kong. Great place, great city, nice people. It deserves better.

[keemapoot]

I lived and worked in HK many years. I remember how prior to 1997 everyone who had the means to do so acquired foreign passports by investing or studying abroad in places like Canada and Australia when they were offering this. I guess those who didn't get these passports have been sweating it out ever since.

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[submaniac]

Hong Kong is too crowded for tanks. Beijing will have to come up with a new tactic.

Unfortunately the streets are wide enough for soldiers with assault rifles.

And I do think HK deserves a better break (better than what Beijing will give at least)

[Mosha]

I lived and worked in HK many years. I remember how prior to 1997 everyone who had the means to do so acquired foreign passports by investing or studying abroad in places like Canada and Australia when they were offering this. I guess those who didn't get these passports have been sweating it out ever since.

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

My wife's cousins's husband is a native of Hong Kong. He has ir had a British passport but no rights of settlement. He showed me the passport, but I forget the wording. It was some years back

Edited September 1, 2014 by Mosha

[keemapoot]

I lived and worked in HK many years. I remember how prior to 1997 everyone who had the means to do so acquired foreign passports by investing or studying abroad in places like Canada and Australia when they were offering this. I guess those who didn't get these passports have been sweating it out ever since.

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

My wife's cousins's husband is a native of Hong Kong. He has ir had a British passport but no rights of settlement. He showed me the passport, but I forget the wording. It was some years back

Yeah, rights of settlement is a tricky one, but if I recall they could then apply for settlement in any other commonwealth country.

[kotsak]

I lived and worked in HK many years. I remember how prior to 1997 everyone who had the means to do so acquired foreign passports by investing or studying abroad in places like Canada and Australia when they were offering this. I guess those who didn't get these passports have been sweating it out ever since.

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

My wife's cousins's husband is a native of Hong Kong. He has ir had a British passport but no rights of settlement. He showed me the passport, but I forget the wording. It was some years back

B.N.O, British National (Overseas). Kind of a joke considering that a EU citizen has more rights in UK rather than a BNO holder..

[Tinker2]

As a permanent resident of HK, and over 20 years there. One realises that Beijing will never let HK have democracy. Not while the HK Government/Legco strings are being pulled by several of the major HK Developers that have not only repeatedly 'screwed the HK people and the HK Government. They, the Developers also want a greater piece of the mainland pie.

HK is owned by the likes of Lee Ka Shing, Sun Hung Kai, and the rest.

I am however glad to see the HK people taking to the streets, at least the demonstrations block the access to the Government Offices.. Let them have to walk thru the crowds ! instead of being ferried door to door. I also failed to see why the Government Offices need to be Centrally located, when each member has car & drivers provided by the HK tax payers. Plenty of space for Government offices in Sha Tin, or even better, Lantau Island close to the airport for their frequent 'fact finding jaunts !

Just my humble opinion....

[keemapoot]

As a permanent resident of HK, and over 20 years there. One realises that Beijing will never let HK have democracy. Not while the HK Government/Legco strings are being pulled by several of the major HK Developers that have not only repeatedly 'screwed the HK people and the HK Government. They, the Developers also want a greater piece of the mainland pie.

HK is owned by the likes of Lee Ka Shing, Sun Hung Kai, and the rest.

I am however glad to see the HK people taking to the streets, at least the demonstrations block the access to the Government Offices.. Let them have to walk thru the crowds ! instead of being ferried door to door. I also failed to see why the Government Offices need to be Centrally located, when each member has car & drivers provided by the HK tax payers. Plenty of space for Government offices in Sha Tin, or even better, Lantau Island close to the airport for their frequent 'fact finding jaunts !

Just my humble opinion....

I used to do business with some of those HK magnates and their sons, and I remember how they were all scrambling to get into Beijing's graces by serving on the CPPCC, and other types of bodies. I remember how one son, a business associate of mine, was busy brushing up and studying Mandarin weekly. The business community (local and abroad) by and large realized and realizes that Beijing will let Hong Kong be Hong Kong, simply without the democracy they were accustomed to.

[Credo]

God, I hope they don't start wearing Red or Yellow shirts. It will confuse the hell of Thaivisa posters.

[ersl]

I am in Hong Kong, no PR but if I did have it I would have to come back every 3 years to check in, but not if I am Chinese, they can go get a second PR and stay there or any where indefinitely. A friend's kids went out for study and lost their birthright for being away for more than 3 years, not so for the Chinese, and they all ran away from China in Cultural Revolution or the famine. Most HK people are reviled by being associated with China, but if you took away their right to go there freely they would be very angry.

The fact is that HK was sold out by London in '97. But still all the big Brit corps run the place, until 2047.

The last UK governer of HK visited a few months back and was ttoally mobbed by HKers begging to take HK back to thr UK, but the reality is that London has a deal with Beijing. London tried to set the HKers up but the whole time they rebelled against the Brits. Now they rebelling against Beijing. That is what HKers do best, rebel.

I was in the Pro Palestine demos and how many HKers came? About 20!!! But then only a few marched. They were mostly Pakistanis, actually, who were using the march as venue for their gripes, and very legitimate gripes too. No one has done international mobilisation for the Drone Assassinations in Pakistan, how come?

I can tell you first hand that HKers are very shallow and totally into themselves, just like the majoriity of Chinese any where. They can never assimmilate, they must remain a pure race, and they always have their own as slaves.

HK has the highest rate of adoslescent suicide in the world, but they have something very few countreis have; infant suicide. Child abuse and abuse and exploitation of lessers is rampant here, human trafficking is booming, taken over first place from Singapore. Most arms shipments go through HK. Police abuse is resembling that of the USA. I was just an eye witness in a case of bashing handcuffed refugees but the defense did a deal with the Police and it never went to Court. The rufugees had to commit to being good for a year, but not the Police, just like it was when the Brits were here doing it to the Chinese.

In my job as a kindergarten teacher the incidence I see of physical and psychological abuse of very young kids by teachers is just horrofic. If I interrupt I get fired the teacher gets ignored, they close ranks on outsiders.

Just ignore the HK critics of China, they are just complaining about something they do themselves to each other!

Just as happened to me in BKK in 2009. Because I would not give over all my savings to some whores so they shouted rape, rape, rape!!! The mob was set up upon me! Get a kife on my neck for not paying the bill twice!!! Have to pay full price for half a meal because I am slim so I don't need a full plate, but have to pay for a whole meal! At least us foriegners don't get that here in HK or China, they are much more cunning and covert than the Thais.

We got moguls here that make Thaksin look good!

[jobin]

@ersl. What a looney rant. And you say you are a teacher? Hard to accept. Whether any of your claims about HK are true is very debatable.

[car720]

As a permanent resident of HK, and over 20 years there. One realises that Beijing will never let HK have democracy. Not while the HK Government/Legco strings are being pulled by several of the major HK Developers that have not only repeatedly 'screwed the HK people and the HK Government. They, the Developers also want a greater piece of the mainland pie.

HK is owned by the likes of Lee Ka Shing, Sun Hung Kai, and the rest.

I am however glad to see the HK people taking to the streets, at least the demonstrations block the access to the Government Offices.. Let them have to walk thru the crowds ! instead of being ferried door to door. I also failed to see why the Government Offices need to be Centrally located, when each member has car & drivers provided by the HK tax payers. Plenty of space for Government offices in Sha Tin, or even better, Lantau Island close to the airport for their frequent 'fact finding jaunts !

Just my humble opinion....

About time. Someone who actually knows something about something. Refreshing.

[wandasloan]

Tienanmen square? Anyone remember that? The Chinese government does not have a good history with this entire democracy thing.

On the other hand, they have an unblemished record of winning every argument and disagreement about it.

[Publicus]

As a permanent resident of HK, and over 20 years there. One realises that Beijing will never let HK have democracy. Not while the HK Government/Legco strings are being pulled by several of the major HK Developers that have not only repeatedly 'screwed the HK people and the HK Government. They, the Developers also want a greater piece of the mainland pie.

HK is owned by the likes of Lee Ka Shing, Sun Hung Kai, and the rest.

I am however glad to see the HK people taking to the streets, at least the demonstrations block the access to the Government Offices.. Let them have to walk thru the crowds ! instead of being ferried door to door. I also failed to see why the Government Offices need to be Centrally located, when each member has car & drivers provided by the HK tax payers. Plenty of space for Government offices in Sha Tin, or even better, Lantau Island close to the airport for their frequent 'fact finding jaunts !

Just my humble opinion....

I used to do business with some of those HK magnates and their sons, and I remember how they were all scrambling to get into Beijing's graces by serving on the CPPCC, and other types of bodies. I remember how one son, a business associate of mine, was busy brushing up and studying Mandarin weekly. The business community (local and abroad) by and large realized and realizes that Beijing will let Hong Kong be Hong Kong, simply without the democracy they were accustomed to.

Hong Kong without democracy is just another Chinese city which is the whole idea in Beijing.

If one knows a cross section of Hong Kongers (as they've taken to call themselves) it is absolutely clear that Beijing is a bad moon rising over HKG.

Victoria Park is the site of several pro-democracy recent gatherings of hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers, which already takes this beyond anything remotely resembling Tianamen Square 6-4 (1989).

Hong Kongers turn out each year in Victoria Park to commemorate Tianamen. The CCP Boyz in Beijing are ultra serious about this and so are hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers.

Many people share my fear that this will not go well.

I was in Hong Kong last week and they are going to fight Beijing, as in fight.

TVF censored my attempts to publish the HKG crowd photos but the link is below.

TVF is censored in the CCP-PRC, unavailable there since early this year. Beijing doesn't want PRChinese to get any of the ideas they already have and increasingly have.

I can assure everyone democrats on the mainland are watching these developments closely, as are the people of Taiwan where the Sunflower Revolution earlier this year drew the line against Beijing and the wuss government of Pres Ma.

Hong Kongers say they are the new West Berlin and in Taiwan they say they are the new West Germany.

July 3, 2014

Huge Crowds Turn Out for Pro-Democracy March in Hong Kong, Defying Beijing

Hong Kong Challenges Beijing

On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of people held one of the largest marches in Hong Kong’s history to demand democracy.

http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/07/02/3455668/hong-kong-protests/

Edited September 1, 2014 by Publicus

[chill]

I think @ersl has lost the plot. I'm a Brit and was born in HK to Brit parents. I have no chinese blood however I do have PR (Permanent Residency) and it means just that. Have have been out of HK for a period exceeding 20 years without returning there even in transit and I have been living in Thailand for the last 15 years and yes I still have permanent residency in HK. Maybe rules have changed since I was born but @ersl should acquaint himself with the new rules.

I was in HK before (and over) the handover and my impression was distinctly that HK Chinese grass roots could not give a toss about the Brits leaving. It was only Chris Patten who stirred up the democracy hopes of the Chinese. The Brits never thought of giving HK democracy until Patten arrived and every Governor was appointed by London. They were all career diplomatics except Patten who was a politician. The Chinese government at the time made it clear that they would not give HK democracy. Thatcher when she signed the handover agreement got Beijing's agreement not to alter the status quo. They understood that to be the status quo at that time. However Patten decided it could read the status quo at the time of the handover and did his best to introduce some form of democracy before the handover despite Beijing's assurances that they would revert to the old system. It was the media (as always) who stirred up the doomsday scenario with stories of tanks rolling across the border and Hong Kong collapsing. I don't think I've ever seen a Chinese soldier there on any of my brief visits since the handover. Policing in China is carried out by the army. Hong Kong has its own police force.

The Chinese have in fact kept to their side of the agreement and HK thrives. It is still a great place to enjoy yourself and do business. If it weren't for the cost of living I would happily live there (and it was very expensive before the handover as well) . Anyone who thinks democracy is great should have a good look around. Are you all happy with your leader in America? Who thinks the British government has given their country away? I make no comment about Thailand (because you all probably know more than me!) except to say that I'm happy about the way things seem to be developing. I might mention the many years Lee Kwan Yue ran a booming Singapore under a virtual dictatorship with J. B. Jeyaretnam as the only member of an opposition party. IMHO I don't think democracy in the real world is all that its cracked up to be.

[rlopes]

It's time the world put a break on China... It's time they get a reality check, that, just like the Soviet Union, they won't conquer the world.

[blueyeshk]

China learnt fast the Putin tactics

http://bloom.bg/1vDKs59