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Hong Kong’s Occupy Central pushes for ‘genuine democracy’
an article by Elaine Yu, Waging Nonviolence republished courtesy of a Creative Commons license
On July 15, the Hong Kong government unveiled its first
report on electoral reform to Beijing, formally beginning the
five step process to amend the methods for selecting the
city’s leader and legislature. Chief Executive Leung Chun-
Ying offered no concrete proposals, but affirmed the rule of
the Chinese government. 
Occupy Central in Hong Kong on July 1. (Flickr / Natasia Causse)
click on photo to enlarge
Meanwhile, two weeks earlier — and 17 years after Hong
Kong’s return to China from British rule — hundreds of
thousands of protesters took part in the annual July 1 march
to call for a more direct election of the chief executive in
2017.
The former British colony has been embroiled in a debate
about its roadmap to democracy for more than a decade.
The past two chief executives were chosen by an 800- and
1,200-member committee respectively, long criticized for
representing pro-Beijing interests.
Following the march, 511 protesters staged an overnight
and peaceful sit-in in Central, the city’s government and
financial district, in what was seen as a dress-rehearsal for
the Occupy Central civil disobedience action that will take
place if the authorities reject their demand for a “genuine
democracy” in the next two years. All 511 occupiers were
arrested and detained the following day for “participating in
unauthorized assembly and obstructing police officers.”
The Occupy Central campaign was first conceived by law
professor Benny Tai in January 2013. Organizers of the
campaign say that Hong Kong’s electoral system must
satisfy the international standards for universal suffrage,
and reform proposals are to be decided through a
democratic process, including three so-called Deliberation
Days and a civil referendum. If the authorities continue to
snub its efforts, the campaign will plan a nonviolent
occupation of Central to block traffic and paralyze the
financial hub.
Three proposals, all of which allow the public to directly
nominate chief executive candidates, were shortlisted on the
third deliberation day. Organizers worried that the narrow
range of options would alienate moderates and discourage
people from voting, but nearly 800,000 residents
participated in the unofficial referendum in late June.
The Hong Kong and Chinese governments have consistently
rejected public nomination as being incompatible with the
Hong Kong Basic Law, the mini-constitution promulgated in
1990. Though outlining universal suffrage as the “ultimate
aim,” the Basic Law states that only a “broadly representative
nominating committee” can select candidates. Many predict
that Beijing will render universal suffrage meaningless by
devising a nomination process that screens out pro-
democracy candidates and others who do not share the
Communist Party’s views.
Under the “one country, two systems” principle in the Basic
Law as agreed upon in the 1984 Sino-British Joint
Declaration, Hong Kong enjoys a “high degree of autonomy”
with an independent judiciary.
But Beijing sparked alarm and outrage across the legal and
pro-democracy communities when it issued a white paper
on June 10, which redefined the practice of “one country,
two systems” and required that all the city’s administrators,
judges of every court and other judicial personnel be
patriotic.
Many lawyers see this as growing interference from Beijing
and protested in a silent march a few days before the July 1
demonstration.
(This article is continued in the discussionboard)
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
Can Hong Kong achieve democratic governance?,
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Latest reader comment:
As the protests continue in Hong Kong to achieve democratic governance, Al Jazeera published on 6 October an interview with one of the protest leaders, Audrey Eu, chairwoman of the territory's Civic Party, who has been active in the ongoing protest:
Al Jazeera: What do you think these protests have achieved?
Audrey Eu (AE): If you ask me, what is the success of this movement; I think basically the first thing is the awareness of the people about universal suffrage, and the second thing is that they are no longer afraid and they feel that they can do something about it. It’s our city. You don’t leave it to some legislators or some political parties. Everyone has a part.
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