Current Issue Magazine Feature: Occupy Central - Essay Example

Chi Shing Lo COM 222 Bekken 3 December Current Issue Magazine Feature: Occupy Central Occupy Central Movement has shaken one of the most influential international financial city in Asia, Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has become one of the most important links between China and the world. Several international conglomerates that wish to participate in China’s market set up headquarters in Hong Kong, given its proximity to the Mainland and its westernized judicial system. In 1997, Hong Kong’s stock markets experienced recession and at the same time, China’s took over sovereignty over this city from the United Kingdom. Even as the Communist Party declared the “one country, two systems” rule, most Hong Kong citizens predicted that mainland would not fulfill its promise of leaving Hong Kong’s existing government system intact. The Occupy Central movement, also known as the “Yellow Ribbon Revolution” or “Umbrella Revolution,” is a movement led by students to vie for genuine democracy in the city of Hong Kong. The movement claims that the Chinese Government cannot inhibit the intrinsic rights of humans, including freedom of speech and political representation in the government. Although the movement was initiated on the belief that more people should be aware of the current situation and Hong Kong people should fight for their own rights, Occupy Central nearly caused the whole city into violent uprising and a military takeover. Occupy Central was led by the Joint Committee of Students’ Unions of Hong Kong’s eight prominent universities. John Lo, the Administrative secretary of the Hong Kong University Students’ Union said that HKU students are the vanguards of political awareness in society (1). As students do not share as much of the burden to care for a family, they should stand in the forefront of this fight. The picture shows protesters with yellow ribbons to symbolize pro-democracy supporters (YoungPost 1). This fight for democracy is not only for the current generation, he said, but future generations. Secretary Lo participated in the movement by camping out in the street along with thousands of other protestors as a form of nonviolent civil disobedience. He and his cabinet also urged the HKU Union Council to issue a decree condemning the Communist Party and National Party Congress for passing laws that effectively prohibit Hong Kong from reaching universal suffrage at least until 2018. As of now, HKSAR’s government system is not in function. The imbalance of power among the three branches of government is obvious. The legislative branch is seemingly only responsible for being dangerous opposes of Hong Kong democracy, and the judicial branch tries to stay neutral, while the executive branch yearns to hold even more power. Many senators from both geographical and functional constituencies will argue that Leung Chun Ying, the chief executive of the HKSAR government, is simply a puppet sent from Beijing to monitor the progress of integration of HKSAR back into China. The reason being that universal suffrage is still not permitted in this peculiar model of democracy. When election time comes, Beijing will select a few candidates from inside the Communist Party and invite around 2,000 individuals who are either representatives of HKSAR in the National Party Congress of Mainland China’s government to decide whom they vote for. Many democracy activists protest that universal suffrage rights and true democracy should replace this form of pseudo-democracy and suggests that this act of vote is simply for the public’s eye. Marco Ip, who is pictured on the right, is a recent Hong Kong University graduate who participated in the demonstrations where protestors occupied the central business district of Hong Kong (Plus 2). Ip shared his memories of the day he was nearly hit by one of the tear gas bombs that the Hong Kong Police Force used, “We were the yellow ribbon, representing support for the Hong Kong people, while the other side was the blue ribbon, representing support for the Communist Party. The tension between the two groups escalated to a boiling point the week of October 20, and violence broke within the protest. Next thing we know is, the police began to disperse the crowd by using tear gas and announced that any protestors left will be shot and sent to the hospital. I still remember when the grenade landed only 15 meters away from me. It’s not the physical injury that I am concerned about, it’s the mental insult that I will never forget” (2). Ip believes that the Hong Kong Police Department has overstepped its boundaries in using brute force against innocent civilians fighting for universally accepted human rights. The protests also created the term “umbrella revolution” to raise awareness of excessive force used by the police to quell differences in opinion. Most Hong Kong citizens agree that this Occupy Central movement is integral to the foundation principles of Hong Kong: the rule of law, the freedom of speech, the freedom to vote and the accountability of the government. Although many people have aimed their frustrations at the police for using military force against civilians in a peaceful demonstration, the Police Department has its own rationale. Jenson Lee, an officer of the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force, said political stability in Hong Kong is of vital importance (1). While Officer Lee praised the efforts of students and passionate young adults marching onto the streets at their own risk to fight a battle that seems impossible to win, he said that the disorganized leadership of the movement can easily allow hidden agendas to manipulate it. He also warned against the escalation of tensions since there is a provision in the Hong Kong Basic Law—the Constitution of Hong Kong—that should the Communist Party deem HKSAR in political unrest and uprising, Beijing can order the People’s Liberation Army to occupy Hong Kong. At night, when the Hong Kong Police Force used brutal strategies such as tear gas and real bullets to disperse the protestors, Beijing had reportedly ordered all three military bases near Hong Kong to be mission ready. Lee explains that because this movement has a historical background, Beijing is watching this incident very closely (2). Also, Premier Xi Jinping of China had just assumed power in the summer, indicating that Beijing will almost always take a strong stance against any type of disobedience in Politburo decisions. The Communist Party might also take this chance to prove to the world its military might and willingness to use military force to resolve any dispute against the Communist Party within Chinese territories. Lee insists that most police officers do not want to see any escalation especially in cases where they have to use force against their own family and friends. Nevertheless, the Hong Kong Police Force will not hesitate to use force if it means saving Hong Kong from being permanently occupied by the Mainland. Although China’s stance is heavily aware of the reasons behind this movement, China’s media does not allow for people in Mainland to truly understand the meaning behind Occupy Central. While some pro-government protesters are reportedly paid gangsters recruited under the table by the Communist Party to instigate violence to destroy the reputation of the movement, many are simply ignorant of the history behind this protest. Hagen Lee, a student in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, studies in Hong Kong but lives in the Mainland with his family over the breaks. The picture on the right shows the confrontation between the forces and the protesters (Fields 1). Lee realized that the media in China has reported very little genuine events in the Occupy Central movement. The Chinese government censored the media to the extent that Mainland Chinese will only know that the Occupy Central movement was a protest instigated by a group of students for some minor cause and will be resolved in a short period of time. Furthermore, the media actually showed pictures of Hong Kong supporters of the Chinese government and conveyed that Hong Kong people are still fully supportive of being part of the PRC. However, Lee points out that this is all simply a propaganda The true reason of protest is to fight for universal voting rights, but the Chinese media portrayed it as simply a government policy rather than a topic of human rights. The Chinese media, to some extent, violated the rules of journalism in distorting the message. Works Cited Fields, By Liz. Police Fire Tear Gas as Occupy Central Protests Take Over Hong Kong. 28 September 2014. Web. 1 December 2014. Hagen, Lee. Occuppy Central Protests Chi Shing Lo. 1 December 2014. Ip, Marco. Occupy Central Movement Chi Shing Lo. 1 December 2014. Lee, Jensen. Hong Kong Protests Chi Shing Lo. 2 December 2014. Lo, John. Occupy Central Chi Shing Lo. 1 December 2014. Plus. 便衣警被識破身份　落荒而逃. 5 October 2014. Web. 1 December 2014. YoungPost. Humans of Occupy Central - Gallery 1. 30 September 2014. Web. 1 December 2014. Read More