A sure sign a news story has peaked: it’s on the front page of Time. After heavy-handed police action backfired, the Hong Kong government’s strategy towards the pro-
democracy Occupy Central protests has been to sit there reciting idiotic Lines to Take and looking stupid until people eventually go back to work/school/home. When demonstrators get bogged down with details like whether the cops used an ambulance to smuggle supplies and give the authorities chances to portray them in a bad light, that time may be approaching.
But the movement still has pain to inflict. Students yesterday modestly demanded that Chief Executive CY Leung stand down by midnight. Rather than have himself photographed in his pajamas pointedly putting his bedside light out at 11.15pm – the correct response – he did them the honour of holding a press conference at the appointed time, complete with a peace offering in the form of a meeting with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam.
It is hard to see how CY’s resignation would achieve much – unless Beijing parachuted in a popular and capable leader (assuming one exists) as a replacement. But then it’s hard to see any way for Beijing and the local administration to reestablish some semblance of credibility and legitimacy anytime soon. In 2003, the people of Hong Kong gave their government an almighty kick up the backside, from which it has never completely recovered. This time, they grabbed the government by the neck and rubbed its nose in the dirt, over and over and over for a week, in full view of the world’s media. It has been such total humiliation that the latest outbursts from CY’s psycho-daughter hardly register. And people won’t forget that occupying intersections is easy and effective and satisfying.
Do Carrie Lam, or CY, or – more to the point – Beijing have what it takes to analyze what the Basic Law calls ‘the actual situation’ in Hong Kong? They could do worse than read Nicholas Bequelin in Foreign Policy…
…since the 1997 handover, the Hong Kong government has failed to do what the CCP has been so adept at since the bloody suppression of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement: respond to social demands before they turn into political ones.
As a result, long accumulated frustrations about local governance in Hong Kong have crystalized into demands for something that Beijing never intended to give: genuine democracy.
The way out is for the decision-makers to accept two things. First, that an artificially inequitable and distorted socio-economic system – government-for-tycoons/screw-the-rest, in short – makes Hong Kong permanently tense and aggrieved. Second, that perceived threats to Hong Kong’s freedoms and rule of law act as a spark to ignite this permanent frustration and get people out onto the streets. Make it clear that you are going to ditch the tycoons and stop messing around with press intimidation and political arrests, and you will have a calm and relaxed city. Electoral reforms for 2016-17 will go back to being a sideshow.
The problem is that the social problems and authoritarian tactics are both Beijing’s doing. As the muttering about evil foreign forces masterminding the unrest suggests, Chinese officials probably know full well that their post-1997 approach to controlling Hong Kong and their recent tactics to counter local opposition have failed dismally. But the idea of the Chinese Communist Party being man enough to admit making mistakes is a bit of a stretch.
On the subject of mistakes, I declare the weekend open with a different story altogether. My spontaneous reaction on reading the headline was to splutter ‘get a life’…
…but of course that’s what she was doing, right? Anyway,good news: the guy wasn’t Robert Mugabe.
I think Barak Obama has it right regarding people like young Ms. Leung.
When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk – Barak Obama
…was it the guy from The Matrix…Morgan Freeman…or Samuel L. Jackson…can never tell the two apart…tho it’s a little better now since they don’t have Afros anymore.
We all love free speech. We all want an accountable government. We would all rather not be at the whim of cruel, oppressive, corrupt tyrants.
So what to do? All we can do is to get out on the streets and say no. Fark you. We will not take this.
There is a chance, albeit small, that Beijing will think that providing the vote is the lesser of two evils. But basically, if we do nothing, we get nothing.
If we sit on the sidelines you lose and hong kong goes down the drain. Stop being so cynical and get out there and fight.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
so cy puts someone else in the firing line. what a gutless piece of shit that “man” is. no more to say on that one.
and hemmers stop trying to make us even more sick by putting that last piece in your post. we are getting vomit overload.
have a nice weekend cus
go the bulldogs!! woof!
That woman was not getting a life – she was getting a baby, and that’s all these creatures want when they get broody. The fact that she doesn’t care about the “life” she got is proven by her letting the poor child know, in no uncertain terms, that she, the person who now exists, was not what was wanted. As if being brought up by two selfish females was not bad enough ……
Say what you want about CY he’s not shy shafting anyone in sight:
– Carrie gets wheeled out for more delaying blather with the protestors (this weekend). When the Pubescent Che Brigade go off the rails again (they will) CY will blame Carrie
– says the government will negotiate with “the students” a very calculated finger to Occupy Central and the wider protest base. (Nice job, Einstein, piss off even more the protest base that will dog the rest of your term)
– the police, who CY is now telling Beijing aren’t reliable any more because of the failed tear gassing (based on Rules of Engagement he formalised)
Settled then… watch out the tycoons! If, out of all this humiliation, CY gets the green light to have a go at the tycoons the rich bloodsuckers could be in for both barrels…
Ms. Leung Jr. has a lock on that “Nina Wang” scary eye look.
She’s got her mother’s mouth.
… I’d say she’s angling to marry this generations Kai-Bong Chow, who ever that may be, and provide a steady income to the local gossip rags
The sperm receptacle not be racist in herself. The USA still declares 365 days of the year open season on black Americans, and those that don’t get gunned down are either in jail or trying to make a living in a system that requires either super-competency while facing charges of reverse racism. In the land that give rise to Faux New’s Bill O’Reilly it’s a wonder every balck mother isn’t crying for her child is born in that hell.
Fast forward: 2017 Erections.
What sort of normal person would actually want to put their mug on the rigged ballot ?
I think of a few cretins: Vagina Yip (who will do ANYTHING for a power job), Paul Chan Mo-po (the shameless social climber), Bunny Chan (the standard-issue imbecile), Michael Tien (Henry Tang’s carbon-copy) or…..[fill in name of extra-chromosome baboon].
Of course, my question was about NORMAL people.
Time to stop looking and wondering. If you want HK to survive as a civilized outpost on the china coast. Get out there and join the people besieging admiratly HQ.
It does not matter what happens and what the results are of this conflict; Hong Kong people are getting their dignity back after seventeend years of lies, abuse and humiliation. It is make or break time. I got my dignity back last night for a whole eight hours. I will be back again soon to the tarmac of tamar, humble and proud of these amazing kids. And yes. too little, but NEVER too late.
US co-opted leaders – check. Obvious PR manipulation – check. Nice distinguishing symbol – check. Pimped by high level western presstitutes – check. Lots of expensive support – check.
I think we got ourselves a color revolution, with gullible people having legitimate concerns being manipulated and used by the US.
I spent the last 3 days and nights walking through the various Occupy sites and was amazed at the level of organization and enthusiasm among the Occupy group. One thing was conspicuous and it nagged at me for days… until now. There was NO POLICE anywhere to be seen near the various encampments. NOT ONLY were there not riot officers posted along roads… there were NO PATROL officers or any other officers. NOT. A. SINGLE. ONE. “What the fuck is this?” I mused for the last 3 days now. I asked various other people who also realized the conspicuous absence of police around the protest sites.
UNTIL last night. I witnessed the same scene I’ve observed aimed at Falun Gong in Hong Kong. ORGANIZED gangs descending on the nonviolent protesters. Supposedly “community” organized groups who “spontaneously” organized to vent their “outrage” at the protests. The fact that organized crime are set in by Beijing to start meddling in the local scene I took as a given. What has shocked me that the level of coordination well within the Hong Kong police department with mainland authorities to make it so. The total absence of officers at ALL 4 Occupy locations for the last 4 days could not be be orchestrated by the hidden hand.
Each passing day I realize how fucking far down the road this city really is. Rule of Law? Pffffffffffff….
Just. Another. Mainland. Shithole. We have truly arrived at the bottom.
“Hong Kong can’t have democracy because it would lead to calls for democracy in China, threatening the CCP’s power.” I’ve read variants on this on a lot of sites.
How about this parallelism? “Hong Kong can’t have rule of law because it would lead to calls for rule of law in China, threatening the CCP’s power.”
It looks like Albert Yeung of the Emperor Jewellery and Assorted Tat shops is calling on his triad friends again here in Causeway Bay to “take care of business”.
His shops looks shiny and pretty (and there are quite a few of them).
I hope Albert realizes that when things get really out of hand, due to provocations, his shops may “go” first. It only takes a brick or two.
Thanks to Delboy, CS and Brob (even to Yonatan, who seems to have swallowed the China Daily BS line and sinker) for — belatedly — putting to shame the woodworms, skunks and vermin we’re surrounded by.
Although unable to support Occupy Central for professional reasons, I gave them a sizeable contribution. The protestors and their supporters are the only true Hongkongers: those that oppose or even stand idly are below contempt.
Capt.Sparrow – I also observed and wondered about the same. Last night, I wondered how frontline cops feel being pitched in between an unsavoury pro-establishment mob and the protesters. I wonder if some are beginning to wonder if the pension’s worth it.
If we can’t have full democracy right now and it’s obvious we won’t isn’t it about time to look at the composition of the Electoral Committee and start with reforms there. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Election_Committee_Subsector_elections,_2011
This is worth studying as I think this is where true reform is needed.
Note only a total of 249,450 voters and a turnout of 27.60% bothered to vote.
There were total of 11 subsectors being uncontested, most of them are in the First Sector where the business interests are rooted.
I believe this is where negotiations should begin. This is where the students should take their fight.
@Capt.Sparrow
Agree, very few police recent days. I’ve been there three days (only a couple hours each time, wimp I know) and seen only a handful.
Once Plod realised CY was bussing in the thugs they’ve doubtless melted away even more, from the hotspots anyway.
I was puzzled when I went to work yesterday, by the hugh mainland crowd waiting to cross the HK border, as opposed to the morning rush during past week. Weren’t tours suspended amid the situation here?
Now I know, those are not tourist but stand-ins, to play the angry crowd of “MK residents”, cheering while triad members bashing heads, molesting protesters and Asia’s finest played the crooked referee. Meanwhile, local media gave “impartial” reportings and headlines.
Somehow, saying shame on you sounds a compliment.
In all fairness, I am receiving reports that rank-and-file cops are sympathizing with the democracy movement but cannot take part, or even raise their voice in-chambers, because of their jobs.
Students spend the week slagging the cops off and abusing them, now demanding their protection. Oh, the irony. One consequence of all this nonsense, a lot more Hong Kong people will be sending their kids overseas to be educated given that Benny Tai has exposed how clever he and other HKU academics are. A mentally deficient monkey with a learning disorder could have predicted this would end in violence, especially when you blockade Mongkok.
I spoke with some cops last night; their just tired and want to go home for a break. A ‘curse on both your houses’ sums up the attitude they had.
@Joe Blow
The answer is not “in all fairness..” it is fukkem… they should be ashamed and have the gumption to vote with their feet. especially the ones who were instructed to make way for the bussed in “triads” and assemble round the corner but not in plain sight. Disgusting..
@stanley gibbons. What planet are you on. The cops were fighting like hell to control warring crowds in Mongkok and from the footage I’ve seen it appears they have knicked loads of triad-looking types. Get down there yourself and defend the students if you don’t think the cops are doing their job. If this was happening in the UK or USA someone would be dead by now. Get real.
@Gin Soaked Boy
Are you a complete and utter idiot??????? I doubt you spent one second with actual protesters. I’ve seen protests on 3 continents over the last 3 decades and the Occupy movement in Hong Kong has got to be one of the most organized and peaceful events I’ve seen in my entire life, save for the other mass protests that Hong Kong has had in the past. The main difference is that this one will not go away. Slagging off cops?????? Are you mad???? You must be… you’re gin soaked and proud of it. Talked to cops? You’re lying through your bloody teeth. I attempted to talk to cops near Wanchai Police Headquarters and ask just exactly why there wasn’t a SINGLE officer in a 30 block radius of the Occupy sites. All I got was a sullen stone-face look. When I walked up to a sergeant to ask him instead a superintendent swiftly descended upon us and ushered me along…. utterly ignoring my question with a polite smile on his face. You’re a bald-faced liar.
The overwhelming number of students are from Hong Kong’s universities. These are your future working professionals. Your lawyers, bankers, architects, business leaders. But if YOU think it’s fine for the the Hong Kong establishment to declare it open hunting season a la Cultural Revolution on anyone who dares utter even a whimper of protest, you may freely pack your bags and move north where this sort of thing is accepted practice. The BITTER irony of this entire mess is that the students are the ones DEMANDING Rule of Law and accountability. The protest sites throughout the city were the very epitome of order. I’m disgusted by business elite who think everything “protest” is some kind of shambles for the mere sake of it being so. Idiots.
YOUR children are in the street demanding a say in how THEIR lives are run and all you can do is hurl snide irrelevant one-liners. The crux of the matter is that the Hong Kong establishment think it’s perfectly okay for the Hong Kong Police Department to collude with organized crime….. What the bloody hell?
The Hong Kong Police did this to Falun Gong…. and it was just dandy because… well… Falun Gong… they’re all nutters aren’t they. Now the same tactics are being applied to peaceful protesters, largely students from the city’s universities. And you still think it’s fine? This city has descended into bloody anarchy NOT because some damned teenagers want a say in their lives but because the political establishment under pressure from a commie thug government has shown it’s true spineless colors. The Hong Kong Police are a goddamned disgrace to the uniform. I wore a uniform and I took an oath and I would walk off the job if I knew I was enforcing the right of thugs and gangsters to run amuck in the street. Unbelievable.
What he said….
Joe Blow, you can bet Albert will have all the display trays and safes cleared before he sets off a massive insurance fraud by torching his shops and blaming it on The Mob… wait that doesn’t sound right… the rioters.
Albert is the kind of scum who takes the Rothschild business motto to heart, when there is blood in the streets buy property (and if you have to, make the blood yourself).
This second part in parenthesis is often dropped, or misquoted as “even if it’s your own blood.” Not even a Rothschild could extract blood from a Rothschild.
Gentleman.
These comments gave taken an uncivil tone. Please remember the children are watching.
@gin soaked boy: THANK YOU! Your logical voice is a great relief, amidst the cacophony.
GSB, you are ignoring a few things…
some of those thugs did get arrested “for a moment” because just a block away the HK Police released them to taxi’s and some thugs were just let go. Others get bailed and returned the same day harassing and sexually assaulting more female protesters (or assaulting the male protesters).
I saw video (source: ITN) those anti-Occupy thugs cursing, speaking very bad Cantonese AND Manadrin while the protesters restrain themselves with NO Police in sight.
———–
remember, the Occupy protesters are fighting for their home and their rights, bulk of them don’t have the luxury to leave and go elsewhere.
Right now real estate prices costs 14x the ave salary of ave family in HK (20k HKD/mo.) and more than half makes half of that. The inequality is insane and the opportunity to move up is almost non-existent. Corruption is rising in HK and ICAC just become a political tool (investigating Jimmy Lai while letting Rafeal Hui slide) Even the HK Police is being politicalized.
Only thing I asked is help the Occupy protesters anyway you can. Bring Supplies, Provide food, Provide medical assistance.
HK Police Officers recasted as anti-Occupy thugs
http://badcanto.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/hong-kong-netizens-found-anti-occupy-central-thugs-are-police/
Facebook banned group publicize identity of HK Police who participated anti-Occupy thuggery
@ Scotty Dotty
“These comments gave taken an uncivil tone. Please remember the children are watching.”
The “children” are in the streets being molested by criminals, being attacked by filthy Triad scum and teargassed and beaten by police. Whatever civility remained in this city has long since departed to regions elsewhere. Either stand with your youth or you too can pack your bags as far as I’m concerned. Civility. Pfffffffff.
[Doffs hat to Captain Sparrow, who has dropped the mike and walked off the stage]
Every time I lose hope in Hong Kong’s future, something comes along to revive it. Yesterday’s opinion poll showed that even after weeks of relentless anti-Occupy propaganda, more than half the Hong Kong people are not fooled and blame the government, not the protesters, for the mess we’re in. If nothing else comes of that, I hope it will at least make Robert Chow shut up about his mythical “Silent Majority”!
@nulle: it seems that Occupy is generously supplied already. I was sitting with the students in Causeway Bay yesterday and some Occupy girls offered me burgers from Mac and another student offered me a choice of cold drinks (no Carlsberg, unfortunately).