Occupy Central
Occupy Central is a civil disobedience movement which began in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014. It calls on thousands of protesters to block roads and paralyse Hong Kong's financial district if the Beijing and Hong Kong governments do not agree to implement universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legislative Council elections in 2020 according to "international standards." The movement was initiated by Benny Tai Yiu-ting (戴耀廷), an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, in January 2013.
Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement (Chinese: 雨傘運動; pinyin: yǔsǎn yùndòng) is a loose political movement that was created spontaneously during the Hong Kong protests of 2014. Its name derives from the recognition of the umbrella as a symbol of defiance and resistance against the Hong Kong government, and the united grass-roots objection to the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) of 31 August.
The movement consists of individuals numbering in the tens of thousands who participated in the protests that began on 28 September 2014, although Scholarism, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, groups are principally driving the demands for the rescission of the NPCSC decision.
The movement consists of individuals numbering in the tens of thousands who participated in the protests that began on 28 September 2014, although Scholarism, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, groups are principally driving the demands for the rescission of the NPCSC decision.
POST OCCUPY CENTRAL - DAY 161:
Full coverage of the day’s events on 26-05
A dialogue mechanism for political development
【明報專訊】WITH the political reform bill to be put to the vote in less than a month, the SAR government last Sunday (24 May) extended to all lawmakers an invitation to meet with Beijing officials in Shenzhen. The officials, who will include Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office director Wang Guangya, Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei, and central government liaison office director Zhang Xiaoming, will discuss the political reform issue with the lawmakers. Two similar meetings were held in Shanghai (April) and Shenzhen (August) last year, but what opportunities they offered were not made good use of. As a result, the political reform process has reached a deadlock amid continuing controversy.
It is very unlikely that the central government will at the coming meeting make any adjustments within the August 31 framework. As for the pan-democratic lawmakers, they have yet to decide how many of them will attend the meeting. It should be noted, however, that some of them, in response to media questions, have reiterated their firm opposition to the August 31 framework, declaring that they will not put forward any concrete proposals at their meeting with the Beijing officials. Judging by the serious differences between the central government and the pan-democrats, we can hardly expect the meeting to bring about a breakthrough as regards the political reform issue. Still, it is always better to have a dialogue than to have no contact at all, and the lawmakers should as far as possible attend the meeting and try to make themselves heard. This is especially important because, once the political reform bill is voted down, the development of democracy will remain an issue. The pan-democrats should make use of the coming meeting to prepare for work in this respect.
During the Occupy movement last year, the government's political reform trio, led by Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, had a meeting with members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, and offered to establish a dialogue platform to discuss future political development with the public. That was the first time the government had proposed such a public consultation mechanism. If the proposal had been implemented, it would have meant much for Hong Kong's political development. Unfortunately, the political atmosphere then did not allow much room for reason, and no headway was made on the political reform issue. Consequently, a good opportunity was lost. We should learn from this unhappy experience.
From the standpoint of the central government, it is advisable to establish a multi-channel dialogue platform or a consultative committee on political development no matter whether the political reform bill is passed or defeated. For if it is passed, there will immediately be demands for improvement; and if it is defeated, universal suffrage will still be an outstanding issue for the central government as well as for all those concerned. A consultative mechanism can help prevent a recurrence of the present situation, which is plagued by a lack of any consensus.
The Legislative Council is soon to take a vote on the political reform bill, and there is now not much room for manoeuvre. It will not be realistic to ask the central government to retract the August 31 decision, nor is it at all likely that the pan-democratic lawmakers will come up with any concrete proposals within the framework of the decision. It seems more practical, therefore, to plan for what is to happen after the vote. For the greatest benefit of society, we must all try to promote constructive dialogue and exercise moderation and rationality in the political reform process to create more room for manoeuvre.
明報社評2015.05.26﹕宜善用對話機會 為民主進程籌謀
立法會尚有不到一個月就表決政改方案，特區政府周日（24日）邀請全體立法會議員到深圳與京官交流意見。今次與立法會議員會面的京官，包括港澳辦主任王光亞、基本法委員會主任李飛和中聯辦主任張曉明，他們準備就政改交流意見，類如去年4月在上海、8月在深圳的情况，可是那兩次機會都未能把握好，使政改在爭吵聲中發展至現在的僵局。
今次再會面，若以為中央會針對8．31框架提出新內容，其機會極微。這次民主派議員將有多少人到深圳赴會仍待確定，不過值得注意的是，有個別議員答覆傳媒提問時仍然堅決拒絕8．31框架，並表示他們與京官會面時不會提出具體方案，云云。因此，從可預估的中央與民主派議員取態，今次會面不大可能給政改帶來轉機。不過，有對話交流總好過拒絕往來，議員們應該盡量應邀赴會，爭取機會表達意見，特別是在政改方案若被否決，「後政改」時期該如何推動民主進程，民主派議員有必要從這次會面開始做工夫。
去年佔領行動期間，以政務司長林鄭月娥為首的政改三人組與學聯成員對話時，曾提出設立多方對話平台，讓官民日後透過這個機制商討政制發展事宜。這是官方首次提出設立類似機制，若當時確定下來，對本港政制發展的意義十分重大。可惜當時的氛圍不容許理性思考，政改訴求無寸進。這是一次失諸交臂的教訓。
從中央的角度，無論政改方案獲通過與否，對多方對話平台或政制發展諮詢委員會的建議都應予積極考慮。方案若通過，即時衍生如何優化的問題。若方案被否決，普選仍是中央與各方要處理的問題。若有既定機制諮商，那就可以避免再次出現今次政改的衆說紛紜、莫衷一是的局面。
政改方案表決在即，可以迴旋的空間已經不多，現在提出撤回8．31方案並不切實際，而要求民主派提出符合8．31框架的具體方案，相信也絕無可能。如果現在為表決之後籌謀，或許是更實際的取態。今後處理香港政改事宜，大家必須珍惜對話機會，必須善用溫和理性力量爭取更大迴旋空間，那才有可能達至多贏。
Joshua Wong has been forced to take a return flight to Hong Kong after being denied entry to Malaysia. Photo: Reuters
Joshua Wong denied entry to Malaysia for activist forum
Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong has been denied entry to Malaysia where he was to talk about the Umbrella Movement and the June 4 Beijing crackdown.
“Malaysian government does not allow me to enter the country. I am going to take the same flight back to Hong Kong,” Wong wrote on Facebook.
Wong, who was a key figure in last year’s Hong Kong protests, had been invited by pro-democracy groups in Malaysia to attend an activist forum.
He was barred by immigration authorities from entering the country on Tuesday morning and was told to leave. No reason was given.
Wong was due back in Hong Kong at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Wong, 18, was a leader of the 79-day pro-democracy protests and also figured prominently in demonstrations against a proposed national education program in 2012.
In November, he was No. 3 in Time’s 2014 “Person of the Year” rankings, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the protesters of Ferguson, Missouri.
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