500 arrested in Hong Kong after rally for more democracy

Hong Kong police have arrested Wednesday over 500 people who attended a vigil organized by student groups to demand more democracy in the Chinese autonomous territory. The vigil in the business district, which concluded in the early hours of this morning, extended the historic mass march on Tuesday in favor of freedoms in the former colony, in which 510,000 people participated according to organizers and 92,000 according to police.

Around a thousand students and their supporters had gathered from midnight on Chater Road, in the business district, opposite the seat of the Legislative Council, the local parliament, which demanded to meet with the chief executive of Hong Kong, Leung Chung-Ying.

“We have the right to protest, we do not need permission from the police” had chanted at the start of the march, while organizers gave them instructions on how to behave in case of arrest. Among those arrested on suspicion of obstructing law enforcement and unauthorized demonstration, according to Hong Kong’s independent newspaper “South China Morning Post”, included three opposition lawmakers, Albert Ho Chun-yan, Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Yiu-chung. The vigil ended at eight in the morning, before the start of the working day, as organizers have announced.

The students had described the rally as a test of the Occupy Central sitting civil movement that threatens to call the Hong Kong’s financial institutions if the electoral system is not reformed and some credible form of universal suffrage is instituted for next elections in 2017.  Occupy Central, composed of academics, politicians, students and other sectors of society – looking Hong Kong’s push to choose their own candidates.

So far, Beijing has given no indication of being willing to negotiate. On Tuesday, the Office Director for Hong Kong and Macao central government, Zhang Xiaoming, warned that neither the motion nor the referendum will affect the determination of the central government to implement universal suffrage “in accordance with the law.” China argues that the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution stipulates that candidates for legislative chief should be chosen by a committee.

The official Chinese press has chosen to ignore or minimize the Tuesday rally. The Global Times reports that ” local businessmen said the march has become a ground for radical groups, and many residents expressed extreme resentment.”

On Tuesday, many of the demonstrators who took to the streets not only expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of universal suffrage, but also by what they perceive as an increasing role of Beijing in the internal affairs of the former British colony and a threat the principle of “one country, two systems” that regulates relations between Beijing and Hong Kong since the reinstatement of the autonomous territory to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

The Chinese government last month issued a White Paper in which Hong Kong warned of its ” broad autonomy ” does not amount to a “full autonomy”, a comment that many residents have interpreted as confirming the fears that Beijing is willing to reduce the self-government of the former colony.

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Posted by Maleeha Tareen on Jul 4 2014. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.