The Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong has lasted more than three weeks. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Tuesday held talks with the Hong Kong Federation of Students. But given a lack of positivity on the part of the latter during the talks, it remains unknown when the Occupy movement will end.
The external political situation concerning Occupy Central is increasingly clear-cut. Western public opinion has given it full support. Besides, a mix of traditional forces that are confronting the current Chinese regime, including Tibetan, Xinjiang and Taiwan separatists, Falun Gong devotees, and pro-democracy activists, have beaten the drums for the Hong Kong protests like cheerleaders.
The Occupy Central activists and their adherents must wake up. They shouldn't act as a puppet of those hostile external forces.
With the Hong Kong radical forces becoming a new member, the anti-China camp seems to be expanding. If this is the case, it will yield terrible results.
Hong Kong, the Asian financial hub and a role model for the rule of law, will be held hostage by those hostile external forces, transforming into a battlefield between them and the rising China.
We suggest the Occupy Central activists not take on such a perilous role. Being already embroiled in the political competition in the Asia-Pacific region, they may have been pushed further than they originally intended.
The young Hong Kong students who have participated in Occupy Central should know that China, which is developing rapidly, is their home country and Hong Kong is a part of China's rise. They therefore enjoy more opportunities than their counterparts from a smaller country. Meanwhile, they have to accordingly take responsibility to safeguard China's security as it rises.
If the Occupy Central forces keep advancing, this will attract more international anti-China forces. The longer the protests last, the harder it will be for the Occupy Central forces to back down.
Incredible role reversals have often occurred throughout history. A marginal part or even central part of a camp could be converted into the enemies of that camp. We strongly hope the Occupy Central activities won't do so.
The West-supported external forces will continue cheering for Occupy Central. Exiles will take the Occupy movement as their chance.
Their aim is to strike a heavy blow against China and take it down, but is this the goal of the young student participants of Occupy Central? If not, they should withdraw from the protests as soon as possible.
And for a small number of hostile elements to China, the country knows how to deal with them.
- Global Times
Chinese community leaders in London blast HK protests
Leaders of the Chinese community in Britain on Monday called on protesters in Hong Kong to stop the Occupy Central movement and let things return to normal.
According to a statement issued by the London Chinatown Chinese Association, the Occupy Central movement has disrupted Hong Kong long enough and needs to be wrapped up soon.
The statement called for stability through the "one country, two systems" policy and continued successful economic development for the international financial capital.
Under Hong Kong's basic law and its top legislature's decisions, more than 5 million Hong Kong voters have a say in who will become the chief executive in 2017 through the "one man, one vote" electoral system, said Chu Ting Tang, chairman of the London Chinatown Chinese Association, at a forum on the Hong Kong situation in London's Chinatown.
Residents of Hong Kong, under the "one country, two systems" rule, enjoy freedom of speech, religion, education and employment, Tang said, adding that "residents can demonstrate in the streets, criticize the government, media and members of the legislative body and monitor the government without restriction".
Tang believes that Hong Kong residents have been enjoying prosperity from a thriving economy and that their standard of living has been improving year by year.
"Since rejoining the Chinese mainland in 1997, Hong Kong's status as an international center for commerce and trade has been strengthened. The employment rate has also reached an all-time high," Tang said.
Shan Sheng, president of the UK Chinese Association for the Promotion of National Reunification, noted that the Occupy Central movement has had a serious impact on the residents of Hong Kong by obstructing administrative operations. The students among the protesters are young, some even not yet in their 20s, Shan said. Their understanding of politics is rather shallow.
Since being implemented in 1997, the policy of "one country, two systems" has been progressing smoothly in Hong Kong, Shan said, adding that real estate and the economy of Hong Kong have thrived.
The current protest movement is negatively influencing that development and the everyday livelihood of Hong Kong residents, Shan added.
Thousands of Hong Kong protesters, most of them students, joined the Occupy Central movement to express their discontent over the process set by the top legislature for electing the region's next leader through universal suffrage.
China's Hong Kong government on Tuesday held its first formal talks with students who have been participating in the Occupy Central movement since Sept 28.
- China Daily/Asia News Network
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