Hong Kong's democracy and identity on the line in protest call
A protester stands beside a sign that translates as "disobedience" during a rally organised by Occupy Central with Love and Peace. Photo: Bloomberg
Hong Kong: The totality of one-party rule in China means most senior Communist Party officials can probably expect to go through entire careers without encountering serious political dissent firsthand.
But when Li Fei, the deputy secretary-general of China's top legislative body, arrived in Hong Kong this week, he collided with a political crisis that extends beyond a mere fight for democracy. The protest movement Occupy Central have threatened to unleash "wave after wave" of civil disobedience demonstrations, in what they say is a last-ditch effort to cling on to their city's identity, the cultural fabric that sets them apart from the rest of China.
"We're prepared to sacrifice anything, including our careers, because I really believe Hong Kong is in a very critical juncture of our history," says university professor Chan Kin-man, a co-founder of "Occupy Central with Love and Peace".
Pro-democracy activists clash with police outside the hotel where top Communist Party official Li Fei was staying in Hong Kong on September 1. Photo: Reuters
Delivering an address on Monday explaining Beijing's decision to reject the public nomination of candidates for the city's next chief executive election, Mr Li was forced to watch as heckling pro-democracy Hong Kong legislators in the room derided him as "shameful". Demonstrators outside clashed with police; a small number were pepper-sprayed and arrested.
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The previous night, hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside his hotel until the early hours of the morning, jeering every passing vehicle in the hope that Mr Li was being ferried in one of them.
"Our worry is not just this struggle for a genuinely democratic electoral system," long-time democracy advocate and academic Joseph Cheng says. "There is a distinct danger that we may be reduced to just another big city in China."
A replica of the "Goddess of Democracy" statue, made famous by the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong this week. Photo: AFP
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Hong Kong's democracy and identity on the line in protest call