Massive Pro-Democracy Demonstrations Clog Hong Kong
October 1, 2014
Student protesters in Hong Kong vowed today to continue their massive pro-democracy demonstrations until Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung resigns. They accuse Leung of being a puppet of the central Chinese government in Beijing. Demonstrators have clogged the streets of the city’s central business district for days, demanding that Beijing stop vetting candidates for Hong Kong’s next chief executive. Last weekend, Hong Kong police, under Leung’s direction, used batons and fire volleys of tear gas in an attempt to disperse the huge crowds.
In September, the Chinese government announced that although it would allow the people of Hong Kong to elect their next leader, the candidates would be restricted to those approved by a committee consisting of people appointed by the government. The last British governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, has accused the Chinese government of breaching commitments it made before taking over sovereignty from the United Kingdom in 1997: “They said these matters [the election of leaders] were within the autonomy of the Hong Kong government, and they are now reneging on that.”
Highly prosperous Hong Kong is one of the world’s greatest seaports. (© Gareth Brown, Corbis)
Under the 1997 agreement, Hong Kong was to be governed under a “one country, two systems” arrangement that gave it some autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland. However the central government in Beijing has over time tightened its control over the special administrative region. Today, the president of China, Xi Jinping, stated that he would “steadfastly safeguard” Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability: “We must never waver in our faith and must never separate ourselves from the people.” China experts interpret Xi’s comments as meaning “we have no intention of giving in to the demonstrators.”
Additional World Book articles:
- China 1997 (a Back in Time article)
- Hong Kong 1997: Capitalism Comes to China (a special report)
