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Street occupying HK protesters vs hardline Chinese government

Street occupying HK protesters vs hardline Chinese government

Posted October. 03, 2014 06:16,   

한국어

Hong Kong’s democratization protest is at a crossroads – whether to escalate by occupying the government office, or to become a long-drawn-out war. The Chinese government starts imposing economic pressure by restricting mainland residents’ travel to Hong Kong.

On Thursday, the fifth day since the protest began, tens of thousands of protesters consisting of students and citizens gathered again around Admiralty in Hong Kong Island where the government headquarters are located. Protesters called for Hong Kong’s chief executive Leung Chun-ying to step down and direct election system to be introduced. This protest started against the Chinese government that restricted Hong Kong citizens’ right to vote in election for the city’s chief executive, but protesters started calling for the resignation of Leung as he approved police’s shooting tear gas.

While the Chinese government expresses support for Leung who refuses to resign, tension is being heightened as Thursday night is passing away when student protesters set as deadline of chief executive’s resignation. As early as Friday, protesters are expected to seize the government building and occupy surrounding streets to put pressure on Leung as they warned in the ultimatum. There is a possibility of negotiation, but Leung sticks to the principle that dialogue begins only when the student protesters take back their demand for resignation. It doesn’t seem easy to reach a consensus.

The Chinese government mobilized the official news media to criticize protesters in Hong Kong. The Chinese Communist Party`s official newspaper, People`s Daily, published an article on the first page and defined the Hong Kong protest as a serious challenge to the constitutional law. South China Morning Post also reported that the Chinese government ordered mainland tour agencies to suspend group tour programs to Hong Kong. If mainland tourists stop visiting, tourism industry, which is Hong Kong’s main economic pillar, may suffer a serious impact.

In the meantime, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday in Washington and put pressure by saying, “We support universal suffrage in Hong Kong.” Regarding this, Wang warned the U.S. not to meddle in "internal affairs."