Hong Kong Students Back to Make Trouble for Chinese Communists

A little more than 25 years after the
communist government of China massacred thousands of students
protesting for democracy in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square,
the students are back to stir up trouble, this time in Hong
Kong.

“Universal suffrage is the mission of this era and this era
belongs to the young people, so let the young ones complete the
mission. Young people will always be the pioneers,” 17
year-old Hong Kong activist Jason Wong told
Bloomberg.

Wong’s group “Scholarism” is
spearheading
a week-long boycott of the city’s universities to protest the

Chinese Communist Party’s refusal to let Hong Kong voters
directly elect their chief executive. Labeled an “extremist” by
China’s state-run media, Wong was able to muster the support
of thousands of students from more than 20 schools, as well as
more than 400 teachers, in a massive rally kicking off the
boycott.

When China assumed authority over Hong Kong from the British in
1997, the city was promised autonomy under the “one
country, two systems” model which allowed Hong Kong to remain a
fairly democratic, capitalist municipality. But in late August, the
Chinese government announced that the planned 2017 election for
Hong Kong’s chief executive would consist of
2 or 3 candidates approved by China’s one-party
legislature. 

Two years ago, Scholarism and Occupy
Central led protests of over 100,000 people in opposition
to the Hong Kong government’s plan to bring a pro-Chinese “national
curriculum” to Hong Kong’s schools. The
Straits Times describes the program:

The course material was outlined in a government booklet called
“The China Model,” which was distributed to schools. The booklet
described China’s ruling party as “progressive, selfless and
united” and criticised multi-party systems as bringing disaster to
countries such as the United States. It also made no mention of
major events that many view as integral to China’s history, such as
the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. A coalition of
groups in Hong Kong, including students, protested against the
curriculum, including staging a 10-day hunger strike on the steps
of the government headquarters. The government eventually backed
down. 

Occupy Central is
planning a massive blockade of Hong Kong’s financial district,
but this time around the Chinese government appears to be digging
in its heels early on, ruling out any chance of reversing course on
their policy of approving Hong Kong’s candidates. The
Wall Street Journal reports: 

Chinese officials “have made it very clear that it is out of
question that the decision…would be changed by Occupy Central, hair
shaving or a class boycott,” said Ms. Ip, who is also the
chairwoman of the pro-Beijing New People’s Party.

However, she said, “There’s room for discussion in Hong Kong on
the composition of the nominating committee,” suggesting there
could be a reallocation of seats on the 1,200-member panel. “There
is room for democrats to get involved,” said Ms. Ip.

While the protests have thus far been peaceful,
mass arrests at a pro-democracy sit-in last July have raised
the fearful spectre of Tiananmen Square. In an op-ed published by
the Wall Street Journal,
3 former Chinese political prisoners warned of a reprise of the
1989 crackdown on student demonstrators:

In early July, Hong Kong police detained more than 500
participants and organizers for their role in peaceful protests
that called on Beijing to deliver genuine democracy. Hong Kong’s
House News, one of Hong Kong’s most popular independent papers,
known for its support of Occupy Central, closed after its owner
released a letter saying he was “fearful” because of political
pressure from China. And last month, Hong Kong’s Independent
Commission Against Corruption raided media owner Jimmy Lai’s home
in connection with his donations to pro-democracy legislators. The
pro-democracy legislator Lee Cheuk-Yan’s home was raided on the
same day.

Chinese officials in charge of Hong Kong affairs have threatened
repeatedly that Hong Kong-based units of China’s People’s
Liberation Army will use force to suppress peaceful demonstrations.
This tragic outcome is becoming more likely.