Hong Kong Chief Executive Refuses to Step Down, Protests Continue

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman might shower
the Chinese state with lavish
encomia, but residents of Hong Kong feel a bit differently
about the matter. The
pro-democracy protesters currently occupying the city
center are none-too-happy with Beijing’s increasing encroachment on
Milton
Friedman’s favorite outpost of freedom perched on a continent
of authoritarianism.

The demonstrations this week against
China’s proposals for overseeing elections reflect the
growing anxiety that the promise “one country, two systems” is
about as trustworthy as Lando Calrissian is loyal.

While initially sitting
tight, the Hong Kong government later threatened that
protesters would face “unimaginable
consequences” should they follow through with threats
to occupy government buildings. Many
worried that the Chinese would not sit idly by as their
authority was questioned. As the deadline loomed for the
resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying demanded by the
protestors, ghosts of
Tiananmen Square lurked behind every corner.

But as the midnight hour approached, Leung did not meet the
protestors’ demands, though he did promise at a press conference

to appoint an official liaison to discuss reforms.
Demonstrators, however, don’t seem to be taking that lying down and
are refusing to disperse. Tensions remain high, but it appears
there won’t be a show of force—yet. The Associated
Press reports: 

In his news conference, held just before midnight, Leung said
the authorities would continue to tolerate the protests as long as
participants did not charge police lines.

In 2003, protesters flooded the streets of Hong Kong to contest
Article
23, a proposed anti-subversion law that would have, among other
things, granted police the right to enter homes without a warrant
in the name of national security. In 2012, weeks of protests led
Beijing to
back down from implementing its patriotism-heavy state
curriculum in Hong Kong schools. Now the student-led protests are
hoping to stem Beijing’s influence in its local politics, demanding
that the public—not Chinese government officials—be allowed to
nominate candidates for chief executive elections.

But despite past victories, freedoms of the press and of
protest, cherished rights
glaringly absent on the mainland, are increasingly
under fire from Beijing. Free elections could be the next
victims.