Hong Kong Govt. And Pro-Democracy Student Leaders Talk Yields No Result
Tuesday's meeting between the government and student demonstrators was "peaceful," but the two sides remain poles apart on a resolution.
By Sadho Ram — 22 Oct 2014, 12:55 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
On Tuesday, 21 October 2014, after over three weeks into Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, the first round of dialogue between the Hong Kong government and student representatives of the movement finally took place, and lasted for about two hours
Leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Students met government representatives from the territory
Image via vice.comIn a photo call before the talks began, the differences between the two sides could not be more stark. On one side sat the protest leaders - one woman and four men, all in their early-20s and wearing jeans and black T-shirts with the words Freedom Now written in English.
Across from them sat another group - also consisting of one woman and four men, but decades older, wearing business attire and representing the Hong Kong government. Students versus civil servants. Youth versus middle age. Idealism versus pragmatism. In terms of rhetoric, the students were more passionate and florid, appealing to the public with their arguments about freedom and democracy. The government officials tended to dwell more on legalities.
Over 2,000 police were called to guard protest sites where the talks, featuring statements from both sides as well as a remarkably civil debate, given the tensions between both the sides, were broadcast live and watched by thousands, Quartz reported
Pro-democracy protesters watch formal talks between student protest leaders and government officials on a video screen near the government headquarters in Hong Kong October 21, 2014
Image via Reuters/Carlos BarriaThe government side was led by chief secretary Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s second-in-command; the students were represented by Alex Chow, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS). Student leaders came across as poised and forcefully confident, accusing pro-establishment representatives across the table from them, who are all decades older, of being cowards.
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“We are very angry. We are enraged,” Lester Shum of HKFS said calmly, before explaining that citizens were fighting for their fundamental rights. “I hope the officials have the courage to… rectify all the mistakes they made” he said.
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Student leaders at the talks reiterated their demand for an unrestricted choice of candidates in the election for the territory's chief executive in 2017, however, both Hong Kong government and Beijing officials have said this is impossible, BBC reported
Protesters in Mong Kok watch talks between student leaders and government representatives
Image via Reuters/Bobby YipHong Kong’s government seemed to admit they are relatively powerless. Beijing is fully aware of the “divergent views in Hong Kong” on the issue of universal suffrage, Lam, the chief secretary, said. “We created many opportunities for the officials in charge to listen to that view directly,” she said.
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Still, in light of the “social campaign with massive scale and far reaching implications,” the Hong Kong government is willing to submit a second report to central Chinese government, she said. The new report would reflect the “strong views, movements and campaigns” going on in Hong Kong, Lam said, but would have no official impact on 2017 elections, based on a five-step process Hong Kong has adopted to elect a chief executive.
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After 2017, “depending on the situation in Hong Kong,” the government can officially suggest changes for 2022. Lam also suggested the government may set up a new “platform” to record public sentiments on elections and the democratic process.
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The meeting came a day after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying objected to the protesters' demands, by dismissing public participation when he remarked that a more direct election would skew government policies towards serving poorer residents and neglect other sectors and classes, including the corporate elite
"If it's entirely a numbers game and numeric representation, then obviously you would be talking to half of the people in Hong Kong who earn less than $1,800 a month. Then you would end up with that kind of politics and policies," he said, suggesting that full democracy would compel the candidates to cater to the poor masses.
Leung said problems such as the lack of social mobility and unaffordable housing were "not acceptable", and the government needed to do more to solve them. But he argued that Beijing's position, under which candidates will be screened by a "broadly representative" nominating committee before they go to an open election, was better.
After the talks student leaders told the crowd that they had no idea what the government was saying, and they're going to remain in the streets, despite orders from the High Court to disperse protesters in Admiralty and Mong Kok, VICE News reported
Thousands cheering and jeering during negotiations between protesters and student leaders.
Image via Lily Kuo (@lilkuo via Twitter)A crowd in the thousands sprawled across the main protest site in Admiralty, glued to the talks being shown on big screens. The throng stretched several city blocks—a mixture of students, people in suits, and gray-haired citizens who brought their own stools. The animated crowd applauded and booed at different speakers’ remarks.
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Protesters in Admiralty watch live streamed talks between student activists and government officials
Image via Reuters/Carlos BarriaHours after the talks ended, student leaders pledged to continue their occupation of major Hong Kong roads. “They want us to give up… It is not what we want and we will continue to stay. Talks today had no concrete response or direction. We will continue to stay here,” Yvonne Leung, one of the student representatives at the talks, told cheering protesters in Admiralty.
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