Hong Kong democracy protest leaders said they will head to Beijing today in the hope of bringing their demands for political reform to the Chinese authorities, but there are worries they will not be allowed into mainland China.
Protesters, spearheaded by the Hong Kong Federation of Students, have blocked key Hong Kong intersections for more than a month to press their demands for fully free elections for the territory’s next leader.
Fruitless talks with the Hong Kong government almost a month ago have led to an impasse, and protest leaders plan to travel to Beijing to bypass the unpopular local administration altogether.
Photo: Bloomberg
“The federation is going to Beijing as a last resort and is not challenging Beijing’s authority and to harm the one country, two systems,” it said in a statement released late on Thursday.
The former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under the “one country, two systems” principle, which promises to maintain Hong Kong’s social and economic systems until 2047.
However, democracy activists say Hong Kong’s freedoms have been steadily eroded under Chinese rule.
“We ... will only discuss two things, which are political reform and the question of the one country, two systems,” the federation said, adding that federation secretary-general Alex Chow (周永康) along with two other core members would travel to the Chinese capital this afternoon.
“A few of us powerless students will not flinch in the face of a powerful authority,” it said.
However, there are worries that the trio will not make it into mainland China.
A member of another student activist group Scholarism was denied entry to the Chinese city of Shenzhen late last week. The group said the volunteer was barred for taking part in “activities against national security.”
“There is no way we can predict [if they will let us in],” Chow told reporters late on Thursday. “If we can’t go into the country, we will continue the struggle in Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong Chief Secretary Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) on Tuesday said there was “no need” for student leaders to go to Beijing if they were only going to repeat previous demands.
The protesters are demanding civil nominations in leadership elections for the territory in 2017.
However, Beijing has refused to back down on its insistence that candidates must be vetted by a loyalist committee, a decision critics say is designed to ensure the election of a pro-Beijing leader.
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