Hong Kong’s leader yesterday said the territory was prepared for a fresh flare-up of pro-democracy street protests, while issuing a call to arms against opposition democratic lawmakers who have disrupted government policymaking in the Legislative Council.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s (梁振英) comments to a high-profile investment conference just days before the internationally renowned Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament, comes as a holdout group of protesters steadily build up their presence outside the territory’s government headquarters.
“Will ‘Occupy’ resurrect itself,” Leung said to investors and bankers at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference. “The Hong Kong government as always maintains its preparedness, but I can say that the public, if ‘Occupy’ happens again, will not be sympathetic.”
Leung also urged voters to expel democratic lawmakers in the territory’s legislative elections next year, highlighting the bitter political divisions that have emerged after last year’s pro-democracy protests, when activists seized and blockaded major roads for 79 days.
“For those of you who are registered voters, vote them out next year... Go to the polling stations and vote them out,” Leung said during the investor conference.
Some activists have pledged to relaunch a second wave of civil disobedience protests this summer when the administration presents a proposal for how the next chief executive will be elected that is widely expected to mirror an earlier one by Beijing.
China wants candidates to be pre-screened by a small committee stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists, a model decried as fake “Chinese-style” democracy by the street activists.
In an attempt to pressure the government over the proposal, democratic lawmakers have stalled funding for infrastructure projects and things like a new innovation and technology bureau.
Leung also said that the Chinese government had “confidence” in Hong Kong’s handling of the protests.
“Throughout the Occupy movement ... the Hong Kong garrison of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army was never called out from their barracks,” Leung said. “It was a reassuring sign on the part of the central government of the faith and confidence in the Hong Kong government and its police force.”
Over the past few weeks, activists have begun expanding their camp outside government headquarters, which had been the main site for the “Occupy” movement before it was largely cleared away in December last year.
A “public library” for students has now been set up on a pavement with books, desks and chairs laid out in neat rows drawing growing crowds of students daily. More tents and protest art have also sprung up in the vicinity in recent weeks.
Some observers expect more young activists to rejoin the cause during the summer vacation.
“It will grow bigger,” said Simon Wong, a 71-year-old organizer of the library and study room.
Leung on Tuesday said he would not rule out the possibility of running for a second term in 2017, despite facing his lowest support rating of 39.6 percent, according to a poll conducted earlier this month by the University of Hong Kong.
Additional reporting by AFP
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was