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
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