Protestors in Hong Kong have given the government 24 hours to meet their demands for a pro-democracy and the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
The Occupy Central Movement, or what many have dubbed the “Umbrella Movement,” hasn’t slowed down since the demonstrations garnered worldwide attention over the weekend.
Occupy Central with Love and Peace released a brief statement, stating they want a democracy enacted in the country – instead of a pro-Beijing committee choosing the country’s next leader. The group of over 13,000 people has extended past students and children and also plan to “announce new civil disobedience plans.”
A brief statement from the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement said it had set an Oct. 1 deadline for the city’s unpopular Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to meet their demands for genuine democracy and for him to step down as leader of Hong Kong.
It said they would “announce new civil disobedience plans same day.”Wednesday is a holiday for China’s National Day, and even larger crowds are expected to flood the streets. The government said it was canceling a fireworks display planned to celebrate the National Day.
The Occupy Movement, started by Benny Tai Yiu-ting, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, has been focused on encouraging young people to vote and take part in the process of democracy. Instead of Tai speaking out on behalf of the people, the protestors have been given a voice of their own.
“The students are protecting the right to vote, for Hong Kong’s future. We are not scared, we are not frightened, we just fight for it,” said Carol Chan, a 55-year-old civil service worker who took two days off to join the protests after becoming angered over police use of tear gas Sunday.
Ching-ching, a student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has gathered with other protestors to keep the streets clean amid the tear gas attacks lobbed by police on Monday.
“It’s already the fourth day, so it’s really tiring,” said Ching-ching Tse, a 24-year-old student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who was on her second day of collecting trash in the protest area with her friends. “So we are forming some groups and hope we can do some shifts and take turns.”
Protestors are livid with China, after it was decided in August that candidates for the city’s election would be chosen by pro-Beijing tycoons. Under an agreement set in 1984, Beijing promised to allow Hong Kong residents civil liberties.
That move is viewed by many residents as reneging on promises to allow greater democracy in the semi-autonomous territory, since Beijing had promised that the chief executive would eventually be chosen through “universal suffrage.”
China’s communist leaders take a hard line against any threat to their monopoly on power, including clamping down on dissidents and Muslim Uighur separatists in the country’s far west, but it cannot crack down too harshly on the semi-autonomous territory where a freewheeling media ensures global visibility.
We’ll keep you posted on the future of the Occupy Movement.
SOURCE: The Huffington Post | VIDEO CREDIT: News Inc.
