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Hong Kong: One city, two
voices
By ATol Staff
HONG
KONG - Following the July 1 protest by an estimated
500,000 Hong Kong residents opposed to enacting security
bill Article 23 and the subsequent postponing of a
scheduled vote on the bill in the Legislative Council,
Hong Kong protestors have spoken again.
The
latest gathering was on Wednesday night, in which tens
of thousands congregated around the Legislative Council
in Hong Kong's Central area to vent their
dissatisfaction with the Special Administrative Region
(SAR) government and demand a workable democracy,
general elections to select the SAR chief executive and
all members of the Legislative Council and to kill any
future attempts to enact Article 23.
Government and governed come face to face
At 7.30 Wednesday night about 50,000 protestors
braved the sweltering Hong Kong heat to attend the
gathering arranged by the Civil Human Rights Front. The
protestors encircled the Legislative Council several
times, chanting slogans reaffirming their opposition to
Article 23 and calling repeatedly for the resignation of
Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. This was
even although Tung issued a statement before the protest
began in which he emphasized that the government would
work in earnest to satisfy the public's concerns.
During the protest, organizers made a long
distance call to Wang Dan, one of the leaders of the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Wang said that from
the July 1 march to Wednesday night's protest, great
pressure had been placed on China's central government
as well as the government of Hong Kong, a result of the
public response to the attempt to enact the bill. Owing
to the size of the event, Hong Kong police were out in
full force to maintain order. The protestors remained
orderly throughout the more than two hours of organized
dissent.
At 8.55 the Legislative Council
adjourned. Pro-democracy members of the council
approached the crowd and received a supportive waving of
hands from the protestors. Members of the Democratic
Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), commonly
viewed as being pro-Beijing and pro-Article 23, emerged
to a cold response and rode away in cars specially
arranged by the council, which were pelted by many of
the glowsticks that permeated the crowd.
The demonstration ended around 10.00 and protest
leaders stated their pleasure with the large and orderly
protest. They did not rule out any future mass protests.
Tung digs in
Prior to the protests,
Tung addressed a press conference.
"Currently
the SAR administration members are indeed facing a major
test. But each of us is confident that we can pass this
test. We are united. We will be steadfast in holding our
posts. Moreover, we believe that we can face up to this
challenge. We will bring together our experiences in
earnest, we will draw upon our training and make an
active response and take relevant measures to satisfy
the grievances of the people, address their
dissatisfaction and raise our ability to govern.
"Our goal is to win back the support and the
trust of the people in their government. In order to
raise the efficiency of our governance, revive the Hong
Kong economy and unite the masses within this society,
we will actively listen to suggestions from every sector
of society and adopt actions thusly. The SAR government
has already postponed the national security bill draft's
second reading. We will continue listening to
suggestions related to this, and we will adopt an even
more cautious attitude. Today we know there are still
some groups en route to the Legislative Council for a
demonstration.
"I will reiterate once more: The
SAR government will take an open attitude and earnestly
pay heed to the dissatisfaction and grievances of its
residents. Today, I am very happy the World Economic
Freedom Report has assessed Hong Kong to be the world's
freest economic entity for the seventh year running. We
will continue to work assiduously to maintain this
status and the confidence that international investors
have in Hong Kong. At present our most important work is
to focus our energies on uniting our society and
effecting an economic resurgence as soon as possible."
Translated by Christopher Horton
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
for information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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