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2014年12月3日聲明：
強烈譴責藍絲帶人士盜取本人作品, 抹黑盧彥慧,黃子悅小姐，手法可恥，誣衊了所有有份參與絕食人仕，故不得不嚴正回應。
I will now recap in English
Strongly condemned Blue Ribbon Stealing my work discredit Isabella Lo and Prince Wong. Shame on you!
Hong Kong : 4 June, 2009 08:45 am – Students end the 64-hour hunger strike at Times Square which commemorate those who died during the June 4, 1989 military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Event : Commemorative Action For the June 4th Massacre In Chine – 64-hour Hunger Strike
Date : 1 – 4 June, 2009
Place : Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong kong.
President of Hong Kong Baptist University Student Union Bibianna Yip Cho-yan (葉楚茵) joins others in a 64-hour hunger strike beside a statue of the Goddess of Democracy.
Hong Kong Federation of Students secretary general Crystal Chow Ching (周澄) take park in a 64-hour hunger strike.
Re: Hong Kong Students indefinite hunger strike secrets revealed
these people look like communists guerilla with their headbands and armbands with 1970s communist slogans scrawled all over it.luckily singapore do not welcome such unsavoury characters.they would be arrested immediately and jailed for marxist conspiracy against the government!!!!
Re: Hong Kong Students indefinite hunger strike secrets revealed
sixty 4 hours hunger strike are u serious?are u expecting millions of chinese to clap their hands,and anita mui to come out in her 1980s canto pop costume and sing 血染的風采?
time for this nonsense to end!!!!!CCP roll out the tanks and soldiers!!!!
Re: Hong Kong Students indefinite hunger strike secrets revealed
As a realist I find hunger strikes to b damn stupid. If they break the strike they loose. If they die. 1 less problem for authorities to deal with...the blocking of gahmen house etc is a good idea as it hurts or inconvenience powers tat be.
Re: Hong Kong Students indefinite hunger strike secrets revealed
In my opinion all of the nicks above With subject title ".. indefinite hunger strike .."*
Are Lightning brigade except for Xingguy
I knew that all along so be careful
Young people the world over are stubborn
And impulsive except Sinkies
Their defining quality is ball-lessness
Obsession with what other people think
And yes char kway teow so no hope
Wear your Giordano and remember
Tycoons should be like Jimmy Lai and Soros
Not Jacky Fool and Peter What His Name
Data heavy Occupy thread is one way
Of putting people off this topic tactics is similar
To Hongkie Gahbrament in pretending to listen
CNN talking head quite dumb have to tell her twice
Before she get it that they can always occupy again!
* Hmm ... so fast merge "huger strike" thread into data heavy "Occupy" thread arh ... what's the agenda? :*:
Re: Hong Kong Students indefinite hunger strike secrets revealed
Heheh... Had dinner at Shan Tung Street, crossed over to Sai Yee Street in the direction of Argyle Street. Observed how the Hong Kong protestors holding placards and their mata-mata surrounding them. I reckoned the group moved over from Nathan Road and moved along Argyle Street... Things were orderly despite some minor shouting match between the mata-mata and the protestors... An uneventful night :o:o:o
我要真选举！that's something that I saw on one of the yellow placard.
Scholarism's hunger strikers meet the press. Photo: Felix Wong
Doctors gave hunger striker Joshua Wong Chi-fung a teaspoon of glucose today after his blood sugar fell to a worryingly low level, prompting an apology from the teenage activist for not sticking to his self-imposed rules.
"I have to apologise because during this hunger strike, I'm only supposed to drink water," he told supporters as hunger strikers entered the fourth day of their protest in a bid to press the government to reopen dialogue over Hong Kong’s political reform.
The 18-year-old was found to a have a blood sugar level of 2.7 millimoles per litre during a check-up by two medical workers at 10.30am.
Afterwards Wong leaned on another Scholarism member for support while trying to walk to a toilet a few metres away.
Normal blood sugar levels are between 5 and 6 mmol/l before meals, and can go up to between 7 and 8 mmol/l after eating.
Two more members of Scholarism joined the hunger strike last night.
Chinese University student Gloria Cheng Yik-lam, 20, and Polytechnic University student Eddie Ng Man-hin, 20, announced their decision to join Wong, 18, and two others at a rally in Admiralty last night.
“It’s been 48 hours and still the government is unmoved. I’m joining to show support to my fellow members,” Ng said.
Ng, an associate degree student in social policy and administration, said he did not inform his family about his decision for fear that they would be against it.
Joshua Wong is camping near government headquarters in Admiralty. Photo: Dickson Lee
“I do believe this is the move I want to take. I respect my family, so I will take care of myself, but I also believe in my responsibility as a citizen of this city and a member of Scholarism,” he added.
Cheng, a politics and governance student, said: “I believe without this push, the movement may be forced to end, so I have to join in. Or else the past two months will be in vain having achieved nothing.”
Wong reiterated on Wednesday that the students’ actions were an attempt to convince the government to reopen a dialogue with students.
He vowed to continue the strike despite experiencing tiredness and uncomfortable symptoms, which began on Tuesday.
Isabella Lo Yin-wai, 18, and 17-year-old Prince Wong Ji-yuet began the hunger strike at the same time as Joshua Wong on Monday night.
Prince Wong vomited twice within an hour in the early hours of Wednesday.
“The medical team said perhaps I was not used to it yet,” she said, adding that the content she expelled might have been bile.
She was given two pills by her medical team, which includes doctors, and was not hospitalised.
“After some sleep last night, I feel better now,” she said.
Joshua Wong said the students would carry on with the plan, vowing to only drink water or consume a glucose solution if advised to by doctors.
“We want to let the public know that the hunger strike we’re on now is a serious one. We want to refocus the public attention on the umbrella movement,” he said.
The three students announced their plan to go on an indefinite hunger strike on Monday, a day after the Federation of Students’ failed attempt at escalating action.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying described the hunger strike as "pointless".
A statement released by the government later said: "Any discussion relating to constitutional reform must comply with the Basic Law and National People's Congress Standing Committee decisions."
The Open University of Hong Kong, which Wong attends, appealed to the students, especially to Wong, saying that they should stop the hunger strike and return to school as soon as possible.
"Apart from caring for the community, it is each student's responsibility to attend classes regularly," a university statement released on Wednesday said.
"The university urges all students who are still in the occupying sites to return to school as soon as possible, and continue their activities in a peaceful and legal manner."
Daniel Russel said Washington was concerned by signs that Beijing’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” model, was eroding. Photo: AP
A top US official for Asian affairs has urged Beijing to give Hong Kong a “meaningful choice” of election candidates and expressed concern that the central government’s commitment to maintaining the city’s autonomy is eroding.
“The legitimacy of Hong Kong’s chief executive will be greatly enhanced if the promise of universal suffrage is fulfilled,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific affairs Daniel Russel told the US Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Wednesday.
“This means allowing for a competitive election in which a range of candidates with differing policy approaches are given an opportunity to seek the support of eligible Hong Kong voters,” he said.
In August, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee ruled that only two or three people could contest the “one man, one vote” ballot in 2017, adding that they would need majority support from a nominating body based on the election committee that selected Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in the 2012 election.
The pan-democratic camp says this would in effect screen out its candidate, and has vowed to veto any government proposal based on Beijing’s framework.
Russel added that Washington was concerned by signs that Beijing’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” model, as well as to maintaining a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong, were eroding.
He said the standing committee’s decision “excessively circumscribes the selection process”. “It falls very far short of the aspirations of the people of Hong Kong,” he said.
Russel said that “the Chinese know the world is watching, and this matters as a reputational cost to them.”
Police clashed with protesters in fresh outbreaks of violence on Sunday and Monday. Photo: Felix Wong
The top US official said that violent clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters who laid siege to government headquarters in Admiralty on Sunday and Monday showed “that the potential for violence remains and that all sides need now more than ever to exercise restraint and to lower tensions.”
”This situation is still playing out, it’s far from over, it would be a mistake to underestimate the people of Hong Kong,” he said.
While speaking up in support of the protesters as the US “takes the side of freedom”, Russel denied Washington had abetted the Occupy protests.
The Democratic chairman and top Republican lawmaker on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee for East Asian and Pacific Affairs both expressed displeasure with Beijing and said US President Barack Obama’s administration isn’t doing enough to defend Hong Kong’s rights.
”It appears very clear to us China is influencing the implementation of universal suffrage in a way that’s inconsistent with the commitment they gave to respect international covenants, civil and political rights,” said Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the subcommittee chairman.
Meanwhile, a signed commentary published on the front page of the overseas edition of People’s Daily yesterday urged Britain to abandon its “mentality of colonialism”.
“Some people attempt to use the Sino-British Joint Declaration to prove Britain has a moral responsibility for Hong Kong. It is unacceptable if Britain meddles in Hong Kong’s affairs,” the commentary said.
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Britain had no sovereignty over Hong Kong. “There is no such thing as a moral responsibility,” she said.
Richard Ottaway, chairman of the British Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said during an emergency debate on Tuesday that Ni Jian, deputy Chinese ambassador to Britain, had conveyed the message on Friday that the joint declaration “is now void and only covered the period from the signing in 1984 until the handover in 1997”.
Professor Johannes Chan said statements from Beijing regarding the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 were illogical. Photo: Dickson Lee
But Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun, former dean of the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of law, said: “If one took Ni’s argument to its logical end, it would mean that China can tear up the joint declaration on July 2, 1997! This makes no sense at all.”
“If one reads the joint declaration, the view of the deputy ambassador is untenable,” Chan said.
He said the joint declaration stated that “The government of the UK and the government of [China] agree to implement the preceding declarations and the annexes to this joint declaration”.
“There is an agreement between the two governments that the basic policies to Hong Kong as set out in the joint declaration and its annexes will remain unchanged for 50 years,” he said.
“This is a solemn promise made by the Chinese government to the British government. Further, clause 8 further provides that ‘the joint declaration and its annexes shall be equally binding’ – binding on whom? It must be both the UK government and the Chinese government!”
A life-sized cut-out of President Xi Jinping is seen in the Admiralty protest site. Photo: EPA
Hong Kong is still smouldering from the fire of the Occupy protests, the largest in China since the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989. But the flames haven't spread to the mainland. While many believe it is the result of the central government's efforts to censor the news, that hasn't played a decisive role.
After the Hong Kong unrest erupted in late September, China's state media were briefly gagged. Soon, though, they were firing salvos of criticism at the protesters.
Besides, China's internet firewall is porous, so it is virtually impossible to block news of such magnitude. There are many tools available to get round attempts at censorship.
Instead, China's continuing economic stability is the primary reason mainlanders are seemingly unconcerned with the Hong Kong protests. The country's rapid economic progress has brought wealth and comfort, as well as a fear and loathing of politics.
For their part, the Hong Kong protesters simply want their grievances to be heard by Beijing. They have no desire for their protests to spill over to the mainland. Thus, the protests have neither appealed to nor affected the lives of those across the border.
Another factor is the ongoing anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping , which has helped to pacify the rising tide of public indignation. Unprecedented in scale, the campaign is shaking up the whole ruling class. The average citizen is happy to see the anti-corruption measures limit the privileges of officials. In a traditionally "official takes all" society, one campaign cannot root out all corruption but, in this case, it has defused the social tensions that otherwise could have flared up over the Hong Kong protests.
Furthermore, the younger generation is not seeking a Hong Kong-style rebellion. Today's college students are too young to remember Tiananmen. For Chinese citizens under 30, their will to challenge the authorities has been severely curtailed by the daily burdens of life, such as finding job opportunities and housing.
In addition, the crass commercialism the younger generation is exposed to makes them self-centered, and encourages them to worship money while remaining politically apathetic.
The silence of the mainland's masses can also be attributed to an outburst of nationalist sentiment over the chaos in Hong Kong. On China's vibrant social media, the overwhelming tone of the discussions has been against the protests. The usually cynical netizens firmly believe Beijing's assertion that the upheaval was fomented by outside forces. Obviously, Beijing's rising global clout fuels nationalism.
China is now economically united with the outside world, but its political development follows its own path. In recent years, Beijing has successfully averted any potential fallout from political shock waves such as the Arab spring of 2011 and the Hong Kong protests. Neither has disturbed China's overall stability.
Nevertheless, the government still has to handle daily protests across the country involving social disputes and remains extremely vigilant against political mobilisation. Above all, the disturbance the government fears most is economic stagnation.
China's growth has been slowing, reflecting policy efforts to rebalance the economy. Nevertheless, according to the World Bank, the average growth of the world's second-largest economy is expected to be slightly above 7 per cent for 2015-16, still robust enough to move society forward. But it is becoming more and more challenging for the ruling elite to keep China free from political turmoil as citizens' consciousness of and desire for democracy and freedom of information awakens.
There's now the danger that more extreme elements could look to take on the police. Photo: EPA
The early days of the Occupy Central movement had little impact on the Hong Kong economy. Twenty-nine per cent of our economy is finance – most of that globally related – and 25 per cent is trading and logistics, a legacy from our centuries old entrepôt status with China.
Just 4 per cent is involved with travel, tourism and hotels. They are a noisy and high profile 4 per cent, but are small nevertheless, and unlikely to seriously impact our economic growth.
The theory that the occupation of the streets by principled, peaceful revolting students would leave Hong Kong’s economy unscathed was predicated on the troubles lasting perhaps four weeks. Ten weeks after a moderate assembly of students was sprayed with pepper, the students remain as ever leaderless, but with the danger that more extreme elements could look to take on the police.
The government seems to have little idea of how to end the crisis in a way acceptable to Hong Kong or global public opinion, leaving the police with little to do than wait for instructions.
There have been businesses hurt by the length of time that the tents have been in the streets. Shops near the encampments have shuttered (though they open when the press and the police are absent). A few posh boutiques in Central have been as quiet as usual and some restaurant sales have been hurt.
The reaction of taxi drivers to the traffic jams has been a lesson in behavioural finance. Do they drive in the traffic jams to get half the money and double the stress? Do they stay at home and take a break? Or do they put the “out of service” sign up until they find a punter who is definitely not going to Central, Causeway Bay or Mong Kok?
Only the stock market is more adaptable than a taxi driver in search of someone with a hundred bucks in his pocket.
In fact, it has been the stockmarket that has been the window to sentiment in Hong Kong. As we have noted in this column, the Hong Kong market is exhibiting less and less leadership of its own in making prices.
Some 70 per cent of its market capitalisation is related to mainland companies operating on the mainland and earning in yuan. A further 15 per cent of the market comprises the global activities of companies like HSBC, Hutchison and Samsonite. Just 15 per cent of the index is related to the Hong Kong economy itself and how we consume, pay rent or mortgages, invest or trade within the city itself.
So the Hong Kong market should perform like a proxy index of 70 per cent mainland (the Shanghai Composite Index) and 15 per cent the United States (as our traders look to the S&P500 every morning for guidance on how to mark opening prices), with the remaining 15 per cent determined by conditions in domestic Hong Kong.
The Hang Seng Index followed the US market pretty closely up to early February last year. At that point, a big fall in the Shanghai market after a Christmas/New Year rally seemed to hit Hong Kong hard. Since then, the Hang Seng Index has taken its leadership from the mainland, which was bad luck as Shanghai has been one of the worst-performing markets in the world on a five-year view.
Fast forward to mid-July this year when the mainland commenced its bull run, rising 35 per cent since then, with the US up 3.3 per cent. Hong Kong in comparison has not moved at all, even though it rose in tandem with the mainland in August.
The Hang Seng Index detached from the Shanghai Composite Index around September 3, perhaps forecasting Occupation trouble. From that date, the mainland is up 21 per cent, whereas we are actually down 7 per cent – a nice trade if you got both sides right. The Occupation itself began on September 28, since when the mainland is up 18 per cent and Hong Kong is fractionally below 0 per cent.
If we therefore calculate as a proxy a weighted average whereby Hong Kong followed the mainland by 70 per cent of its rally and the US by 30 per cent of its rise, then Hong Kong should be up 25 per cent in the past three months. It is actually down 7 per cent. That’s a whopping 32 per cent behind that proxy index. It follows that in that time, the Hong Kong market has suffered about HK$6.8 trillion of lost value.
Of course these are theoretical numbers, wrong in detail but correct in direction. Clearly the Hang Seng Index has taken a big hit in sentiment, but if confidence is restored, the market cap will soon catch up. The market itself is asking the big question. Will the authorities be able to restore the confidence in our economic future that we had before the Occupation?
Richard Harris is chief executive of Port Shelter Investment Management
Lord Justice Leonard Hoffmann said civil disobedience was “an old tradition” in the common law world like Britain. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
A non-permanent judge of the city’s top court says Occupy protesters who have turned themselves in to police should be punished leniently.
Speaking to an audience at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre on rule of law and arbitration on Thursday afternoon, Lord Justice Leonard Hoffmann said civil disobedience was “an old tradition” in the common law world like Britain, where he served as a judge.
“Very often, people [who participated in civil disobedience] are justified by history afterwards,” Hoffmann said when asked his views on the concept.
While the “rule of the game” for protesters was to remain non-violent while breaking the law, “the rule of the game for the authorities is to recognise that demonstrators are acting out of their conviction and conscience” in pursuit of democracy, he said.
“When it comes to punishment, the court should take into account their personal conviction and conscience,” he said.
Hoffman, who has retired from Britain’s House of Lords, is a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
Occupy Central co-founders Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Benny Tai, Dr Chan Kin-man, former head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen and social worker Shiu Ka-chun were allowed to go free by police on Wednesday. Photo: Sam Tsang
He said after the talk that he was aware that Occupy founders and protesters had surrendered themselves to police. Asked whether what he said meant the court should give a lenient sentence to Occupy protesters, he said: “Yes. It is a convention. They are not wicked people.”
He gave the example of suffragettes, the women who broke different laws to fight for the right to vote in Britain in the early 20th century and received either a fine, probation, or a short prison sentence. “In the end, they were found to be right,” he said.
The three co-founders of Occupy Central and more than 60 of their supporters were not arrested or charged yesterday after they turned themselves in for taking part in unauthorised assemblies since late September.
Through the surrender, the trio aimed to bring a peaceful end to the civil disobedience movement they initiated.
Those people also signed a similar letter setting out their personal details and participation in Occupy.
Both letters were handed to the police, who took no further action. Police said that by 7pm, 65 people had surrendered.
Federation of Students secretary-general Alex Chow believes that the siege of government headquarters in Admiralty was a failure. Photo: Dickson Lee
The Federation of Students, the major force behind the Occupy Central protests, could decide within a week whether to retreat from occupied sites after refusing for more than nine weeks to call off its civil disobedience action.
A change of mind at the core of the federation seems to be afoot after its chief admitted an escalation in their protests on Sunday, when the government headquarters was besieged, had failed.
But the other Occupy student group, Scholarism, appears to be pressing on. Two new hunger strikers joined three others as one of them, group convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung, drank a teaspoon of glucose on doctors' orders. This happened after his blood sugar dropped worryingly.
A core member of the federation, Yvonne Leung Lai-kwok, said protesters had to consider how to conserve their energy so they could stay the course in pursuit of democracy.
"Some protesters [in Admiralty and Causeway Bay] have expressed their intention to remain until police clear the sites, but we also need to think clearly about why we are continuing the occupation," Leung told Commercial Radio yesterday. "It is clear that a concrete decision would be needed [and] this could be made within a week."
On Wednesday, the federation's secretary general, Alex Chow Yong-kang, floated the idea of shifting their focus beyond the sit-in zones to the community.
Yvonne Leung said “a concrete decision” on whether students call for an end to the occupation could be made within a week. Photo: Dickson Lee
At the Admiralty site, Scholarism hunger strikers appealed to pro-establishment lawmakers to help resume dialogue with the government.
"The focus of the dialogue will be restarting the five steps of constitutional reform," Cheng Yik-lam said. "This is not against the Basic Law."
The Chief Executive's Office has said Scholarism's request will not be accepted.
Meanwhile, doctors gave Wong, 18, some glucose after his blood sugar dipped to 2.7 millimoles per litre during a 10.30am check-up.
Normal blood sugar levels hover around 5 to 6 mmol/l before meals. A glucose solution is recommended to those whose levels drop below 3 mmol/l.
Joshua Wong is given a health check. Photo: Dickson Lee
The teenage activist, who started fasting at 10pm on Monday, apologised for not sticking to his self-imposed rules. "I'm supposed to only drink water."
Two more Scholarism members - Polytechnic University student Eddie Ng Man-hin, 20, and Chinese University student Gloria Cheng Yik-lam, 20 - joined the hunger strike.
At the Legislative Council, lawmakers debated police enforcement of court orders to clear Mong Kok occupiers.
The Civic Party's Dennis Kwok, lawmaker for the legal sector, said: "Police have made use of the injunctions as an excuse to clear areas outside the scope of the court orders."
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said the police had been restrained and had employed only minimal force.
Bus operator All China Express, which has received court approval to remove blockades in Admiralty, would discuss with bailiffs and the police on Tuesday how to execute the injunction, the company's lawyer Paul Tse Wai-chun said.
Police must be held accountable for abuses during protest clearance
Albert Cheng calls for an independent inquiry to be set up amid mounting claims of serious assault and wrongdoing by individual officers
Albert Cheng
Leung has exploited the police force as an instrument for bolstering his unpopular rule. Photo: Reuters
The students have admitted that their latest attempt to escalate the protests at Admiralty was a failure. It ended in the most serious confrontation with the police since September 28, when 87 tear gas canisters were launched at the crowds.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying spared no time in scoring some political points. He said the police had been tolerant over the past two months and warned the activists not to take the police forbearance as a sign of weakness.
"If this can be tolerated, what cannot be?" he said, citing a Chinese idiom.
Leung was quoting one part of The Analects, in which Confucius admonished the Ji clan for presenting eight rows of dancers in a ceremonial dance, which was the prerogative of the emperor according to the social and political hierarchy of the day.
Leung's choice of metaphor reflects his paternalistic mentality. In his eyes, the umbrella movement boils down to a disrespectful challenge of the authorities.
The way he has condoned the police's excessive use of force to restore order is staggering.
Anyone who bothers to look at the videos and messages on social media will find that some police officers had behaved improperly in dealing with the Occupy protesters.
First of all, the police were selective in their enforcement of the law. They used double standards in dealing with protesters and triad gangsters in the occupied sites. On October 2 and 3, in particular, the police allowed triad ringleaders to intimidate protesters.
In addition, officers have beaten up protesters already subdued and under arrest. Such abuse of power may well amount to a criminal offence. The two cases captured on video - one of which involved seven officers who have now been arrested - are likely to only be the tip of the iceberg.
Student leader Joshua Wong Chi-fung, for one, claimed he was assaulted by police when he was arrested late last month. His lawyer told CNN he was kicked and punched and "effectively sexually assaulted".
If this were true, and this indeed happened to an icon of the democracy campaign, imagine how the average protester would have been treated. The police owe the public an explanation of what happened.
There have also been several allegations of police officers provoking members of the public, including with racial and sexual taunts.
In one video, a group of officers was seen taunting protesters who had retreated to an MTR entrance at Admiralty. One officer was seen flashing the middle finger while the others called the young protesters "rubbish". This was a clear violation of the police code of conduct.
Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, who is known to have a mentally disabled daughter, said he was verbally abused by police while observing the situation in Mong Kok. "I nodded to an officer, but he said, 'Don't you nod to me. Go home and take care of your daughter, she's sick'," Cheung said.
This was clearly a breach of the Disability Discrimination Ordinance.
The police even allegedly targeted medical volunteers - some claimed they were roughed up by officers while attending to the injured in Admiralty.
In a way, the police are themselves a victim of the circumstances. They are trapped in an unenviable, prolonged state of hypertension.
Instead of coming up with a political solution to the Occupy protests, Leung has exploited the police force as an instrument for bolstering his unpopular rule. No wonder Leung has turned a blind eye to the misbehaviour and illegal acts of individual law enforcers.
The Independent Police Complaints Council has been flooded with over 1,700 Occupy-related complaints. The council, however, is dominated by members who are supporters of Leung and has little credibility. It remains to be seen how long it will take to handle these files.
Meanwhile, new pieces of evidence of police abuse emerge almost every day.
Frustrated by the government's inaction, Scholarism has mounted an online petition to urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to launch an inquiry into "Hong Kong police and government human rights abuses". The students initially set their target at 25,000 signatures. Over 85,000 have signed so far.
The UN petition is, of course, a long shot. Allegations against the police are so numerous and serious that it warrants an independent investigation, led by a judge.
It has nothing to do with the political struggle between the yellow-ribbon and blue-ribbon camps. This issue is more fundamental. We need to stop Hong Kong from degenerating into a police state before it is too late.
Albert Cheng King-hon is a political commentator. [email protected]
Protesters take to Mong Kok's footpaths. Photo: Edward Wong
Traffic may have returned to the Mong Kok protest zone, but last week's clearance of the encampment has given rise to a new form of protest known as the "shopping tour", with activists taking to the crowded footpaths to convey their political message.
Participants say it is more fun and a pleasant change from camping on the tarmac, plus it is proving even more effective as a strain on police manpower.
Every night since last Friday, dozens of protesters have gathered outside a cinema on Sai Yeung Choi Street South. They watch movie trailers while chanting spontaneous slogans inspired by images on the screen. Then they roam the footpaths, obstructing commerce while evading police.
Watch: Dozens of Occupy supporters stage "shopping tour" protests in Mong Kok after site clearance
Before the "tour" starts, the air fills with cries of gau wu, a Cantonese transliteration of Putonghua's gou wu, which means "to shop". The expression became popular after a mainland tourist who joined an early anti-Occupy rally told a reporter in Putonghua that she was there to shop.
"Now it's the reverse; we are on the offensive and the cops are put on the defensive," said a semi-retired protester aged in his 50s who wished to be identified only by his surname, Ng.
Having joined the gau wu tour nightly since last week, Ng said window shopping was "a lot more fun" than guarding the roadblock outside City Hall in Central, which he has done since the start of the Occupy protests. "This is not even illegal," he said.
It is understood that during evenings over the past week the police had more than 2,500 officers either on the ground in Mong Kok or on standby to prevent any tours turning into a reoccupation. Indeed, one of the favourite slogans of the "shoppers" is "let us occupy Mong Kok together with the police".
But shops along the gau wu tour route do not seem to welcome the "shoppers". About half, mostly chain stores targeting mainland tourists, close their shutters as the group passes by.
Police officers are not amused. Sporadic clashes have broken out when police have singled out group members, subduing them without giving any reason, protesters say.
Those singled out "often have quarrels with the cops beforehand, and that's why they are targeted", said Ada Chan, a former bank employee in her 50s, who joins the tour every night. "It's very ugly; they've even given up making up excuses and just take you away without explanation."
Scuffles usually break out when the tour reaches its last stop on Tung Choi Street, where minibuses operated by Chiu Luen Public Light Bus Company pick up passengers. The company was one of two applicants for the injunction orders which allowed last week's clearance.
Police have taken dozens of people into custody since the gau wu tour started last week. But that has not scared away those determined to "shop". "The more protests I attend, the more injustice I see," Chan said.
