Occupy Central with Love and Peace

Organisers of the movement (from the left Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Dr Benny Tai Yiu-ting, and Chan Kin-man) published their statement at a press conference on 27 March 2013.

Occupy Central is a proposed nonviolent occupation protest for universal suffrage that would take place in Central, Hong Kong in July 2014.

The campaign was initiated by Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong, in January 2013. He predicted that at least 10,000 citizens would join the protest to take over Central in July 2014 if promises made by the Central People's Government for universal suffrage were not realized in the 2017 Chief Executive Election and 2020 Legislative Council Elections.

Observers noted that the occupy movement campaign would likely occur after Qiao Xiaoyang, chairman of the National People's Congress Law Committee, stated that chief executive candidates were required to love both the country and Hong Kong and not confront the central government, effectively excluding candidates from the opposition pro-democracy camp.

Background

Main article: Democratic development in Hong Kong

The pro-democracy camp petitioned the Hong Kong government and Central People's Government for the full implementation of universal suffrage as promised in the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 45, which delineates the requirements for electing the Chief Executive. Members also cited language in Annex I in support of universal suffrage:

"The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be selected by election or through consultations held locally and be appointed by the Central People's Government."

"The method for selecting the Chief Executive shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures."

On 29 December 2007, the National People's Congress Law Committee officially ruled on the issue of universal suffrage in Hong Kong:

that the election of the fifth Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2017 may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage; that after the Chief Executive is selected by universal suffrage, the election of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may be implemented by the method of electing all the members by universal suffrage...

The Asia Times remarked that both proposals for LegCo and for the Chief Executive were "hedged in with so many ifs and buts that there is no guarantee of Hong Kong getting anything at all... "

On 16 January 2013, Benny Tai's article in the Hong Kong Economic Journal proposed an act of civil disobedience in Central, the business and financial centre of Hong Kong, if the universal suffrage proposal by the government proved to be "fake" democracy.

Plan

Tai stated that the principles of the movements would be deliberative democracy, self-sacrifice, and civil disobedience modeled after Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. His proposed four-step process is:

• July 2013 — Oath-taking days — solemn ceremonies for participants to declare their commitment to the plan.
• Early 2014 — A Deliberation Day based on the works of Bruce Ackerman and James Fishkin — 10,000 participants divide into groups to discuss and vote on ideas for political reform.
• April/May 2014 — Citizens' authorisation — A citywide civil referendum, or a by-election triggered by the resignation of a lawmaker.
• July 2014 — Occupy Central — 10,000 participants block the roads in Central to pressure Beijing for democracy.

Timeline

• 16 January 2013 — Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong, Benny Tai Yiu-ting wrote an article 公民抗命的最大殺傷力武器 (Civil disobedience's mass destruction weapon) in Hong Kong Economic Journal suggesting an occupation of Central.
• 24 March 2013 — Qiao Xiaoyang, chairman of the Law Committee under the National People's Congress Standing Committee stated that chief executive candidates must be persons who love the country and love Hong Kong, who do not insist on confronting the central government.
• 27 March 2013 — Organisers of the "Occupy Central" movement, Benny Tai (戴耀廷), Reverend Chu Yiu-ming and Chinese University's Sociology professor Chan Kin-man officially announced at a news conference that they will start promoting the protest in 2014 if the government's proposals for universal suffrage fail to meet international standards.

Reactions

SAR government

Commissioner of Police Andy Tsang Wai-hung said on the sidelines of a district council meeting that while freedom of assembly is always respected, participants of rallies like “Occupy Central” must also be aware of their liability and their impact on others, such as emergency services.

Central government

Wang Guangya, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, when asked if he believed the Occupy Central plan was beneficial to the city, said "I think Hong Kong compatriots don't want to see Hong Kong being messed up. Hong Kong needs development."

Qiao Xiaoyang, chairman of the National People's Congress Law Committee, was quoted as accusing the "opposition camp" of "fuelling" the Occupy Central plan. Qiao said the plan was only "partly truthful", "complex" and a "risk-everything" proposition.

Pro-democracy camp

Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki said he saw the ideas as "the last resort" to pressure Beijing and the SAR administration to introduce universal suffrage. "If Beijing breaks its promise of universal suffrage," he added, "we will have no option but to launch such a civil disobedience movement."

Albert Ho Chun-yan of Democratic Party claimed he would resign from his legislator post to grant Hong Kong people the opportunity to vote in a de facto referendum to pave way for the Occupy Central movement, just as the pan-democrats launched the by-election in 2010 for universal suffrage in 2012.

The pan-democrats' reactions were not uniformly supportive. Wong Yuk-man has expressed fears that the movement would deteriorate, while Wong Yeung-tat was strongly opposed to the movement. Some speculate that disagreements over the movement prompted the shutdown of Stephen Shiu Yeuk-yuen's internet radio Hong Kong Reporter.

Pro-Beijing camp

Cheung Kwok-kwan, vice chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, saw "a radical move" in any thoughts of occupying Central. He questioned whether Hong Kong could "afford the negative impact of people staging a rally to occupy and even paralyze Central for a universal suffrage model". He noted that it was "a mainstream idea" in the SAR not to resort to radical means to fight for democracy.

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, a National People's Congress Standing Committee member, warned that Hong Kong would have to pay a “high price” in the event of a stand-off in Central. She has been quoted as saying, “If you occupy Central, please think of the impact it would have on Hong Kong’s image. All our economic and financial activities would be affected. Don’t think only of yourself. Think of the whole city, which would suffer if you proceed with your action."

National People's Congress Deputy and Executive Councilor Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fan suggested that allowing a group of just 10,000 people to come up with a “consensus” over the reform package without the majority of Hong Kong people taking part would be an improper consultation procedure. She urged the opposition camp to show respect for each other through a rational and pragmatic debate over the issue. She added that there was no need to resort to "extreme action" and claimed that it was not too late to begin consultations next year.

Others

Leo F. Goodstadt, who served as adviser to Chris Patten, the last British-appointed governor of Hong Kong, and chief adviser for the Central Policy Unit of the colonial government, said that it would be normal for protesters to “paralyze Central” because “it is part of their right to protest” and Hong Kong residents already possessed the right to criticize the government through protests since the colonial era. In response to concerns that the Occupy Central campaign would hurt Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, Goodstadt cited the frequent mass protests in New York and London, two leading international financial centers, as having a minimal effect on the business environment there.

Cardinal Joseph Zen has given his conditional support to the campaign, but stated that he would not participate in the movement for an indefinite period. The incumbent bishop Cardinal John Tong Hon expressed that he did not encourage followers to join the movement, suggesting that both parties should debate universal suffrage through dialogue.

Reverend Ng Chung-man of the Evangelical Free Church of China publicly denounced the Occupy Central plan in his church's newsletter. Ng wrote that while "some Christians are advocating...occupying Central to force the governments to give in to their demands...civil disobedience is acceptable biblically only...when people's rights to religion and to live are under threat". He exhorted believers to pray for those in authority, in an act of "active subordination" to "relatively just governments".

See also

• Democratic development in Hong Kong