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THE C L A C K A M A S P R IN T | OCT. 29, 2 0 1 4 | V O L . 4 8 ISSUE 3 Opinion: Hong Kong deserves democracy B y Tim Young& Jose Velazquez n Sept. 22, two student groups, O Scholarism and the Hong Kong Federation of Students, start ed protesting against China’s decision to not allow univer sal suffrage within Hong Kong, according to The Guardian newspaper. Universal Suffrage is to vote in an unrestricted way during elections. China is looking to screen candidates for the chief executive of Hong Kong (the highest office) by a panel of 1,200 Beijing loyalists according to the British Broadcasting Corporation. Students and other Hong Kong residents are opposed to this. According to CNN, student protest groups moved through the city, and ended up standing outside the government headquarters demanding that the Hong Kong government not allow China’s government policy. Later, as time progressed, more and more activists joined, and the movement gained the at tention of the world. In the past weeks, protesters in the movement, dubbed the “Umbrella Movement” because Hong Kongers were seen protecting them selves against tear gas using umbrellas as shields "Democracy would see poSrer people dominate [the] Hong Kong vote." - Leung Chunying from Hong Kong police, have been very active. As the attention grew rapidly, the number of protes tors increased from a few hundred to thousands of activists. Progressively, these activists have im mi grated from Hong Kong’s streets to a formal debate that took place on Oct. 21, according to Reuters. Five student leaders, primarily led by Lester Shum, and public’ the five Hong Kong officials led by Carrie Lam the s right debated and shared many arguments; neither side of the debate seemed willing to yield to the others case. After these debates, Hong Kong officials would still not budge on the idea of electoral reform. Although the debate did not sway the Hong Kong officials, students continue the fight for a real de mocracy in Hong Kong. Students believe, although a nuisance to people that need to go to work, these protests are necessary to continue moving forward towards their goal of universal suffrage. Students of the movement still felt very disturbed and unsatisfied after the first talks between the student lead ers &nd Hong Kong officials, accord ing to the International Business Times. Student leader Alex Chow told the Chris tian Science Monitor that city officials “can now decide whether to be democratic he roes or historical villains ... I believe ev ery Hong Kong citizen is waiting to see.” Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chuh- ying was recently quoted in saying “Democ racy would see poorer people dominate [the] Hong Kong vote” in the South China Morn ing Post. To date, the protests continue, m ark ing one m onth of the Umbrella Movement. Clearly, vast difference exist between both parties. In learning from the mistakes of Oc cupy Wall Street, protestors should chart out a clear course for next steps. Eventually, they may lose support from the very same people they are trying to help by occupying physi cal spaces, disrupting Hong Kong; however their goal is very much worth fighting for. YOUNG VELAZQUEZ ft
