THE C L A C K A M A S P R IN T
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OCT. 29, 2 0 1 4
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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