Reuters: Hong Kong's democracy 'referendum' likely to rile China's communists

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hong-kong-authorities-begin-dismantling-barricades-at-main-protest-site/2014/12/11/eeea5487-14b5-46d8-b270-9d68032b361c_story.html

Hong Kong authorities begin dismantling barricades at main protest site

 

Hong Kong authorities began dismantling barricades at the main pro-democracy protest site Thursday, in a final push to clear streets occupied by students and activists for more than two months.

 

The pro-democracy protests in the Chinese territory have represented one of the most serious challenges to the Communist Party’s authority a since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. But even if the streets of Hong Kong are finally cleared Thursday, protesters said the struggle for democracy would continue.

 

Watched by police, workers in white helmets began dismantling barricades and clearing part of the protest site that was covered by a court injunction granted earlier this week. They met no resistance from protesters.

 

Police have vowed to finish the job later in the day and clear the entire site in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district, the iconic home of the protest movement in the heart of the city, where hundreds of tents have filled a major highway for weeks beside key government buildings and on the edge of the business and financial district.

 

Around 10,000 people had gathered at the protest site for a final, emotional rally on Wednesday evening, and as the workers began clearing barricades Thursday, banners at the site defiantly promised: “We’ll be back” and “It’s only the beginning.”

 

https://twitter.com/AFP

UPDATE Hong Kong police give protesters 30 minutes to disperse or face arrest
12:44 AM

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https://twitter.com/AFP

BREAKING Hong Kong leader declares Occupy protest 'over' as last site cleared
1:38 AM

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http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/159776

Umbrellas Banned as China's Xi Arrives in Macau

 

President Xi Jinping visited a drizzly Macau on Friday for the 15th anniversary of the gambling hub's return to Chinese rule, with onlookers barred from using umbrellas -- the emblem of democracy protests in nearby Hong Kong.

 

The two-day trip to the former Portuguese enclave comes just days after Hong Kong police cleared the last of three camps where protesters had spent nearly three months demanding free leadership elections for the city.

 

Xi's visit is an opportunity to drive home the message that the semi-autonomous territory needs to diversify away from casinos, which have seen revenues dive owing to a national anti-corruption drive and a stuttering economy.

 

But in the spirit of Hong Kong's Occupy movement which gripped the city from late September, hundreds of pro-democracy protesters are planning a march Saturday from Macau's historic city center.

 

Authorities were on guard Friday for signs of dissent, with reporters on the airport tarmac waiting for Xi not allowed to hold umbrellas, and handed raincoats instead.

 

"They said you couldn't open umbrellas at the airport because it would affect the flights," a Hong Kong-based reporter who was among up to 40 journalists at the scene told Agence France Presse.

 

Another reporter said airport authorities had explained it was too windy to safely unfurl an umbrella -- a symbol of the Hong Kong democracy movement after protesters used them to shield themselves from police pepper spray.

 

And despite the light rain, no one in the official receiving party used them either.

 

However, dozens of enthusiastic elementary school pupils braved the cold weather to wave Chinese and Macau flags, and posies of flowers, to greet Xi.

 

"I believe that under the one country two systems and the Basic Law, Macau definitely will be increasingly stable and better as time passes," the leader told reporters after stepping off the plane, referring to the territory's semi-autonomous status.

 

Several Hong Kong activists including veteran lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung were reportedly turned back at Macau's ferry terminal as they held up yellow umbrellas and a large yellow banner which read "I want real universal suffrage, have you received the message, Xi Jinping?"

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/hong-kong-electoral-reform-150422042614835.html

Hong Kong unveils Beijing-backed electoral reform plans

 

The Hong Kong government has given politicians their first look at a long-awaited electoral blueprint for selecting the city's next leader, a plan that reflects China's desire for a tightly controlled poll despite calls for more democracy.

 

Deputy leader Carrie Lam said on Wednesday that the first-ever public vote for the post of chief executive in 2017 would be held in "strict compliance" with a ruling by China's National People's Congress last August.

 

That ruling stated that candidates for chief executive must first be approved by a loyalist committee. This decision sparked more than two months of protests late last year.

 

Lam said that voters in 2017 would choose from two to three candidates chosen by a 1,200-strong nominating committee. That committee would reflect the current make-up of the pro-Beijing election committee, which up until now has chosen the city's leader, she said.

 

"These proposals are in strict compliance with the Basic Law [Hong Kong's constitution] and the relevant decisions of [China's] Standing Committee of the National People's Congress," Lam said.

 

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told reporters before the blueprint was officially tabled that the political climate in the city could be less accommodating in the future.

"As of now, we see no room for any compromise," he said.

 

"To initiate any political reform process is not easy. If this proposal is vetoed, it could be several years before the next opportunity," Leung said.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/a-soccer-team-in-vietnam-doubles-as-a-club-for-dissidents/2015/12/19/4bed4fef-4eab-4940-841d-fcecec107440_story.html?postshare=501450639663287&tid=ss_tw

A soccer team in Vietnam doubles as a club for dissidents

 

They came together during protests against China’s expansionist moves in the South China Sea. The protesters were harassed by the Vietnamese police and dozens were arrested; their attempts to meet in cafés were blocked, so they came up with an innovative idea.

 

“According to the law, everyone has the right to play football,” said Nguyen Chi Tuyen, an activist and blogger. “So we found a way we can all gather together.”

That way was to form a soccer team. For four years, dozens of players and supporters of No-U FC have gathered every Sunday in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi to kick a ball around, and to talk politics.

 

But they also have joined together in political campaigns and in charitable work; in the process, they have helped give birth to a small but growing civil society movement in Vietnam that is emerging as a new challenge to Communist Party rule.

 

No-U refers to their opposition to the U-shaped “nine-dash line” that China draws on maps to assert its sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. FC stands for football club, although some use also an English-language expletive with the same initials to describe their attitude toward China.

 

Like many Vietnamese people, they are angry that China seized control of the Paracel islands after a battle with South Vietnamese forces in 1974; that it continues to harass Vietnamese fishermen; and that it has now embarked on a massive program of land reclamation in the Spratly archipelago. But the anger goes deeper.

 

“In the beginning, we joined together against China,” said a player who gave his name only as Duc, to avoid harassment by police.

 

“But we know the problem is not China, it is our government. The governments in Vietnam and China are the same Communists, they are connected.”

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http://bigstory.ap.org/article/e991fb840bdd438795773f5c410beb5a/hong-kong-radical-candidate-makes-strong-showing-vote

Hong Kong radical candidate makes strong showing in vote

 

A pro-democracy candidate won a Hong Kong weekend by-election while a rival from a radical pro-independence group who's facing riot charges placed a surprising third in a vote seen as a measure of political tension in the Chinese city.

 

The mainstream Civic Party's Alvin Yeung won the Legislative Council seat with 160,880 votes representing 37 percent of the turnout, edging out pro-Beijing candidate Holden Chow by about 10,000 votes, according to results released early Monday.

 

But the front-runners were overshadowed by Edward Leung of Hong Kong Indigenous, who garnered 15 percent of about 434,000 votes cast. His group is part of a fledgling movement advocating Hong Kong's independence from China.

 

The movement has gained support amid growing unease over signs Beijing is tightening its grip on the specially administered Chinese region.

 

Hong Kong Indigenous is one of a number of groups that sprang up in the wake of pro-democracy street protests in 2014 that ended without a satisfactory resolution as Beijing refused to give any major concessions.

 

Leung is one of the leaders of Hong Kong Indigenous, which also advocates radical protest methods. He's among dozens of people charged with taking part in a riot following a violent nightlong clash with police at a Lunar New Year holiday street food market earlier this month that was sparked by concerns that the city's local culture is disappearing.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-booksellers-idUSKCN0W20LC?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Missing Hong Kong booksellers say arrested for 'illegal trading'

 

Four of the five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing in October appeared on Chinese television confirming for the first time they'd been detained for "illegal book trading" in mainland China.

 

The five booksellers - including a British and Swedish national - had been linked to the same Hong Kong publisher and bookstore that specialized in gossipy books on the private lives and power struggles of China's Communist Party leaders.

 

The disappearances have prompted fears that mainland Chinese authorities may be using shadowy tactics that erode the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong has been governed since its return to China from British rule in 1997.

 

Four of the men, Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee, gave details of their alleged offences to Phoenix Television on Sunday night. [bit.ly/1pjwXIB]

 

"I have deeply reflected on what I have done and very much regret the illegal book trading I have carried out with Gui Minhai," said Lui Por in the Phoenix TV report.

 

In a four-minute report that involved exclusive interviews with the four, they confessed to selling "unauthorized" books in China via an online platform and evading customs inspections to deliver some 4000 books to 380 customers since October 2014.

 

Gui said he'd altered and obscured the covers of the Hong Kong-printed books with nylon bags to "evade" customs security checks and was singled out by the others as the mastermind. The group had also opened a bank account in China to make payments.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-wukan-idUSKCN0ZG3A4?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5775f2f604d3015575a6a94e&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Hopes for democracy crushed in the Chinese rebel village of Wukan

 

Hopes for democracy in the Chinese village of Wukan, where an uprising against corruption five years ago gained global notice and led to direct village-wide elections, have all but evaporated, with protest leaders either in detention, in exile, facing arrest or quitting their posts.

 

Villagers have been marching in protest every day since the middle of June in a fresh flare-up of unrest, but the so-called "Wukan model", with authorities seemingly taking a more tolerant approach towards unrest by kicking out corrupt officials and allowing a free vote, appears to have been a one-off.

 

Wukan is about a four-hour drive northeast of Hong Kong, where a 79-day "umbrella revolution" in late 2014 demanding Beijing allow full democracy, brought chaos to the streets.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/world/asia/hong-kong-bars-pro-independence-candidate-from-election.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&smtyp=cur

Hong Kong Bars Pro-Independence Candidate From Election

 

A political candidate in Hong Kong has been barred from running for office, after government officials said Saturday that his support for the territory’s independence from China made it impossible for him to uphold the legal duties of a lawmaker.

 

The government previously said candidates for the legislative election in September must declare that they recognize Hong Kong as an “inalienable part” of China or face disqualification.

 

The candidate who was disqualified, Chan Ho-tin of the Hong Kong National Party, signed a pledge to uphold the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that has governed Hong Kong since the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997.

 

But he refused to answer an election official’s follow-up questions about whether he would continue to push for Hong Kong’s independence from China. In a reply, posted online, he questioned whether the official had the right to ask such questions.

 

“The political views I hold and advocate are a matter solely for consideration by the voters,” Mr. Chan wrote in a letter on Tuesday.

 

In a statement released on Saturday, the government said a person who “advocates or promotes the independence” of Hong Kong “cannot possibly uphold the Basic Law or fulfill his duties as a legislator.”

 

Mr. Chan was running to represent the New Territories West district, a large expanse that includes outlying islands and parts of Hong Kong close to the mainland city of Shenzhen.

 

The Hong Kong National Party wrote in a statement that it was “truly proud” to be the “first party to be barred from a democratic election by the Communist colonial government of Hong Kong.”

 

A small number of independence activists have grown increasingly vocal in the two years since the Umbrella Movement protests, when thousands of people occupied key roadways for more than two months to push for a greater say in nominating candidates for the chief executive, Hong Kong’s top political office.

 

Under the terms of its return to Chinese control, Hong Kong is allowed to maintain a highly autonomous political and legal system. But many people here have grown worried about the possibility of a premature decline of the “one country, two systems” model and the erosion of the civil rights enjoyed by Hong Kong residents.

 

The government said the election pledge, announced just weeks ago, was meant to ensure that a candidate for office would be able to meet the requirements of the job, including swearing to uphold the Basic Law.

 

But some people questioned whether it was a sign of increasing influence from China’s central government, which has harshly prosecuted advocates of independence in the western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

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[FanboyOf91]

I remember when America was that young...

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