2014 Hong Kong protests: The 2014 Hong Kong protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement or Umbrella Revolution, began in September 2014 when anti-government advocates in Hong Kong protested outside the government headquarters and occupied several major city intersections after the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress (NPCSC) announced its decision on proposed electoral reform. Instead of allowing civil nominations, the NPCSC made it clear that a 1200-member nominating committee, which would remain nominated by the business factions and strictly controlled by Beijing, would elect two to three electoral candidates with more than half of the votes before the general public can vote upon,which is seen as effectively screening out any pro-democracy candidate. The Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism began protesting outside the government headquarters on 22 September 2014 against the NPCSCs decision. On the evening of 26 September, several hundred demonstrators breached a security barrier and entered the forecourt of the Central Government Complex, which was once a public space that has been barred from public entry since July 2014. Officers cordoned off protesters within the courtyard and restricted their movement overnight, eventually removing them by force the next day. Occupy Central announced that they would begin their civil disobedience campaign immediately. On 28 September, protesters blocked both east–west arterial routes in northern Hong Kong Island near Admiralty. Apparent rough-handling by police, including the unnecessary use of tear gas, and attacks on protesters by opponents that included triad members, triggered more citizens joining the protests. The government set 6 October as a deadline for the protests to end, but this was ignored by protesters, although they allowed government workers to enter offices that had previously been blocked. The state-run Chinese media claimed that the West had played an instigating role in the protests and that more people in Hong Kong are supporting the anti-Occupy Central movement, and warned of deaths and injuries and other grave consequences if the protests continue. In an opinion poll, a majority of citizens (59%) surveyed since 4 October supported the protesters. When Occupy Central with Love and Peace declared the launch of the campaign, many protesters came out with the purpose of supporting the student activists. The occupation phase of the campaign was neither specifically organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Students nor OCLP. The term Occupy Central (佔中) is commonly used by the media to describe the occupy campaign in Hong Kong. Poster for the Umbrella Revolution with slogans including The Hong Kong Federation of Students does not represent me and Do not believe the leftards, beware of dispersal tactics. The name Umbrella Revolution was coined by Adam Cotton on Twitter on 26 September to describe the large number of protesters who brought umbrellas to defend themselves from pepper spray and tear gas, and went on to be widely used in international media.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 07:01:10 +0000
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