Hong Kong students strike as business delegation visits Beijing

Want China Times, Chan Lap Lok 2014-09-27

The first student strike rally held at Hong Kong Chinese
University, Sept. 22. (File photo/CNA)

On Sept. 22, as former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa led a delegation to visit Beijing and met President Xi Jinping, more than 10,000 Hong Kong students launched a five-day boycott of classes to protest Beijing's insistence on vetting candidates for the fifth term of the chief executive of Hong Kong and the city's legislators in 2017.

The delegation led by Tung has been dubbed by the media as the tycoon delegation with members including Hong Kong property tycoon Li Ka-shing, his second son Richard Li, Henderson Land chairperson Lee Shau-kee, Kerry Group founder Robert Kuok, K Wah International chairperson Lui Che-woo and New World Development chairperson Henry Cheng. Their visit has been seen as a move to show their support of Beijing's political reform policy unveiled in late August and suggest that Hong Kong's economy will remain stable despite the protesters occupying the city's Central district.

In contrast to the Sept. 19 delegation of the New People's Party which met National People's Congress (NPC) chairperson Zhang Dejiang, Tung's delegation was received by Xi himself, testament to their higher profile. The tycoons sat beside Xi, ahead of other politicians, suggesting that Beijing's policy of letting capitalists run Hong Kong hasn't changed as the economy has always been top priority and politics is secondary.

The endorsement of Beijing's policies won't be perceived in a positive light by the people of Hong Kong however. In recent years, Hong Kong's property prices have continued to spike, triggering complaints and criticism in the media and online, accusing the tycoons of real estate hegemony. On a previous visit, Li Ka-shing sat right beside then president Hu Jintao, and this time Li sat right beside Xi, indicating that Li, who has a different political viewpoint from incumbent chief executive Leung Chun-ying, is still seen as influential in the eyes of the Beijing leadership.

About 13,000 Hong Kong students from 25 universities and colleges joined the student strike, pledging to abolish the NPC's decision to vet candidates in a direct election. They pledged not to stop the strikes until the Hong Kong government and the central government listen to the voice of the students.

As Hong Kong has nearly 100,000 students in total, the students joining the strike accounted for about one-eighth of the total, marking the largest student strike in the history of Hong Kong. Student unions said they will negotiate with labor unions and teachers' unions about the possibility of launching a labor strike and a market strike.

It seems unlikely that Beijing will yield to their demands however.

The Hong Kong government responded to students' calls by saying that the city government respects students' pursuit and perseverance of democratic ideals, but it believes Hong Kong's political system can move an important step forward by introducing universal suffrage, which is definitely better than treading old ground.

(Chan Lap Lok is a columnist based in Hong Kong. Translated by Want China Times.)

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