Hong Kong students continue fight for democracy
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With yellow ribbons on their chests and idealism on their sleeves, thousands of university students walked out of their classrooms and into a weeklong campaign of protests and rallies to agitate for greater democracy.
Students from 25 universities and colleges packed a 9km-long boulevard at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where banners such as “Fight against what we resist, fight for what we want” were strung up.
Organisers claim some 13,000 people turned up.
Yesterday marked the first day of their class boycott to protest against Beijing’s strict rules for universal suffrage in Hong Kong’s constitutional reform, which mean the central government picks candidates for the post of chief executive, whom the people will elect in 2017.
This was as Hong Kong’s tycoons met Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday, a rare meeting that usually takes place when the city is in turmoil. Xi said Beijing’s policy towards the city “has not been changed and will not be changed”.
Meanwhile, pro-democracy activists hope the student protests will help build momentum for a wider march on China’s National Day next Wednesday, which could lead to the start of the civil disobedience movement “Occupy Central”, a sit-in in Hong Kong’s financial district.
“We will never bow to fate and we will take our future back,” said Alex Chow, secretary-general of the Federation of Students, an umbrella group of student unions and a boycott organiser.
Hong Kong University undergraduate Thomas Li, 18, who was there with his friends, said: “The power of the students may not be enough to alter Beijing’s decision. But if we don’t do anything today, our future will be even more dire.”
On whether protests could, in effect, lead to a backlash and result in Beijing’s tighter control over the city, student Rachel Ma, 18, said she is certain that “China won’t take stronger actions because the world, including foreign investors, is watching”.
