Archive for the ‘Democracy’ Category
Hong Kong wrestles with growing division linked to pro-democracy protests
HONG KONG Choi, a 21-year-old student, does not tell his parents when he heads off to join the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Its simply not worth the aggravation.
We had a few discussions, but it never ended well, he said, using only one name to avoid more trouble with his family. We avoid talking about it now. Lots of my friends have a bad situation at home as well.
These days, the Chinese territory of Hong Kong seems full of divisions. A generational divide separates young people who support the protests and older people who do not; tensions exist between Hong Kong and the government of China and between the peoples of Hong Kong and mainland China. There are even divisions between protesters about the best way forward.
Police have used tear gas and pepper spray on the protesters, who have responded with insults.
Groups of old men turn up at the protest sites and taunt the students as traitors who are fulfilling a Western agenda to bring China down; pro-democracy protesters jeer at their opponents as agents of the Beijing government, betraying Hong Kongs unique values and Cantonese-speaking identity.
This once-apolitical enclave has suddenly become polarized, and not everybody is comfortable with the change.
I have lived in Hong Kong since 1948, and I cant remember a single issue that has so divided society, said Anson Chan, the 74-year old former chief secretary of the territory who has joined those calling for democracy. Even within my family, there are such strongly held views.
Long-term bitterness
In the latest development in the months-long protest saga, three leaders of the demonstrations were denied boarding passes Saturday for a flight from Hong Kong to Beijing, where they had hoped to meet with senior Chinese officials.
Airline officials told the three students that their travel documents had been invalidated by the Chinese government, news reports said.
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Hong Kong wrestles with growing division linked to pro-democracy protests
Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders denied permit to Beijing
Three student leaders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests were denied permission Saturday to board a flight to Beijing, where they hoped to seek direct talks with top central government officials.
The representatives from the Hong Kong Federation of Students were told that their travel permits to the mainland had been invalidated by authorities. No further explanation was given.
The three had sought talks with Premier Li Keqiang, or members of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, because they believe Hong Kong authorities are unable to resolve the fundamental issues that sparked the demonstrations.
Protesters in Hong Kong took to the streets in late September to express their anger over guidelines for the semi-autonomous territory's 2017 chief executive election issued in August by the standing committee. Though the guidelines say voters will be allowed for the first time to directly cast ballots for the chief executive, the panel also ordered that all candidates must be approved by a screening committee that is widely expected to be largely composed of pro-establishment figures. Demonstrators contend this arrangement amounts to "fake democracy" and want the rules rescinded.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a framework known as "one country, two systems."
A dialogue between Hong Kong officials and some protest leaders last month yielded no progress to resolve the political impasse.
Federation leader Alex Chow said he was not sure whether all members from HKFS are now barred from entering the mainland. A former member of the group who accompanied the trio also was denied permission to travel.
"There is a high possibility that a [black] list exists," said Chow.
Leung Kwok-hung, a prominent liberal Hong Kong activist better known as "Long hair" Leung, said it was a basic right of Hong Kong people to travel into the mainland. This move "reflects the fact that the government is insincere on this issue," said Leung.
Hong Kong citizens can travel freely to the mainland with their "home return permit," officially known as the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macau Residents. Chow said all three were in possession of permits. Chow said it was unclear what department invalided the documents. The group learned of the situation when they tried to check in luggage for their flight.
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Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders denied permit to Beijing
Hong Kongs Pro-Democracy Student Leaders Refused Entry to Beijing
TIME World Hong Kong Hong Kongs Pro-Democracy Student Leaders Refused Entry to Beijing From left: Nathan Law, Alex Chow and Eason Chung of the Hong Kong Federation of Students after being refused to board the plane to Beijing at the Hong Kong International Airport on Nov. 15, 2014 Tyrone SiuReuters Entry, like democracy, denied
Student leaders of Hong Kongs pro-democracy protests are officially persona non grata on the Chinese mainland after they were not allowed to board a flight to Beijing where they planned to press their demands for free local elections.
Alex Chow, Eason Chung and Nathan Law of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) were booked to fly to the Chinese capital on Saturday but were refused entry after their return-home cards equivalent to a permanent visa given to Hong Kong residents of Chinese ancestry were revoked by the mainland authorities.
Chow told reporters that the trip was to voice the opinion of Hong Kong people to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The movement in Hong Kong will be ongoing, he adds. Hong Kong people have been pursuing democracy and democratic reform for more than three decades and we are still on our way to restructure the concept of democracy.
The HKFS trio intended to urge Li to reconsider an Aug. 31 decision by the Chinese Communist Party that said all candidates standing for election for Hong Kongs top job of chief executive in 2017 must first be vetted by a 1,200-strong nominating committee perceived as loyal to Beijing.
Democracy activists see this as a betrayal and tens of thousands of protesters have occupied three main thoroughfares of Hong Kong since Sept. 28, although numbers have dwindled significantly in recent weeks. Pressure is mounting on student leaders to clear the streets as discontent grows about the ongoing disruption to transport and local businesses.
According to local media, the Hong Kong government may enforce multiple injunctions against the protesters as soon as Monday or Tuesday, and the Beijing foray was seen as something of a last resort after discussions with city officials mired.
We dont want to go to Beijing, but [Hong Kong's top civil servant] Carrie Lam says not all of Hong Kongs problems can be solved by the Hong Kong government, Chung told media the night before their scheduled departure. Lam said Tuesday that there was no need for the students to go to Beijing if they were going to repeat the same demands they have made of the Hong Kong government. The HKFS received a similar response from former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, after they sent an open letter beseeching him to set up a meeting with Beijing authorities.
The entry denial was largely expected; a member of Scholarism, another student group championing the protests, was denied entry into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, earlier in the week, according to local news channel RTHK.
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Hong Kongs Pro-Democracy Student Leaders Refused Entry to Beijing
Democracy delusions
Economist and law professor Gordon Tullock passed away the day before the election. But had he lived another day, he still wouldn't have voted.
He refused to vote, in part because the branch of economics he helped create public choice helped convince him that people behave just as selfishly and foolishly when they vote as when they make any other kind of decisions but with more devastating effects on other people.
At the Cafe Hayek blog, economist Don Boudreaux writes that it's good if people don't vote because by avoiding politics they come to depend more on personal initiative and less on untrustworthy, power-craving strangers.
Well said.
We don't suddenly become wiser and nobler when we step into the voting booth. If anything, the decisions we make there are more ignorant and reckless than the ones we make when buying a car.
You probably know more about what kind of car you want than about what sort of laws to impose on your neighbors. It's another reason why most of life is best left to free individuals.
The left treats markets with contempt and political processes as if they're sacred. Then, to explain why politics disappoints, they pretend that money sullies politics.
They're upset because the Supreme Court said money can be spent on ads that inform voters of different factions' views. It turned out that Democrats were the biggest spenders. But that doesn't stop them from complaining that evil Republican tycoons used money to manipulate voters who would otherwise have chosen the candidates decent Democrats want them to.
Republicans, meanwhile, get upset if money is used to bet on things. There once was a wonderful online predictions market called Intrade. It allowed people to bet on future events, including elections.
Intrade's odds were much more accurate predictions than those made by pundits and pollsters. That's because there is wisdom in large numbers and because Intrade bettors put real money at risk (unlike pundits and water-cooler prognosticators).
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Democracy delusions