Beijing had earlier promised universal suffrage to the civilians of Hong Kong by 2017, but the recently announced guidelines that say Beijing will be ruling over the candidate selection for 2017 elections has led to strong demonstrations. It is being seen as a move to place Beijing’s Loyalists in the prospective government machinery of Hong Kong, thereby leaving little room for a fair play of democracy.
Working under a “one country, two systems” policy, Hong Kong is questioning Beijing’s intent over its free and independent institutions of judiciary and press with this advancement.
Popularly coined as “occupy-central-movement” by the protesters, the movement has already been condemned by the central government’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office “as an illegal gathering”. Meanwhile, Hong Kong police has enacted restraint on protesters through firing tear gas and charging batons. News about the mainland suggests that the work “Occupy-Central” has been already blocked Weibo, which is China’s version of twitter. While the matter is hardly in circulation amidst the local press in the mainland; popular photo sharing website Instagram has also been temporarily banned. Reportedly, Beijing makes these quick regulatory moves so as to avoid any pro-democracy protests in other parts of mainland China – as right to speech and right to protest are only limited to the former British Colony of Hong Kong.
Infact, Hong Kong is now a powerful financial Centre of the world, and uncertainty in the region has already sent tremors down the stock prices in UK and US.
—Divyansh Dev with inputs from agencies
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