Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying Hopes Dialogue Will Begin as Early as Next Week
ENLARGE
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying maintains his hard line on protests, which have paralyzed traffic on some roads for nearly three weeks. Reuters
HONG KONG—After nearly three weeks of protests including violent confrontations with police, the two sides in the Hong Kong standoff haven’t talked and haven’t budged on their demands.
With the first negotiations on track to begin next week, the students leading the protests and city officials appear to be talking past each other, repeatedly making demands that the other side has rejected. But there are possible signs of compromise emerging behind the scenes.
On Thursday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying continued his hard line at a news conference, saying police could clear protest sites even while talks were going on. “This is very important: dialogue and clearing the protests are two separate things. We won’t refrain from clearing the sites because of dialogue, nor will we refrain from dialogue because of [plans] to clear the sites.”
But clearing the sites and attempting dialogue simultaneously is unlikely to be successful since every effort to halt the protests have brought out huge crowds of demonstrators and broadened the support for the students.
Thursday marked a relatively quiet day in the protests in Hong Kong, with one minor overnight skirmish and no efforts by police to clear more roads.
Police said they had suspended seven officers involved in the alleged beating of a protester early Wednesday morning. A video of the beating of protester Ken Tsang was seen around the world and was a setback for Hong Kong police, which has struggled to contain the protests.
Hong Kong police pepper sprayed pro-democracy protesters in the early hours of Thursday after a group of them tried to cut off one of the city’s main roads.
Hong Kong’s hospitality industry could face its worst decline in a decade as the nearly three-week demonstration has prompted some cancellations of hotel bookings, said lawmaker Yiu Si-wing, a member of the Legislative Council who represents the tourism industry.
Mr. Yiu said October and November are typically the peak season for the city’s hotel industry, as many business travelers arrive for trade fairs and exhibitions. Occupancy rates at many high-end hotels could reach more than 90%, but “this year some business travelers have decided to cut short their trips or even cancel them due to safety concerns,” he said, adding that the industry’s average occupancy rate is around 70% to 80% this month.
“We have yet to reach the worst situation but many hotel operators are beginning to adjust down their rates in a bid to fill up more rooms. If the massive protests remain unresolved next month, occupancy rates could fall to 50%--the lowest in a decade,” he said.
Mr. Yiu also said that since more than 90% of Hong Kong’s 1,700 travel agencies are small enterprises, continuous weakness in demand could lead some of them to shut down. As the two sides move toward negotiations, they are both publicly adopting hard-line positions. The pro-democracy protesters’ main demand is public nomination of candidates for Hong Kong’s chief executive, the city’s top post. Beijing declared on Aug. 31 that the nomination of candidates has to be approved by a committee that historically has been loyal to Beijing. The students want that position reversed.
Mr. Leung said at the news conference Thursday that the students’ wish for the National People’s Congress’s decision to be revoked is impossible and urged them to adopt positions that are “pragmatic.”
Despite the rhetoric from Hong Kong officials, a final decision on how to proceed with Hong Kong hasn’t been made, according to one person familiar with the matter.
Early in the protest Beijing sent a message to Hong Kong’s government to not use excessive force after a move by police to deploy tear gas on protesters brought out huge crowds and spread the protest to three districts in the city.
Standoff in Hong Kong
Scuffles broke out between protesters and police early Thursday in Hong Kong.
One turning point could be an important policy meeting that starts next week—the Fourth Plenum—which is likely to focus on President Xi Jinping ’s anticorruption campaign. The week is likely to be consumed by the case against former security chief Zhou Yongkang , the first time corruption charges have been laid against a ranking or retired member of the Politburo Standing Committee.
“If [Xi] can settle that matter he will have time and room to decide how Hong Kong will proceed,” said one person familiar with the talks between Beijing and Hong Kong.
“Even if they start the dialogue they have nothing in the pocket,” this person said. “The likely decision to be made is after the fourth plenary.”
One area of possible compromise is looking ahead to the 2022 chief executive election. Raymond Tam, the director of the chief executive’s office, said at the news conference Thursday that students should keep their eye on the 2022 elections instead, as 2017 is just “the beginning of a new chapter,” said Mr. Tam.
The government said it has appointed some intermediaries to broker a start to discussions. One of the middlemen is said to be Joseph J.Y. Sung, president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, according to two people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for the university declined to comment.
The government’s efforts have been led by Carrie Lam, the city’s No. 2 official, who has been put forward as a conciliator. The original talks ended in acrimony on Oct. 9 as Ms. Lam accused students of changing their demands and described their call for Beijing to change its decision as a breach of the Basic Law.
Alex Chow, leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, has already announced plans for further actions that include disruptive tactics against the government. Pro-democracy lawmakers have vowed that they would block key bills in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on funding, for example.
“Frankly speaking I cannot see any proposal that would be feasible unless Beijing is going to change its mind,” Albert Ho, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said in an interview.
Both the police and government are hoping that public support for the protesters wanes, allowing the streets to be reopened. But any new slip up could reverse that, said Steve Vickers, a former senior officer in the Royal Hong Kong police force and now chief executive of the specialist political and corporate risk consultancy Steve Vickers & Associates Ltd.
“Further mistakes by the government and police may exacerbate the situation,” Mr. Vickers said.
—Chester Yung and Joanne Chiu contributed to this article.
HONG KONG—After nearly three weeks of protests including violent confrontations with police, the two sides in the Hong Kong standoff haven’t talked and haven’t budged on their demands.
With the first negotiations on track to begin next week, the students leading the protests and city officials appear to be talking past each other, repeatedly making demands that the other side has rejected. But there are possible signs of compromise emerging behind the scenes.
On Thursday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying continued his hard line at a news conference, saying police could clear protest sites even while talks were going on. “This is very important: dialogue and clearing the protests are two separate things. We won’t refrain from clearing the sites because of dialogue, nor will we refrain from dialogue because of [plans] to clear the sites.”
But clearing the sites and attempting dialogue simultaneously is unlikely to be successful since every effort to halt the protests have brought out huge crowds of demonstrators and broadened the support for the students.
Thursday marked a relatively quiet day in the protests in Hong Kong, with one minor overnight skirmish and no efforts by police to clear more roads.
Police said they had suspended seven officers involved in the alleged beating of a protester early Wednesday morning. A video of the beating of protester Ken Tsang was seen around the world and was a setback for Hong Kong police, which has struggled to contain the protests.
Hong Kong police pepper sprayed pro-democracy protesters in the early hours of Thursday after a group of them tried to cut off one of the city’s main roads.
Hong Kong’s hospitality industry could face its worst decline in a decade as the nearly three-week demonstration has prompted some cancellations of hotel bookings, said lawmaker Yiu Si-wing, a member of the Legislative Council who represents the tourism industry.
Mr. Yiu said October and November are typically the peak season for the city’s hotel industry, as many business travelers arrive for trade fairs and exhibitions. Occupancy rates at many high-end hotels could reach more than 90%, but “this year some business travelers have decided to cut short their trips or even cancel them due to safety concerns,” he said, adding that the industry’s average occupancy rate is around 70% to 80% this month.
“We have yet to reach the worst situation but many hotel operators are beginning to adjust down their rates in a bid to fill up more rooms. If the massive protests remain unresolved next month, occupancy rates could fall to 50%--the lowest in a decade,” he said.
Mr. Yiu also said that since more than 90% of Hong Kong’s 1,700 travel agencies are small enterprises, continuous weakness in demand could lead some of them to shut down. As the two sides move toward negotiations, they are both publicly adopting hard-line positions. The pro-democracy protesters’ main demand is public nomination of candidates for Hong Kong’s chief executive, the city’s top post. Beijing declared on Aug. 31 that the nomination of candidates has to be approved by a committee that historically has been loyal to Beijing. The students want that position reversed.
Mr. Leung said at the news conference Thursday that the students’ wish for the National People’s Congress’s decision to be revoked is impossible and urged them to adopt positions that are “pragmatic.”
Despite the rhetoric from Hong Kong officials, a final decision on how to proceed with Hong Kong hasn’t been made, according to one person familiar with the matter.
Early in the protest Beijing sent a message to Hong Kong’s government to not use excessive force after a move by police to deploy tear gas on protesters brought out huge crowds and spread the protest to three districts in the city.
Standoff in Hong Kong
Scuffles broke out between protesters and police early Thursday in Hong Kong.
One turning point could be an important policy meeting that starts next week—the Fourth Plenum—which is likely to focus on President Xi Jinping ’s anticorruption campaign. The week is likely to be consumed by the case against former security chief Zhou Yongkang , the first time corruption charges have been laid against a ranking or retired member of the Politburo Standing Committee.
“If [Xi] can settle that matter he will have time and room to decide how Hong Kong will proceed,” said one person familiar with the talks between Beijing and Hong Kong.
“Even if they start the dialogue they have nothing in the pocket,” this person said. “The likely decision to be made is after the fourth plenary.”
One area of possible compromise is looking ahead to the 2022 chief executive election. Raymond Tam, the director of the chief executive’s office, said at the news conference Thursday that students should keep their eye on the 2022 elections instead, as 2017 is just “the beginning of a new chapter,” said Mr. Tam.
The government said it has appointed some intermediaries to broker a start to discussions. One of the middlemen is said to be Joseph J.Y. Sung, president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, according to two people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for the university declined to comment.
The government’s efforts have been led by Carrie Lam, the city’s No. 2 official, who has been put forward as a conciliator. The original talks ended in acrimony on Oct. 9 as Ms. Lam accused students of changing their demands and described their call for Beijing to change its decision as a breach of the Basic Law.
Alex Chow, leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, has already announced plans for further actions that include disruptive tactics against the government. Pro-democracy lawmakers have vowed that they would block key bills in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on funding, for example.
“Frankly speaking I cannot see any proposal that would be feasible unless Beijing is going to change its mind,” Albert Ho, a pro-democracy lawmaker, said in an interview.
Both the police and government are hoping that public support for the protesters wanes, allowing the streets to be reopened. But any new slip up could reverse that, said Steve Vickers, a former senior officer in the Royal Hong Kong police force and now chief executive of the specialist political and corporate risk consultancy Steve Vickers & Associates Ltd.
“Further mistakes by the government and police may exacerbate the situation,” Mr. Vickers said.
—Chester Yung and Joanne Chiu contributed to this article.
No comments:
Post a Comment