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Albert Ho throws pan-dems into disarray over his plan to resign. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
The idea of allowing voters to veto all candidates in the 2017 chief executive poll is gaining some currency in the pro-establishment camp, as two scholars who opposed Occupy Central expressed support for it at a seminar yesterday.
The government is contemplating the proposal put forward by law lecturer and Basic Law Committee member Professor Albert Chen Hung-yee.
Francis Lui Ting-ming, an economics professor from the University of Science and Technology, said at the seminar held by Silent Majority for Hong Kong that the idea would be "acceptable" as long as the threshold for invalidating the election was kept high.
"The so-called 'blank vote' system has its flaws," Lui said, noting that voters could trigger a collapse of the election by rushing to tick a "none of the above" option on the ballot paper.
He agreed with Chen that an election should be voided only when more than 50 per cent of voters chose that option.
"The government should give incentives or even make it mandatory for voters to go to the polls, so as to increase the turnout," he said.
Ho Lok-sang, a Lingnan University economics professor and Silent Majority co-founder, admitted that "very little" could be done under the reform framework laid down by the national legislature in August.
Ho cited a 2009 court decision in India which ruled that voters had "a right to reject" candidates in elections.
Meanwhile, Democrat Albert Ho Chun-yan's proposal to trigger a "de facto referendum" on democracy hung in the balance last night.
Ho surprised politicians last week by announcing that he would resign from his Legco seat after lawmakers vetoed the reform package.
The Democratic Party's central committee will meet on Thursday to discuss Ho's proposal.
Civic Party lawmaker Dr Kenneth Chan Ka-lok said his group's executive committee would meet today to consider whether to back the idea.
One of the shared concerns of the pan-democratic camp, he said, was whether the by-election would divert resources from district council polls in November, which all parties see as the defining test of public opinion after Occupy.
Lana Wong becomes the latest entertainer to express an interest in joining the political fray after Canto-pop singer Denise Ho said she may run for a Legislative Council seat. Photo: Thomas Yau
The forthcoming district council election may see an unusual candidate - 83-year-old former actress Lana Wong Ha-wai, who is hinting at a run against anti-Occupy Central activist Leticia Lee See-yin in the November polls.
Wong becomes the latest entertainer to express an interest in joining the political fray after Canto-pop singer Denise Ho Wan-see said she may run for a Legislative Council seat.
Wong - noted for her distinctive looks and bubbly personality - took to social media to hint at a campaign.
"This photo will become my profile picture in my poster should I decide to run for election," Wong wrote after uploading a new picture to her sites. "I hope 2015 is a year to fight for my dream again."
And Wong made clear her thoughts on Lee, who is also considering a district council run, with a play on words.
"I don't agree with smoking. So, please do not support illicit cigarettes. Thank you," Wong wrote. Lee's Chinese name, See-yin, sounds like the Cantonese term for "illicit cigarette".
Wong, an outspoken supporter of social causes including gay rights, did not respond to inquiries yesterday. Her publicist said it was not the right time to make any announcement.
A source close to Wong said her plans were not yet finalised, but a district council seat would be the limit of her ambitions.
"She definitely will not run for Legco, which would be too much at her age," the source said. Campaign funding was another issue, the source added.
But internet users have rushed to declare their support for the actress, who has become something of a local cultural icon. Each year she dons dramatic outfits and jostles with the crowds at the Wong Tai Sin Temple to be the first person to make an incense offering at Lunar New Year.
She is also known for donning daring costumes, despite her age.
But it is her outspoken personality that has earned her a huge, young following.
In 2012, she joined protests outside Dolce & Gabbana in Tsim Sha Tsui after the Italian fashion brand barred Hongkongers from taking photos of its window display while allowing mainland shoppers to do so.
In 2013, she brought food and drinks to striking dock workers protesting outside the Cheung Kong Center. Last year, she made numerous appearances at Occupy Central protest sites to show her support for democracy.
Lee is a leader of the antiOccupy movement and is also known for her social conservatism, in particular attacking organisations that take a sympathetic stance on gay rights.
Tanya Chan (centre) reports to police at in Wan Chai. Police have asked activists for help with their investigation, but the activists don't plan to cooperate. Photo: Sam Tsang
Another pro-democracy sit-in could take place again as soon as February 1 - organisers of a pro-democracy march that day say they will "work closely" with any group that has such a plan in mind.
Civil Human Rights Front convenor Daisy Chan Sin-ying is expecting 50,000 people to march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, to Chater Road in Central, on February 1, less than two months after the 79-day protests ended.
The marchers will call for local and central authorities to allow "genuine universal suffrage" in Hong Kong, and to shelve Beijing's ruling last August. That's the decision in which the central government announced the people of Hong Kong could elect their leader in 2017, but only from candidates approved by a nominating committee likely to be full of Beijing's supporters.
Chan said the march would start at 2pm, and a rally on Chater Road would end by midnight.
"We have no plan to stay behind … and we have yet to hear from any organisation that has such an idea," Chan said. "But we are psychologically prepared … and we will also work closely with any political group that tells us about their plan."
Chan also called for participants to bring their umbrellas, which the Occupy movement has adopted as its symbol.
On January 1 last year, the front put the number of participants in their annual march at 30,000. Police said there were 11,000. This year's annual New Year's Day march was pushed back by a month to coincide with the second round of public consultation on democratic reform.
Yesterday, Civic Party vice-chairwoman and former legislator Tanya Chan was arrested when she arrived at police headquarters - at the request of the police - on suspicion of instigating others to take part in an unauthorised assembly.
She was the first key figure of the Occupy movement to have been arrested following the mass sit-ins. She was released at 9pm after refusing bail but police said they retained the right to prosecute her. More than 20 other activists have been told to report to Wan Chai police station in the next two weeks.
Chan said she had been prepared to be arrested and detained for up to 48 hours.
A host of pan-democrats including Civic Party leader Alan Leong, League of Social Democrats' "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung and Occupy Central co-founder Reverend Chu Yiu-ming showed up outside the police headquarters yesterday in support of Chan.
The other activists expected to follow Chan include all three Occupy founders, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Dr Chan Kin-man and Chu, as well as media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, publisher of Apple Daily. They have all been told to report to the station between January 21 and 24.
Foreign Office Asia-Pacific director Stephen Lillie says it is possible to have a fair choice of candidates in the upcoming 2017 race for Hong Kong's top job, by devising 'some arrangements'.
Britain's Foreign Office says it believes Beijing's framework for electoral reform offers a "genuine choice" in the 2017 chief executive election.
Stephen Lillie, the Foreign Office Asia-Pacific director, said the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress meant a fair choice of candidates could emerge from the proposed 1,200-member nominating committee.
"Is it possible to devise detailed arrangements within the terms of the [committee's] decision that allow up to three candidates to emerge from the nominating committee, who do not all look exactly the same with the same range of policies and the same political affiliation, from the pan-democrats to pro-Beijing parties?" he asked the British parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. "Our assessment is that it is still possible to come up with arrangements that would allow that."
British Foreign Office chief Hugo Swire acknowledged that 'proper democracy' was not on the table for Hongkongers yet. Photo: Sam Tsang
Britain's welcoming of a "genuine choice" of candidates shows London is throwing its full weight behind the current reform proposals, in its clearest attempt yet to heal a diplomatic rift with Beijing over Hong Kong.
Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire told the Foreign Affairs Committee he had urged members of the Legislative Council to look at Beijing's proposals.
"What we are saying is we want a package, to the benefit of all people of Hong Kong, to be endorsed because we very much want to see this road to a purer form of democracy undertaken by 2017 and then ultimately in 2020," he said.
"That's the stark choice because if two-thirds don't agree with Legco, none of this is going to happen."
While the framework "may not be perfect" or "pure", Swire said, "something is better than nothing" and it did represent a genuine improvement.
However, the Foreign Affairs Committee criticised the vagueness of the Foreign Office stance.
"One can't help but feel the [Foreign Office] is being intentionally ambiguous in order to avoid taking a clear stance on this," said Conservative MP John Baron earlier in the hearing.
Despite the committee's scrutiny of the Foreign Office stance, Swire insisted: "I think we are on a journey to greater democracy and accountability."
However, Swire agreed with the committee that "proper democracy" wasn't yet an option available to Hongkongers.
Veteran Hong Kong democracy advocate Martin Lee Chu-ming expressed disappointment with London's stance.
"I think I can sum up the foreign policy of the British government in three words: more China trade," Lee said.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (left) was apparently referring to the leaked emails that showed Occupy co-founder Benny Tai (right) had forwarded HK$1.45 million in donations from at least one anonymous donor to his employer to cover some of the expenses incurred by the Occupy movement. Photos: Felix Wong, Jonathan Wong
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying claimed yesterday there was significant information indicating that foreign powers were behind the organisation of the Occupy Central movement, but he did not provide substantial evidence to support the claim.
At the height of the pro-democracy protests in November, Leung said he had proof foreign forces had long been meddling in the city's politics and he would substantiate his claims with evidence at an appropriate time.
"The interference of external forces into Hong Kong's politics - including a large-scale and illegal public movement such as Occupy Central - should have drawn [more] attention in the society," Leung said ahead of the Executive Council meeting yesterday.
"In the past few months, large amounts of materials have been revealed … and those people concerned did not deny the validity of such documents."
Leung did not specify what those materials were, but he was apparently referring to the leaked emails that showed Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting, a legal scholar at the University of Hong Kong, had forwarded HK$1.45 million in donations from at least one anonymous donor to his employer over several months last year to cover some of the expenses incurred by the Occupy movement.
In an event on Monday that was open only to two pro-government newspapers - Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Pao - Leung reportedly said the leaked emails showed "the trace of external forces" in the Occupy movement.
Those "external forces" included foreign governments, their subsidiary organisations or foreign-based non-governmental organisations, Leung said.
In that meeting, Leung also reportedly pointed out that the donations to Tai last year were made via cashier's cheques issued by an HSBC branch in Kwun Tong - the same bank branch from which Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying allegedly made donations to pan-democrats over the past few years.
But Leung has so far failed to explain how the donations were actually related to the foreign interference. A spokesman for Leung's office said no further information would be provided.
"Leung's allegations were completely groundless. Maybe it is part of his game plan to canvass public support for the political reform," Tai said. He reiterated yesterday the donations were from a local donor, but declined to reveal the donor's identity.
An internal HKU document last month showed the university's management was satisfied that Tai's donations complied with the institution's rules.
But a source close to the government said that as Benny Tai had denied receiving financial support from external sources, he should reveal the identity of the real donors.
Officials hint at what's in British government report on Hong Kong pro-democracy protests
Foreign Office document will also endorse law enforcement and judicial measures taken during the 79 days of Occupy demonstrations
Pro-democracy protesters stage an occupy protest outside the British consulate in Admiralty last November. Photo: Felix Wong
Britain's upcoming half-yearly report on Hong Kong will say the city's governing principle of "one country, two systems" has been "put to the test" and come "under strain" during the Occupy Central protests.
However, the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law and the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration continue to be "generally respected", the 36th edition of the Foreign Office report will say. It has been published every six months since the 1997 handover.
Part of the report will cite issues relating to respect for freedom of the press and the judicial system.
Comments from a draft version of the report, which covers events from July 1 to December 31 last year, were released during a hearing of the British parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Hong Kong.
At the inquiry on Tuesday, Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire testified that the report would say the city continued to enjoy "a degree" of autonomy - rather than a "high degree".
The British consulate in Hong Kong later clarified that Swire wanted to say "high degree of autonomy" during the hearing.
The committee also heard from two senior civil servants with oversight of China and the Asia-Pacific, including Gareth Ward, head of the Foreign Office's China department.
In the light of allegations over police brutality and poor handling of the 79-day Occupy protests, the report would endorse the law enforcement and judicial measures taken, Ward said.
"The response has been proportionate," he cited the draft as saying. "The rule of law has stood up to the test and … the judicial process has been followed: due process, habeas corpus, proper approach to arrests and investigations of those small number of incidents which do appear to be disproportionate."
The final report is expected to be released as early as next week, and in a fortnight at the latest.
It will include "a very full account" of Occupy since the early days of the movement's conception through to the beginning of student protests that snowballed and culminated in the launch of the civil disobedience sit-ins.
Livelihood and social issues will also be examined, including housing and the wealth gap.
It will also touch on the British parliamentary inquiry which prompted a ban on members visiting Hong Kong.
In response to criticism that the six-monthly reports were "bland, anodyne and weak", Swire said they were a "pretty fair reflection" to Parliament of the latest events in Hong Kong.
"They serve a useful purpose. They're a good marker to what we have being doing … every six months," he said. "To those who wish us to desist from producing them, we will continue."
Ivy Ma at her Gallery Exit show. "I am trying to see how a present moment will very soon be a past moment," she says. Photo: May Tse
LAST YEAR
Gallery Exit
Ivy Ma's latest exhibition is a detour for the artist. Titled "Last Year", the works are photographs taken during the recent Occupy protests in the city.
"This series is important, because it is the first time that I have taken current events as my subject," says the 41-year-old.
"My work has always had history as its subject, and I am specifically interested in the dynamic relationship between people and the movement of history. How people maintain their own sense of self in the midst of so many events beyond their control is a question I am continually addressing in my work."
Shot with a smartphone then printed in black and white, Ma worked the images by hand, sanding away much of the detail before applying layers of colours and patterns. "I like to add something and take away something. It's about the process," she says. The end result is 40 individual portraits.
"I am trying to see how a present moment will very soon be a past moment and understand what this means. These hopeful and energetic young people who I am representing are both present and already past. They are speaking out, but will their voices be remembered?
Leaving by Ivy Ma
"I am not speaking for them, or trying to memorialise them. Rather, I am interested in recording how a present moment is transformed into what we call 'history'," she says.
For much of her work, which combines photography and drawing, Ma takes historical photographs — film stills, family snapshots, images of objects in museums — and manipulates them. "I disrupt them by erasing, sanding, and overlaying random patterns to bring the images back to the present. By making them obscure we are forced to look again."
Ma's previous works have also followed a careful and caring format, touching on difficult history such as the aftermath of the atomic explosion in Hiroshima, to pieces of clothing found in Cambodia's Killing Fields, and the empty barracks of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
"I'm always fascinated by the distance between the present and the past, as well as how history is archived and presented to us in the now," she says.
Gallery Exit, 3/F, 25 Hing Wo Street, Tin Wan, Aberdeen, Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm. Ends February 28. Inquiries: 25411299
Joshua Wong arrives at Wan Chai police station on Friday morning. Photo: Sam Tsang
Four Scholarism leaders including Joshua Wong Chi-fung were at Wan Chai police station this morning, expecting to be arrested for taking part in Occupy Central protests.
Before entering the police station, Wong, convenor of the student group that helped lead the civil disobedience movement, described the police’s move as “arrest by appointment”.
“When they called me earlier, they did not tell me clearly what charges they are considering or how many there are. I am worried there will be an abuse of power,” he said.
Wong, now a first year student at the Open University, said he was not nervous as this was not the first time he had been arrested.
The four students are the latest group invited to “assist investigations” over the 79-day Occupy Central movement that brought many of the city’s major roads to a standstill. In the past few days, activists and politicians have been going to the police station for the same purpose.
Most of them have remained silent in the process and refused to be bound by police bail.
Some of them were told by police that they were accused of inciting, organising and participating in unlawful assembly.
They were released without charge but it is not clear whether police will go after them again in future.
The other three Scholarism members summoned today were Agnes Chow Ting, Oscar Lai Man-lok and Derek Lam Shun-hin. Wong said they would all remain silent to police.
Joshua Wong arrives at Wan Chai police station on Friday morning. Photo: Sam Tsang
Four Scholarism members, including convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung, were released without charge this afternoon after reporting to Wan Chai police station over their role in Occupy Central protests.
Wong was released after three hours although police told him that he had been arrested on the suspicion of inciting, convening and participating in unauthorised assemblies. He said he refused to be bound by bail.
He said that during questioning, police showed him 17 video clips from YouTube and news reports in which he appeared. He remained silent throughout the process.
Scholarism members Agnes Chow Ting, Oscar Lai Man-lok and Derek Lam Shun-hin were also released without charge.
Scholarism convener Joshua Wong meets the media. Photo: Sam Tsang
A police spokesman confirmed on Friday evening that Wong and the three other Scholarism members were arrested on the grounds Wong described, and added that police would “reserve the right to prosecute”, despite their immediate release.
Wong, now a first year student at the Open University, said before entering the police station that he was not nervous as he had been arrested several times before.
The four students are the latest group invited to “assist investigations” over the 79-day Occupy Central movement that brought many of the city’s major roads to a standstill.
In the past few days, activists and politicians have been going to the police station for the same purpose.
Most of them have remained silent in the process and refused to be bound by police bail.
Some of them were told by police that they were accused of inciting, organising and participating in unlawful assembly.
They were released without charge but it is not clear whether police will go after them again in future.
Earlier, Wong suggested that the Scholarism members would all remain silent when questioned by police.
Education is the great leveller, rather than democracy
Regina Ip says youth discontent in Hong Kong has its root cause in the lack of opportunities that a good education can offer, whether or not the city has more democracy
It would be an exaggeration to suggest that all of our youth are as angry as the diehard Occupy participants. Photo: Reuters
As expected, a major theme in the chief executive's policy address this year is support for youth. As students played a leading role throughout the recently concluded Occupy protests, it would indeed have been remiss of Leung Chun-ying not to address their concerns.
Post Occupy, many suggest we have lost an entire generation. Have we really lost an entire generation and, if so, would support in the form of matching grants for young entrepreneurs, advice on "career and life planning", more opportunities for internships and visits to mainland China be of adequate comfort to our "lost" youth?
Young people did play a prominent role in the protest but it would be a gross exaggeration to suggest that all of our youth were as angry and as determined to overturn the establishment as the diehard Occupy participants. The political orientations of our youth are as diverse as their socio-economic situations.
Very broadly speaking, those engaged in gainful employment, whatever the wage level, might have sympathised with the Occupy activists but they steered clear of the protests.
Like others whose daily lives were affected, they quickly grew angry at having to get up at least one hour earlier to beat the traffic and wished life would return to normal as soon as possible.
The top 0.1 per cent of our young people aged 18 to 25, who had the best parental care, the best education and their future laid out for them, were largely unmoved.
They are the children of our top professionals, academics, senior civil servants and business leaders, who are being groomed to take over the reins. As plans at the top are unaffected by high-decibel protests on the street, life goes on for Hong Kong's privileged few.
Some well-educated young people in coveted professional jobs, including many overseas-returned professionals, were moved by the vision of the Occupy leaders and took to the streets for a few days. After they woke up to the reality that street protests were unlikely to bring about positive change, they returned to work.
The question that remains is what drove a minority of bitter, hard-core protesters to engage in the equivalent of city guerilla warfare with the police for weeks, braving pepper spray and batons, and the likelihood of an irremovable blot of criminal convictions?
One sobbing protester told a TV interviewer that she took part because "Hong Kong has nothing to lose".
Yet, Hong Kong lost heavily as a result of Occupy. Its reputation for peaceful demonstrations was shattered, its rule of law lay under siege for weeks, and its relations with mainland China - the people, not just the central authorities - hit a new low.
Post Occupy, the chances of a consensus on the chief executive election in 2017 seems more elusive than ever.
Chats with the protesters and the media profiles of some of the most flamboyant participants - the young man dressed as Captain America and another cross-dressed as a self-styled "Princess of Brightness" - reveal a common pattern. Other than those firmly committed to the "true democracy" ideology, many followers of the movement were engaged in manual jobs earning less than HK$14,000 per month, with little prospect of a significant raise, let alone a chance to own a home or even relocate to a public housing unit.
For them, the camps, which came with free power, water and often meals, offered much more freedom and glamour than their mundane daily lives.
Others found new influence by creating new personas on the internet. Suddenly, they found they had gained power by virtue of their ability to mobilise large numbers of people to demonstrate.
Contrast their lot with the Hong Kong youth who have made significant breakthroughs overseas by virtue of the global education they received.
Despite Hong Kong's general lack of interest in innovation and technology, a young Stanford University computer science graduate of Hong Kong origin (the son of a professor) has successfully set up a restaurant food delivery firm and is identified by Forbes magazine, along with his co-founder, as one of the "30 under 30" success stories in consumer technology.
Such success is attributable to a superior education, which equips young people with the skills to innovate and ride global trends, rather than to "genuine universal suffrage" or "full democracy".
These stories raise the question: which is more important in exerting a positive, transformative influence on ourselves and our society - more opportunities for a quality education, or more power to the people?
It would be difficult to find an answer to the above without further polarising our society.
But one thing is clear - the polarisation of knowledge and skills does translate into a polarisation of opportunities. There is a yawning gap in the transmission of culture, knowledge and skills in Hong Kong society, especially among our youth.
Bridging this gap is arguably even more fundamental to improving our long-term harmony and well-being than having more democracy.
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is a legislator and chair of the New People's Party
Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan, Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit, Federation of Students core member Tommy Cheung Sau-yin and Lee's party colleague Cyd Ho Sau-lan turn themselves in at Wan Chai police station over their roles in the Occupy Central protests. Photo: Felix Wong
Two pedestrians have filed the city's first two writs complaining of police violence in the aftermath of the force's clearance of the Occupy site in Mong Kok in late November.
Percy Lau Man-cheong is suing the Commissioner of Police for at least HK$10 million compensation, while female student Yu Ka-hei, backed by a medical report, is seeking a similar amount. Both Lau and Yu claimed police officers assaulted them brutally after the Mong Kok sit-in was cleared of tents and barricades.
A police spokesman said the force would study both cases, lodged with the High Court on Friday.
In her writ, Yu alleged officers shoved her to the ground in the early morning of November 27.
They also pushed her head against roadside metal railings "with great force", the writ said.
And before she fell down, a male officer was said to have indecently assaulted the student as a female officer yanked her hair, gripped her jaw and punched her in the face and head.
The findings of Yu's medical report matched her allegations, according to the writ, including evidence of multiple swollen bruises on her legs.
Hours before Yu's assault, several policemen beat up Lau on a pavement between Soy Street and Nathan Road, his writ suggested. That was followed by an unlawful two-hour detention, and it was not until police released him that he could go to hospital, he claimed.
An article attached to the writ allegedly captured the faces of two of the attacking officers.
The article, written based on footage by The Epoch Times, was also published on Passion Times, the website of radical democracy group Civic Passion.
It said a man was kicked and kneed by the two policemen.
But the writ did not state explicitly that the victim was Lau.
Both plaintiffs, represented by Ivan Tang & Co Solicitors, said the assaults were unlawful and constituted serous violations of human rights.
As well as the Basic Law and Bills of Rights, the assaults breached the police's statutory duties and amounted to torture of the pair, the writs said.
Lau also claimed his detention was unlawful.
Police had drawn heavy criticism over their tactics last month to contain so-called gau wu tours - or shopping outings - that barely masked their participants' protests after the Mong Kok sit-in ended on November 26.
Protesters walked slowly in crowds to disrupt commercial areas.
The South China Morning Post previously reported that more than 3,000 police officers were deployed to the area on some nights to monitor the scattered protests.
Police were accused of mistaking pedestrians for protesters and of using excessive force.
Mainlanders accounted for 47.2 million of last year's visits. Photo: Felix Wong
Tourist arrivals in Hong Kong increased 12 per cent to 60.8 million last year - up on an estimate made last February that there would be 59 million visitors and despite uncertainty created by the Occupy protests.
The total included 47.2 million from the mainland, an increase of 16 per cent from the year before, according to preliminary Tourism Board figures.
For the first time, South Korea replaced Japan as Hong Kong's third-biggest tourism market. The mainland and Taiwan came in first and second.
The growth in mainland figures was driven by Shenzhen permanent residents who used their Hong Kong multiple-entry permits to make more trips to the city.
Arrivals of other Asian visitors rose in the first three quarters of last year, but the increase was countered by a fall in the last quarter due to the Occupy protests.
A sluggish economic outlook in Europe continued to affect long-haul arrivals, leaving the biggest growth potential in Southeast Asia, according to the board's executive director Anthony Lau Chun-hon.
To boost demand for travel during the Lunar New Year holidays next month, the statutory body is sending a delegation of about 10 representatives from the retail, tour agency and hotel sectors to Beijing, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The marketing campaign includes discounted plane tickets, new tour itineraries and promotions. Three airlines will offer return tickets from Taiwan priced at HK$500, excluding tax. The promotion began last week and the travel period runs until the Lunar New Year.
"We will spread the message that tear gas and the Occupy movement are over," said board chairman Peter Lam Kin-ngok.
Meanwhile, the board said Hong Kong had risen in popularity among South Koreans. For the first time ever, more South Koreans than Japanese came to Hong Kong last year.
In the first 11 months of last year, the city received more than 1.1 million South Koreans, an increase of almost 17 per cent from the year before. The country beat Japan in terms of the absolute number of visitors as well as the growth rate. Over the same period, growth in the number of tourists from Japan was just 3.5 per cent.
Thanks to the Korean cultural boom, South Korean television stations invest a lot in their programmes and do not hesitate to film their shows overseas - including in Hong Kong.
"Hong Kong is a hot filming location for their programmes," Lau said.
Popular South Korean variety programme Running Man was invited to Hong Kong, which saw stars go on a treasure hunt across the city. This year, the board has asked Witch Hunt, a variety programme about dating, to record a session here.
At issue among some US lawmakers is mainland China's strict framework on Hong Kong election reform, which triggered the massive Occupy Central protests in the city. Photo: EPA
Hong Kong’s top official in the United States says he has been lobbying US Congress to tread carefully on pushing for democratic reforms in the autonomous Chinese territory.
“I’ve been very active on Capitol Hill, calling on House and Senate members – particularly those on foreign affairs, trade and budgetary committees – to update them on Hong Kong issues, whether they are economic, political or human rights-related,” said Washington-based Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs Clement Leung Cheuk-man, in an exclusive interview with Voice of America last week.
US lawmakers have said they are considering two courses of action in response to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
In House and Senate hearings on the Hong Kong protests last month, lawmakers who criticised Beijing’s August ruling raised the idea of amending the 1992 US-Hong Kong Policy Act under which Washington grants economic and other benefits to Hong Kong.
Commissioner Clement Leung says he has been urging US Congress members to tread carefully on policy responses to the Hong Kong democracy issue. Photo: SCMP PicturesOne lawmaker also said Hong Kong’s request for its citizens to be granted US visa waivers could be linked to the territory’s handling of democratic reforms.
“We appreciate the lawmakers’ concern and that their stated intention is to try to help Hong Kong, but our argument is that they could damage or harm Hong Kong before they could actually help us,” Leung said.
Tens of thousands of Occupy Central activists blocked Hong Kong’s streets from late September to mid-December in protest at Beijing’s imposition of conservative electoral rules on the territory.
The 1992 US law says Hong Kong’s preferential treatment is contingent upon the territory being “sufficiently autonomous” from Beijing.
In the hearing of the House Sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific, chairman Steve Chabot said “it may be time to reassess” that status and the benefits that come with it, considering what he called Beijing’s “orchestration” of the Hong Kong government’s responses to the Occupy protests.
Hong Kong authorities dismantled the city’s three Occupy protest camps after a series of violent confrontations involving police, pro-democracy protesters and anti-Occupy activists.
The protests were triggered by the Chinese legislature's, or National People's Congress', restrictive framework on Hong Kong election reform, stating that while the city could elect its leader by "one man, one vote" in 2017, only two or three hopefuls backed by half of a 1,200-strong nominating committee could run.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying also rejected the Occupy movement’s demand for the public to nominate candidates for the city’s next chief executive in a 2017 direct election, saying that would violate the central government’s ruling that candidates must be vetted by a traditionally pro-Beijing nominating committee.
Commissioner Clement Leung criticised US legislation that would require President Barack Obama to make annual certifications that Hong Kong is “sufficiently autonomous” – a proposal that would change the 1992 law, which only mandates presidential action if Hong Kong is deemed to have lost that status.
“This annual requirement is more onerous than the current system,” Leung said. “It would make Hong Kong more vulnerable to uncertainty in US domestic politics and the ever-changing US-China relationship. So we are trying to work very hard to convince members of congress and their staff that this may not be a good idea.”
Another participant in the House hearing, Scott Perry, suggested passing legislation to make Hong Kong eligible for the US visa waiver programme as a way of making a “difference” to the territory’s political situation.
Leung said Hong Kong is lobbying “very hard” for US visa waiver privileges for its passport holders and believes the issue should be “separated” from the ongoing dispute about democratic reforms.
“From our point of view, the US visa waiver programme is a very strong tool to strengthen two-way communication and interaction between Hong Kong and the United States,” Leung said.
US congressman Steve Chabot says it may be time to reassess Hong Kong's preferential treatment under US law after Beijing’s “orchestration” of the Hong Kong government’s responses to the Occupy protests. Photo: AP
Representative Brad Sherman told the House hearing that he opposes a visa waiver for Hong Kong, given what he called the poverty of some of the territory’s residents.
“We can’t create a circumstance where anybody who can get a Hong Kong passport gets right into the United States,” he said.
Leung said Hong Kong people do not pose an immigration risk to the United States in the way that other groups of people do.
“But we know that the road to giving Hong Kong people US visa-free treatment is long, because immigration is still a very sensitive subject in the United States,” Leung said.
The Hong Kong diplomat declined to comment directly on the Obama administration’s responses to the Occupy movement.
US officials initially emphasised a position of neutrality, saying they “do not take sides in discussions of Hong Kong’s political development, nor do we support any particular individuals or groups involved in it”.
The White House also has tried to discourage congress from acting to pressure the Hong Kong government.
WATCH: Scenes from when the Hong Kong democracy protests kicked off
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel told last month’s senate hearing that any amendments to the 1992 US-Hong Kong Policy Act should not “undermine the principle that Hong Kong is autonomous”.
But following lawmakers’ accusations that the Obama administration was not showing enough solidarity with the Occupy protesters, Russel used the hearing to strengthen the administration’s criticism of Beijing and support of the demonstrators’ democratic aspirations.
Russel said Beijing’s election ruling “falls very far short of the aspirations of the people of Hong Kong” and “could and should have gone much further” to enable universal suffrage.
He also said the legitimacy of the chief executive would be “greatly enhanced” by a “credible” election that allows a “free expression of choice by the voters to select from among competing points of view, not simply from ... three identical, hand-picked candidates.”
Asked if those remarks amount to “interference” in Hong Kong affairs – something the territory’s leader has vocally opposed – Commissioner Leung said Hong Kong was “very divided” on constitutional reform.
“At the end of the day, it has to be the Hong Kong people, the government and Beijing who have to resolve the issue among ourselves,” he said.
Michael Lipin is a journalist for Voice of America, specialising in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific.
Clement Leung Cheuk-man, Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs in the US, said he has been actively lobbying US lawmakers against sanctioning Hong Kong over the democracy dispute. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A renewed attempt by US lawmakers to monitor “democracy and freedoms” in Hong Kong could backfire and damage the city, according to a senior Hong Kong official in the US.
Speaking to the US government-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) last week, Clement Leung Cheuk-man, Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs in the US, said he had been “very active” in lobbying cross-party lawmakers to reconsider their call to reinstate annual reporting on human rights and political developments.
The last report on Hong Kong was made by the State Department to Congress in March 2000.
In November, the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China – which includes cross-party heavyweights such as Democratic congresswoman leader Nancy Pelosi and Republican senator Marco Rubio – tabled the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act in Congress and argued that Washington must back calls for genuine universal suffrage in the city.
Senator Sherrod Brown, co-chairman of the commission, warned Hong Kong’s autonomy was “under threat from China”.
The legislation would update the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to “reinstate and strengthen” the annual reports. The 1992 act was meant to allow the US government to continue to treat Hong Kong separately from China on economic matters after the 1997 handover.
READ MORE: HK diplomat seeks to deflect US lawmakers' efforts to sanction city over democracy row
The amendment states Hong Kong is ineligible for different treatment under US law unless the US president “certifies to Congress that Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous”.
However, the act would make Hong Kong “more vulnerable to uncertainty in US domestic politics and the ever-changing US-China relationship”, according to Leung. “We appreciate the [US] lawmakers’ concern and that their stated intention is to try %to help Hong Kong, but our argument is that they could damage or harm Hong Kong before they could actually help us,” he told VOA.
“We are trying to work very hard to convince members of Congress and their staff that this may not be a good idea.”
Leung could not be reached to give further details of what damage he feared.
A senior government source said bilateral ties between Hong Kong and the US had been at a low ebb since the government %refused to detain whistle-blower Edward Snowden, allowing him to escape to Russia.
Leung said he had also lobbied for visa-free treatment for Hongkongers visiting the US, and urged lawmakers to separate the discussion from the ongoing controversy over political reform in Hong Kong.
Professor Shi Yinhong, director of the Centre for American Studies at Renmin University and an adviser to the State Council, said the bill would not affect Beijing’s policy towards Hong Kong or sway the US administration’s position, even if it were passed.
“[The] US administration won’t make a big fuss over the Hong Kong question because of its need to maintain a good relationship with Beijing,” Shi said.
He said the US government should not connect visa-free treatment for Hong Kong residents with the city’s democratic development.
“But the attention sparked by the bill may delay the US government’s decision to grant visa-free treatment for Hong Kong residents,” he said.
Occupy founders appear at police HQ yesterday. Photo: Sam Tsang
The three co-founders of Occupy Central got a glimpse of the authorities' case against them yesterday as they were shown video clips and articles they wrote, which police say are proof they "incited" people to take part in the pro-democracy mass sit-in.
Benny Tai Yiu-ting, 50, Dr Chan Kin-man, 55, and the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, 71, were arrested when they went to police headquarters to assist the investigation. They were released after three hours of interrogation, refusing to be bound by bail.
No charges were laid against them and police reserved the right to prosecute.
The trio are among the 30 activists, including students and politicians, who have been arrested so far for their roles in the pro-democracy sit-ins that paralysed several major roads in the city for 79 days.
Police Commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung said the force was aiming to complete its investigation in three months and that more arrests would be made.
Tai, asked if he was worried about a politically motivated prosecution, said: "I have faith in Hong Kong's rule of law.
"If we break the law we are willing to bear the legal consequences, but if we did not do so, we do not worry."
Last month when they turned themselves in, the trio admitted to "taking part" in a September rally, but not to other alleged offences. They remained silent throughout yesterday.
Apart from allegedly inciting others to take part in an unauthorised assembly, the trio were also arrested on suspicion of organising and convening the assembly as well as taking part in it.
They were shown 48 videos featuring themselves in the protests. Tai's landmark article that floated the idea of Occupy Central for the first time, published in the Hong Kong Economic Journal in January 2013, was presented to him as evidence.
Law Society president and criminal lawyer Stephen Hung Wan-shun, who is not part of the trio's defence team, said that if charges were laid, prosecutors would have to opt for either the incitement or the organising charge, but not both.
The maximum penalty for organising an unauthorised assembly is five years in jail.
He added that as a matter of principle, the incitement charge could lead to a penalty no more serious than organising.
According to research papers of the Legislative Council on incitement, which cited various judgments, an inciter is "one who reaches and seeks to influence the mind of another to the commission of a crime".
Pan-democratic lawmaker Gary Fan Kwok-wai was also arrested yesterday for organising, convening and taking part in an unauthorised assembly.
Police refuse Jimmy Lai's request to 'charge me immediately', for organising Occupy protest
Media tycoon and activist both arrested for roles in Occupy protests, then allowed to walk free
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai leaves police headquarters in Wan Chai yesterday morning after being arrested but not charged at a pre-scheduled meeting. Photo: Sam Tsang
Next Media founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was arrested for his role in Occupy Central protests but allowed to go free yesterday after reporting to police for a pre-scheduled meeting.
Lai was arrested for both organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly, after spending around 21/2 hours at police headquarters in Wan Chai in the morning.
He said police refused his request to lay charges immediately, "but they said they had the right to ask me to report back any time".
Lai described the atmosphere as good. He said he was shown news footage of his participation in Occupy protests, just as police have done with other leaders of the 79-day civil disobedience movement, which ended last month, when they have reported for pre-scheduled arrests.
Next Media publisher and CEO Ip Yut-kin and Apple Daily associate deputy publisher Cheung Kim-hung waited for Lai while he was with police.
They said the arrest would not have any effect on the operations of Next Media since Lai had resigned as the newspaper's publisher last month.
Ip also said the company was undeterred by recent attacks on its head office in Tseung Kwan O and that security measures had not been stepped up.
On January 12, masked assailants hurled petrol bombs at Lai's home in Ho Man Tin and the Next Media offices in coordinated early-morning attacks that were condemned as an attack on press freedom.
That same morning, a police sergeant fired four shots in a struggle with a man who stole bundles of newspapers including Apple Daily and the South China Morning Post from a stall in Hung Hom. A 35-year-old man was arrested last night in connection with the incident. Two women arrested earlier had been released on bail without charge.
Johnson Yeung (left) and supporters yesterday. Photo: Sam Tsang
Meanwhile, police yesterday also refused to charge Civil Human Rights Front convenor Johnson Yeung Ching-yin immediately after a pre-scheduled meeting at which he was arrested for the same offences as Lai.
On leaving police headquarters after over an hour during which he also was shown video recordings, Yeung said he expected to be arrested again.
Supporters and opponents of the protests waited for Yeung, but there were no clashes between opposing groups.
About a dozen people, including Civic Party vice-chairwoman Tanya Chan who was also arrested during the clearance of the Admiralty protest site, voiced support for Yeung before he entered the police headquarters.
Standing across the street were a dozen pro-Beijing protesters who, using a loudspeaker, denounced the pro-democracy activists while playing propaganda songs sung in Putonghua.
On Tuesday, Occupy Central marshals Alex Kwok Siu-kit and Ricky Or Yiu-lam reported to Central police station for the second time in connection with a fracas in Admiralty when they stepped in to help Jimmy Lai. They have not yet been charged.
(From left) Occupy co-founders Chan Kin-man, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Chu Yiu-ming meet the media outside Police Headquarter in Wan Chai. Photo: Sam Tsang
Although facing prosecution, Occupy Central co-founders Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Dr Chan Kin-man and the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming could not help being amused at some of the police evidence presented to them yesterday.
Among the evidence was a video shot by themselves to mock a government clip.
The official version featured Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and two other ministers announcing the start of consultations on political reform.
In their version, released months ahead of the sit-in protests, the trio adopted the same style and intonation at the same venue, Tamar Park, although it was announcing the start of the civil disobedience movement.
"I tried hard not to laugh," said Chan , who added that police were considering using the video as proof they "incited" people to take part in an unauthorised assembly.
"In a lot of the other clips they showed me, I was appealing to protesters not to clash with police when addressing the crowd [in Admiralty]. I was hoping … police would ask me why I said that, but they didn't," Chan, a sociology professor, said.
The interrogation process left them with mixed feelings. "I see from the clips ourselves going through so much in the past two years. Benny was so young-looking at the start. Now his hair has turned grey, and he's a little weary," he said.
Tai, standing next to Chan, smiled but did not go into detail about what evidence was shown to him. But he did say he was shown some articles, including one he wrote for the Economic Journal on January 16, 2013, where he floated the idea of Occupy Central for the first time.
In that article, titled "Civil disobedience is the most powerful weapon", Tai suggested a peaceful mass sit-in of 10,000 people paralysing the Central business district should be enough to pose a threat to Beijing and prompt it to give Hongkongers genuine universal suffrage. The article did not specify when the protest should take place.
While Chan and Tai were shown 20 and 17 videos respectively, Chu was asked to watch 11 clips and read two newspaper articles that alleged his friendship with the other two founders had turned sour. "I feel weird. Why is this evidence at all?" Chu said.
Participants pack the Island Eastern Corridor during yesterday's race. There were 73,000 entrants. Photo: Felix Wong
Organisers of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon will push for all of Hennessy Road to be opened for next year's event, but the ceiling of 73,000 entries is unlikely to be raised.
Runners yesterday spoke overwhelmingly in favour of the slight change to this year's finish, a more spectator-friendly route along Hennessy Road and Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay.
"More than 84 per cent of the runners said the new finish is better than before," said William Ko Wai-lam, chairman of the organising committee, after polling participants in Victoria Park. "The road is wider with more fresh air and there are also more fans who can come out."
DON'T MISS: North Korean halts African juggernaut in Hong Kong Marathon
Meanwhile, two runners, aged 24 and 49, were in critical condition last night at Eastern Hospital and Yan Chai Hospital. One fainted and suffered a head injury in Causeway Bay, while the other fell sick as he was making it across Tsing Ma Bridge. Organisers said 40 runners had to be hospitalised, up from 30 last year.
Ko said they would study the possibility of expanding the Hennessy Road route from Admiralty to Causeway Bay.
"Hennessy Road goes through the heart of Wan Chai and more supporters will be able to enjoy the race if we can use this route," he said. "But this is a quite a big change and we have to seek the support of police and district councils.
"On one hand, we are working for the interests of the runners, but we also have to balance the interests of other road users."
Regardless, Ko said the number of entries was unlikely to increase. "We cannot accommodate more entries because the West Kowloon Highway is already congested when runners return from the Tsing Kwai highway," he said.
"I don't think we can expand the maximum quota any more under the current routings and traffic arrangements."
Ko also said it would be difficult to keep this year's earlier date in the next two years. In 2016, the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo in Victoria Park will clash with the date runners' packs are distributed, while in 2017 the park will be occupied by the Lunar New Year flower market, preventing the race finishing there.
Kwan Kee, chairman of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletics Association, admitted: "We have no idea where the finishing point will be if we lose Victoria Park."
Watch: 70,000 join Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, with yellow umbrellas in sight
Occupy yellow and superhero costumes on display at Hong Kong marathon
A runner sports a yellow umbrella as dignitaries including Chief Secretary Carrie Lam (centre) wave. Photo: Dickson Lee
The traditional green and blue colours of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon took on a yellow twist yesterday as some runners used it to make their views known on universal suffrage.
Runners in yellow outfits, or some with yellow stickers saying "I want genuine universal suffrage" on their vests, "occupied" the city's streets yesterday, bringing flashbacks of the Occupy movement that shook Hong Kong for 79 days.
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Police Commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung were booed by some runners when they officiated at the start of the marathon.
Some runners waved yellow umbrellas or yellow cards at the starting line, and one balloon was released into the air with a message calling for genuine universal suffrage.
"Let's enjoy this big event everyone, okay?" Tsang told reporters as he left the ceremony.
"Running the marathon is not as difficult as fighting for genuine universal suffrage. But Hong Kong people are not frustrated," a man said after completing the half marathon.
Pro-democracy protesters hand out banners to runners. Photo: Dickson Lee
University of Hong Kong vice-chancellor Peter Mathieson took part in the 1.8km Leaders Cup for the first time.
"I didn't look at the time, but I was not very quick. It's taking part rather than winning that matters to me," he said. "I walk a lot and I have a very energetic dog who needs lots of exercise … but I am not really a runner."
Superman and Batman were also spotted at the marathon.
"I hope I have the strength of Superman wearing this outfit. It's very hot wearing it but I have got used to it," said 26-year-old Andy Chung after finishing the half marathon.
Ben Swee, 38, who flew in from Singapore to take part in the marathon, said he wore a Batman costume to inspire people to join the "fun" event.
And of course, a marathon is not complete without marriage proposals at the finishing line.
"I hope I can be with you and run a life-long marathon together," a man said to his girlfriend as he popped the question. She happily said yes.
The race faced the threat of rain early in the morning with the Observatory reporting a humid easterly airstream over southern China. However, the early morning drizzle had mostly cleared up by the start of the first race.
Meanwhile, a new air quality monitoring system set up for the marathon by the Environmental Protection Department and four Hong Kong universities measured the overall health risk as "moderate" - a 4 to 5 on the 11-tier Air Quality Health Index.
Squeeze put on Hong Kong press freedom
Beijing is openly interfering in city's media, says international organisation, and reporters have been subject to malicious persecution
Papers are accused of downplaying some news. Photo: Robert Ng
News coverage of the Occupy movement and allegations of corruption against Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying exposed different degrees of self-censorship among media, says a spokeswoman for the International Federation of Journalists.
At the same time, the central government has been "more frequently and openly" interfering with press freedom in Hong Kong, according to the federation's seventh annual China Press Freedom Report released yesterday.
"There were very worrying signs that the interference with press freedom was more frequent and obvious last year, compared to the past," said Serenade Woo, the federation's Asia-Pacific representative.
"The news reports concerning the Occupy movement have provided particularly obvious evidence that the mainland has extended its control of the media to Hong Kong. This trend is expected to continue with political reform remaining the focus in the coming year."
During the 79-day Occupy protest, 39 reporters complained of being harassed, attacked, detained or maliciously accused by police and anti-Occupy protesters, the report said.
Some reporters received hundreds of harassing phone calls, and a few said they received calls from interviewees giving instructions on how to write up events.
Last year, the chief executive was accused of corruption over a HK$50 million payment from engineering firm UGL in 2011 as part of a deal to take over his old company DTZ. Lai, owner of Apple Daily, was accused of corruption when leaks revealed alleged payments to pro-democrat politicians. Woo said some media downplayed or even ignored the scandal embroiling Leung while playing up the Lai allegations, and vice versa.
"I guess the public get to see the vastly different treatments over these incidents and can feel for themselves whether there is self-censorship among local media," he added.
The report also noted that 20 journalists were detained, charged and in some cases jailed on the mainland last year.
In 2013, Beijing set up a security committee to "strengthen guidance" of public opinion; the federation said this committee worked with police and courts to suppress online comment.
The police "respect press freedom and fully understand the importance of facilitating the media in their reporting activities", a statement from police said last night. It also advised journalists to be vigilant of their own safety when positioning themselves between officers and radical protesters and added no violent acts would be tolerated.
Chinese University journalism professor Clement So York-kee said he had observed abuse of local reporters during the Occupy movement, adding that his department was working with the Journalists' Association on a survey about press freedom.
Hongkie students in Oxford sappork Occupy Central
Sinkies sudying there quick go pay visit to Ah Piow
Your defence will be if Tharman can do it so can I
