Hong Kong's Occupy movement has 'spun out of control', says CY Leung
Protesters have 'zero chance' of changing Beijing's stance, chief executive warns in TV interview
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 12 October, 2014, 10:30am
UPDATED : Sunday, 12 October, 2014, 11:45am
Samuel Chan
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in an interview with TVB on Sunday. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has called the Occupy movement a "mass movement that has spun out of control" in an interview with TVB on Sunday morning.
He cautioned however that the movement should not be regarded as a "revolution".
Leung also said twice that he was confident the protests "cannot go on for a long time".
"The latest developments show that no one can lead which direction the movement goes and [decides] its pace," he said.
"We have a responsibility to enforce the law but this incident is very special [...] which is why the government, the police force included, have been handling this incident with maximum tolerance," he said.
He said the government would continue to try to convince protesters to leave the roads they occupy and that police would only use minimum force if clearance is necessary.
On the chance of a dialogue with protesters, he said there is "zero chance" that the protesters’ demands such as calling the National People’s Congress to retract its decision and insisting on civil nomination as part of the chief executive candidate nominating mechanism would be realised.
Leung also reiterated that he would not step down. "I believe my stepping down will not solve the problem since [the protesters] are demanding the National People’s Congress to withdraw its decision and civil nomination, which is impossible," he said.
The decision to use tear gas to disperse armless protesters on September 28 was made by police, he said, adding that he had been involved in the decision to end its use.
“There could have been heavy casualties and a stampede had [tear gas] not been used to disperse the crowd,” he said. The Hong Kong public needed to “have confidence in police's judgment and that there was no political motivation."
Asked if it was a mistake to use tear gas or whether such force was proportionate, he said: "[We] saw that the police cordon lines were charged repeatedly."
He said he did not feel he had done anything morally or legally wrong by accepting the HK$50 million deal offered by an Australian firm when he agreed to the acquisition of a property services firm of which he was then its chairman for the Asia Pacific region.
