Opinion | Occupy protesters must realise the futility of non-cooperation
Alice Wu says Hong Kong Occupy protesters can take inspiration from Apec's tireless call for cooperation, as we're in this together
In hindsight, it's a definite "just as well" that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings weren't held in Hong Kong. The agenda for the Apec Economic Leaders' Meeting called for "an integrated, innovative and interconnected Asia-Pacific". At the moment, Hong Kong isn't top billing material for that sort of thing.
Apec tries to bring people, leaders and countries with "important differences" (to borrow US President Barack Obama's words at the summit) together to find common ground for co-existence - impossible as it might seem. Hong Kong, meanwhile, is still struggling with the idea of integration, as can be seen inside the legislative chamber and at the Occupy sites. So, no, Apec wouldn't have worked here.
And President Xi Jinping might have been right with his welcome comments to world leaders in Beijing last week: "Chinese people believe in destiny. We are destined to meet here tonight."
Right now, Hongkongers cannot even talk, or listen, to one another. Instead, we just sing Happy Birthday to drown out the noise.
Songs would drown out any attempt to talk, work out issues and carefully calibrate messages essential in reaching agreement. This year's Apec summit did manage to break old ice and new ground in climate change, military cooperation, regional security and trade.
A handshake between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and their brief talk on the sidelines of Apec are deemed significant. Time will tell whether they amount to more than just lip service, but lip service that sought to play down points of tension and focus on areas of cooperation is infinitely better than rhetoric at gunpoint.