Ho Lok-sang: voice of the 'silent majority' speaks out against Occupy Central

The pursuit of universal suffrage is subordinate to the rule of law, says a group of new opponents to Occupy Central, the civil disobedience movement planned for next summer in an attempt to force the government's hand on political reform.

For the main advocate of this belief - Professor Ho Lok-sang, director of Lingnan University's centre for public policy studies - the social injustices facing Hong Kong are not sufficient to justify such a large-scale protest.

"Hong Kong is not a tyranny; we do not have something like an oppression of minority groups," says Ho, one of six convenors of the newly formed anti-Occupy Central group Silent Majority for Hong Kong.

"We have substantial equality of rights in Hong Kong, which should not be sacrificed in a fight for equal electoral rights. Our level of justice is significantly better than that of many other places, so the pursuit of democracy - though not ideal at present - is not a pressing issue."

The group, which organisers claim has been joined by more than 40 academics and professionals, recently stole the media spotlight in the debate over Occupy Central.

Just 10 days after its official formation, it has already raised the temperature of the debate, most prominently when the key convenor, journalist-turned-PR manager Robert Chow Yung, described Occupy Central as "evil" and his own causes as "good" while exchanging fire on a radio programme with Benny Tai Yiu-ting, the University of Hong Kong legal scholar planning the movement that is fraying the nerves of Beijing officials.