Occupy Central organisers want independent Hong Kong, People's Daily claims
The article in Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said the demonstrators' slogan of "our fate should be decided by us" revealed the true intentions of the action's "organisers and controllers".
Occupy Central organisers were accused of plotting for an independent Hong Kong in a commentary published in state media yesterday.
The article penned by "He Yimin", in Communist Party mouthpiece the , said the demonstrators' slogan of "our fate should be decided by us" revealed the true intentions of the action's "organisers and controllers".
"What they want is not electoral democracy or the 'high-degree of autonomy' under 'one country [two systems]', rather, they want Hong Kong 'to act on her own', have 'self-determination' and to even be 'independent'," it said.
The commentary mentioned the chairman of Next Media, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, and several other Occupy campaigners, accusing them of working with Taiwan's pro-independency activists to plan the Occupy movement.
Professor Dong Likun, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, a think tank under the State Council's Development Research Centre, echoed the commentary. Dong said the city's opposition politicians were pro-Washington or pro-London, and if any of their members were given executive power, they would lead Hong Kong away from the mainland, which could be viewed as pursuing independence.
"To topple the present Hong Kong SAR administration is not simply about removing Leung Chun-ying," Dong said, referring to the chief executive. "It is about the Occupy movement attempting to overturn an administration that is in alignment with the central government [in Beijing]."
State media also widely carried two commentaries on the issue, with the author listed as "Guoping", an apparent pen name which translates as "national peace" or "state's view".
One said the movement was ultimately a violent protest, and the second reasserted Beijing's claim that foreign powers were working behind the scenes.
The US and Britain had pushed the unrest to its current level, challenging China's national dignity and interest, it said.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi discussed the Hong Kong crisis when he met US Secretary of State John Kerry in Boston for two days of talks.
A senior US State Department official said Yang and Kerry had engaged in a "non-combative" yet "direct and candid" exchange over a range of issues, including Hong Kong.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Yang had asked the US to refrain from supporting Occupy Central, Xinhua said.
"We are resolutely opposed to all kinds of illegal activities that undermine Hong Kong's rule of law and social order and firmly support the SAR government in handling these in accordance with the law so as to safeguard Hong Kong's social stability," Yang was quoted as saying.
