Occupy student leaders' Beijing trip on track - without Rita Fan's help
Trio of protesters will probably be rejected at the door before they get to meet any state leader
Student leaders of the Occupy Central movement will take their democracy demands to the capital this afternoon, even though they failed to get help from Hong Kong's sole representative in the top legislature, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, to set up talks with state leaders.
But the trio are likely to be given the cold shoulder. A source close to Occupy organisers cited a middleman who had once facilitated dialogue with the government as saying Beijing would not let them enter the capital.
It is understood that the central government will repatriate Federation of Students representatives Alex Chow Yong-kang, Eason Chung Yiu-wa and Nathan Law Kwun-chung right away rather than detain them.
That would dash their hopes of meeting Premier Li Keqiang , officials and delegates to the National People's Congress to lodge a "political protest" against its restrictive framework for the 2017 chief executive poll.
Last night, Fan, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, accused the protesting students of deliberate violation of the law and disruption to life in the city.
"If I helped you arrange a meeting with central government officials, how could I face the Hongkongers who have been abiding by the law and hoping for a return to normality?" she asked. "I sincerely hope all of you will mend your ways and become pillars of … society. Don't waste your time [occupying] streets!"
Fan reiterated she would not accept students' demand for the Standing Committee to retract its August 31 decision that ruled out public nomination of candidates for the poll and required hopefuls to get majority support from a nominating committee.
But Chow said they would still go to Beijing, despite Fan's remarks. "Fan said the [Standing Committee] framework was reasonable … I wondered if she was blind to what's been happening with the 'umbrella movement'."
He believed it was unlikely they would be arrested by mainland authorities. He said they planned to take a banner with the slogan "I want genuine universal suffrage", and their accommodation in Beijing had been booked.
However, politicians - including a former student leader who staged a protest in Guangzhou years ago - were pessimistic about the Beijing mission.
Democratic Party vice-chairman Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong was among seven federation representatives who were warmly received in 1988 by Lu Ping , deputy secretary general of the Basic Law drafting committee. He said the political climate had changed since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. "Unless it's arranged in advance, Beijing will see [this] as confrontation."
Executive councillor Bernard Chan urged the trio to stay in Hong Kong and end the occupation instead. "Their messages have been loud and clear in Hong Kong and even on the mainland."
But there is some hope. Three federation representatives were received by officials of the Standing Committee's complaint letter and request handling office when they petitioned against Beijing's Basic Law interpretation in 1999.
