Hong Kong must continue fight for democracy, Occupy co-founders say on third anniversary
Despite facing charges relating to the 2014 protests, leaders of the movement are unwavering in pro-democracy message
The co-founders of the Occupy Central movement on Thursday implored the people of Hong Kong to continue to fight for universal suffrage and defy what they say is Beijing’s resistance to democracy in the city.
Speaking on the third anniversary of the start of the pro-democracy movement, University of Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting said Occupy was the start of civil awakening.
“Over the last three years, Hong Kong people have been facing increasingly tougher state power and oppression,” Tai, who is one of three co-founders, said in a radio interview. “But their will to fight for justice has not changed. Their voices have become stronger.”
Growing sense of cynicism in Hong Kong after Occupy, co-founder Chan Kin-man says
Another co-organiser Chan Kin-man, a sociologist at Chinese University, called on Hongkongers not to give up the fight.
“Our thought [during Occupy] was that if we still couldn’t achieve universal suffrage even after the movement, then maybe we would have to face a very long time to wait [for democracy]. As long as [President] Xi Jinping is still centralising power, it will be very difficult for Hong Kong to achieve universal suffrage.
“But if Hong Kong people have given up on the belief of democracy, then when one day the chances do come, it will not be realised.”
Watch: How Hong Kong’s Occupy protests kicked off