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Occupy Centrali

Occupy Central -- also known as the Occupy movement and the "umbrella movement" -- was a large-scale show of civil disobedience that began in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014. It called on protesters to block roads and paralyse the city's financial district if the Beijing and local governments did not agree to implement universal suffrage for the 2017 chief executive election and the 2020 Legislative Council elections according to "international standards". The movement was the brainchild of Benny Tai Yiu-ting, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong.

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The Basic Law as the constitutional foundation of the city contains two equally legitimate but contradictory visions which, in the end, prove to be incompatible.

A two-minute clip produced by the University of Hong Kong’s Campus TV falls short of the decency and respect expected of tertiary students. But the underlying sentiments and issues may prompt more tension and conflict if they are not properly addressed.

The sacking of academic Benny Tai, one of the founders of the 2014 Occupy civil disobedience movement, has come at a time when society is already divided, with some now questioning the institution’s independence.

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His teaching of civil disobedience is perfectly justified but his firing is not about academic interference, rather it’s the fact that he has been criminally convicted.

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  • Ex-legislators Nathan Law, Dennis Kwok, Ted Hui, unionist Mung Siu-tat, lawyer Kevin Yam, activists Finn Lau, Anna Kwok and Elmer Yuan are all currently overseas
  • Nearly all have urged sanctions on city, while most linked to 2019 social unrest and online calls for activism before and after leaving, according to police
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Artist Tozer Pak tells Kate Whitehead how growing up with an absent father led him to God, and how he has helped transform art classes for children in Hong Kong with autism and ADHD.

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Ta Kung Pao accused Fong of being ‘pro-independence element’ for joining opposition politicians in calling for general strike to further democracy fight in 2016.

One professor had just written a piece about opposition participation in the coming legislative election, and the other was linked to a fund offering assistance to protesters.

Sociologist Chan Kin-man will be teaching courses on social movements, contemporary China at Taipei’s National Chengchi University, but dismisses suggestions move was ‘abrupt’ attempt to flee city.

Reverend Chu Yiu-ming and retired sociologist Chan Kin-man also among the group of nine convicted of public nuisance charges for blocking roads during the 79-day protests in 2014.

Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Chu Yiu-ming are challenging their conviction on conspiracy and incitement charges stemming from their roles in the civil disobedience movement.

In terms of the overall coverage of Hong Kong’s troubles, starting in 2014 with the Occupy Central disturbances, both the local and international media gave a consistently biased and distorted view.

Chef Sunny Zie recalls the week he spent cooking for more than 1,000 anti-government protesters during the siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University a year ago this month.

Sinologist and ‘global historian’ Jeffrey Wasserstrom, who bore witness to the anger and utopia of Occupy Central in 2014 and last year’s Hong Kong protests, makes just one prediction: that he is unlikely to visit China again.

A love story that begins amid the 2014 ‘umbrella movement’ protests in Hong Kong and ends on the cusp of 2019’s anti-extradition violence, Apart feels like a time capsule from a different era.

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For the first time in the city’s history, Hong Kong has dissidents abroad. But who are they, what do they want, and what will they do when the world moves on?

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Former student believes Tai separated his roles of social activist and university professor very clearly, and HKU council’s decision to dismiss him raises grave concerns about its independence from government influence.

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