Occupy leader Chu Yiu-ming cries as he speaks to the media after sentencing at a court in Hong Kong on April 24. Eight leaders of massive protests in 2014 were jailed up to 16 months for conspiracy to commit public nuisance. Photo: AP

Opinion

Philip Bowring

What Occupy sentencing means for Hong Kong’s autonomy

Now that jail time has been ordered for the protest leaders, on the dubious grounds that they inconvenienced the public, it is clear that the courts are no bulwark against Beijing’s determination to block democratic progress

Philip Bowring

Published: 11:00am, 28 Apr, 2019

Updated: 11:00am, 28 Apr, 2019

Occupy leader Chu Yiu-ming cries as he speaks to the media after sentencing at a court in Hong Kong on April 24. Eight leaders of massive protests in 2014 were jailed up to 16 months for conspiracy to commit public nuisance. Photo: AP

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Philip Bowring

Philip Bowring has been based in Asia for 39 years writing on regional financial and political issues. He has been a columnist for the South China Morning Post since the mid-1990s and for the International Herald Tribune from 1992 to 2011. He also contributes regularly to the Wall Street Journal, www.asiasentinel.com, a website of which he is a founder, and elsewhere. Prior to 1992 he was with the weekly Far Eastern Economic Review, latterly as editor.