It's time to resist Beijing, not hold talks, says once-moderate Hong Kong academic
Dr Brian Fong Chi-hang says his moderate stance on political reform failed and that the only way forward is for concern groups to fight interference in city
A once-moderate academic says Hongkongers must ditch any hopes of political progress through dialogue with Beijing and join forces to strengthen civil society instead.
Dr Brian Fong Chi-hang dismisses the traditional belief taken by many pan-democrats for decades that the city will eventually implement universal suffrage should they fight for "a democratic China". But that does not mean he sides with the small group of protesters who have made sporadic calls for independence in recent years.
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"The Beijing-decreed political reform blueprint [for the 2017 chief executive poll] has already proven that it is not a workable idea to anticipate constructive dialogue with a China that has been liberalised," Fong, an assistant professor at the Hong Kong Institute of Education's department of Asian and policy studies, told the South China Morning Post.
"On the other hand, those people who advocate independence are looking forward to the break-up of China so Hong Kong could determine its own fate … but our city's democratic movement should not be based on something uncertain either."
The only way to maintain the city's autonomy and freedom is to know your enemy and beef up your defence, Fong said, citing the recent controversy at the University of Hong Kong surrounding the decision by its ruling council to deny liberal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun a key managerial post.