---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Örsan Şenalp <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Oct 2, 2014 at 2:52 PM Subject: [Networkedlabour] Fwd: [WSF-Discuss] Fwd: Hong Kong rises, China cannot beat people down (for now), democracy + class struggle, Tutu solidarity call To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jai Sen <[email protected]> Date: 2 October 2014 08:50 Subject: [WSF-Discuss] Fwd: Hong Kong rises, China cannot beat people down (for now), democracy + class struggle, Tutu solidarity call To: Post WSFDiscuss <[email protected]>, Post Social Movements Riseup <[email protected]>, Post Activism News Network <[email protected]>, Post Seizing Building Commoning <[email protected]> Cc: Jai Sen <[email protected]> Thursday, October 2, 2014 Worlds in movement, worlds of movement… HONG KONG NOW - please circulate widely : A compilation and update – countesy Patrick (Bond), with thanks : Hong-Kong : Occupy Central—What’s Next for the Democracy Movement ? A Brief Observation on the Current Movement AU Loong-Yu Statement by Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions : HKCTU strongly condemns the police crackdown of people’s protest by Hong Kong government * Sign the HKCTU petition Students Unfurl the “Umbrella Revolution” in Hong Kong Sean Starrs Tutu calls for support of Hong Kong protesters JS fwd Begin forwarded message: From: Patrick Bond <[email protected]> Subject: [Debate-List] (Fwd) Hong Kong rises, China cannot beat people down (for now), democracy + class struggle, Tutu solidarity call Date: October 2, 2014 at 8:31:55 AM GMT+5:30 To: DEBATE <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected] Reply-To: [email protected] (China Labour Net editor Au Loong Yu, an occasional visitor to SA: "student leader Alex Chow already mentioned the issue of economic inequality. A few days ago twenty-five trade unions and civil society groups also issued a joint statement not only demanding genuine universal suffrage but also regulations on working hours and a universal pension. The occupation of the last two days has also given the general public the chance to discuss their opinions, and amongst these one frequently hears discussions of the extreme inequality.") Hong-Kong : Occupy Central—What’s Next for the Democracy Movement? A Brief Observation on the Current Movement AU Loong-Yu 1 October 2014 Monday 29th September 2014/Occupy Central Day 3 - Occupy central continues to grow by leaps and bounds. I. The Situation The general public has come out to support the students, and with their own bodies have resisted the tear gas to defeat the offensive of the regime of Leung Chun-ying, better known as C.Y. Leung, the Chief Executive of the Executive Council of Hong-Kong, sparking a new generation of people’s democracy activists. This movement has the following characteristics: 1. The students and the public have shown that they have the ability to think for themselves, to take bottom-up direct action, without relying on the leaders. It is within a context where the movement displays deep distrust of not only the Pan-Democracy parties, but also of the Trio of three leading liberal academics and clergymen who suggested the occupation a year earlier. Even the Hong-Kong Federation of Students, which was for a while the vanguard of the movement, saw its proposal to withdraw on September 28 in view of escalation of crackdown was rejected by the masses. 2. The students and young people, whose actions have led to the upsurge in the movement, are now the driving force of the movement, rather than the middle-aged and middle-class Pan-Democracy supporters whom the Trio relied on as their constituency for their occupation plan, a fact which reflects the deep distrust towards young people and working people toward the Trio. 3. The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) has called for a workers’ strike and there are some responses; in addition to this there is strong sympathy for the movement among working people. And the occupation of main streets also makes possible a slowdown in workplaces, which in turn allows lots of discussion among colleagues. 4. A desire for social equality has also become part of the movement. In his speech to the student boycott on September 22, student leader Alex Chow already mentioned the issue of economic inequality. A few days ago twenty-five trade unions and civil society groups also issued a joint statement not only demanding genuine universal suffrage but also regulations on working hours and a universal pension. The occupation of the last two days has also given the general public the chance to discuss their opinions, and amongst these one frequently hears discussions of the extreme inequality. Because of this strong movement from below the C.Y. Leung government has now been forced to stop its offensive, permitting space for the movement to grow even larger. The issue now is how to take advantage of the situation fully and to seek the biggest victory. It means that we have to overcome the movement’s weaknesses: 1. The old democracy movement’s former leaders are no longer able to lead, however the new leaderships of the new democracy movement is still in formation. This is a danger. Although spontaneity has been a great factor in advancing the movement, now—with all the sabotage taking place and a crackdown quite possible sometime in the future by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Leung government—the movement will soon require more organising and leaderships, and I use plural here deliberately. 2. Although the students’ organization is comparatively better, the general public lacks the organization and networks to support each other. This is especially so for the strike call. Although there were some early responses to the strike call, a broad strike wave has yet to happen. The HKCTU is not yet strong enough to fully implement the strike call, let alone to organize the solidarity alliance now in preparation. Strengthening movement will require great effort and also new initiatives II. Aims and slogans 1. The Leung Chun-ying regime must surrender Civic Plaza and Tamar Garden to the people and to withdraw all police from there, so that these two places can be a focal point for the movement. If the government does not promise this then the movement should certainly not withdraw from the streets, and, if they do promise, then the decision to withdraw or stay on will depend on the circumstances and the wishes of the people. 2. The Leung Chun-ying regime and its officials must apologise. 3. The Leung Chun-ying regime must step down. 4. The National People’s Congress (NPC) resolution must be withdrawn; genuine universal suffrage and civic nominations must be implemented. 5. Regulations on working hours, a universal pension and collective bargaining rights must be implemented. 6. We must win regime change and the self-determination over political reform. 3. The Way Forward 1. Working people need more encouragement to strike. One way is to encourage each company or unit to organise and set up a small group for solidarity with the movement and to establish a strike committee. Only with this foundation, is it possible to discuss the issue seriously. Slogan: Students and workers unite together to achieve regime change. For self-determination over political reform! 2. Adhere to nonviolence. 3. Proposing self-determination over political reform is appropriate. However if anyone proposes Hong Kong independence then we (the democratic left/progressives) can respond that we cannot agree to this, although we respect the right to express this opinion. Also it is an issue worthy of discussion later, but not for now, or it may be harmful to the movement. Updated on the early morning of 30th September Last night when I went to the scene, I found that the movement had again expanded in scale and it was very moving. However this also increases the risk of direct intervention by the CCP—although this does not necessarily mean dispatching the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) from the outset. Nevertheless it is necessary to avoid provocations and excesses. In the case of escalation of the crackdown from tear gas to shooting—or even worse the mobilization of the PLA—there is no way we can fight that, given the present level of organisation.Therefore we should retreat from the streets when this moment comes, but keep the strike going – no one can force working people to work normally even with guns. In addition to this we will need a deepening of the non-cooperative movement in all areas. Au Loong Yu, October 1, 2014 *** Calling for international support for democracy in Hong Kong! #DemocracyNowHK #OccupyCentral - By 李成康 Li Shing Hong, Samuel HONG KONG, a small dot on the map, is standing up against what is arguably the most capable and successful authoritarian regime of our time - the Chinese Communist Party, and its representatives in the Hong Kong government. For days, citizens and students with nothing more than their bodies have been battling the city's increasingly violent and brutal police force. Tear gas, anti-riot police and pepper spray have already been used on defenceless students and citizens, amongst other brutal violence. The Hong Kong Federation of Students have declared an indefinite class boycott for all universities in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions have declared an indefinite strike across the city. Read more Sign the HKCTU petition here Please show that you are on the side of all that stands for human rights, freedom and democratic values, because in this battle between David and Goliath, this small but defiant city cannot win without international support. Hong Kong students, workers and people will strive on even if it means facing the wrath of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. If we succeed, this will be the first truly democratic political regime in the whole of authoritarian China. We are making history with every step we walk. Please walk with us. Sign the HKCTU petition Take a picture of yourself and your comrades with a sign expressing solidarity with people in Hong Kong, and share it on social media using the #DemocracyNowHK and #OccupyCentral hash tags Share this story! Statement by Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions HKCTU strongly condemns the police crackdown of people’s protest by Hong Kong government Calling all workers in Hong Kong to participate in a general strike tomorrow Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) strongly condemns the police for their violent attack on unarmed students and people. We strongly condemn the government for suppressing the freedom of speech and the freedom of assembly in Hong Kong. HKCTU calls for all workers in Hong Kong to strike tomorrow, in protest of the ruling of the National People’s Congress, as well as the brutal suppression of peaceful protest by the Hong Kong government. Workers and students must unite to force the totalitarian government to hand state power back to the people. Since the peaceful assembly outside the Government Headquarters on September 26th, thousands of people join and support the assembly. The ever growing number of people maintained peace and order. Yet, the police attacked the protesters heavily with pepper spray, baton and riot squads armed with shields and helmets, while people who only had towels and umbrellas to protect themselves. In face of several rounds of suppression, protesters only raised their hands up without fighting back. In the evening of September 28th, the police furthered their attack with several rounds of tear gas. Many peaceful protesters were injured. Workers must stand up against the unjust government and violent suppression. Workers must stand up, as the totalitarian government has to back down when all workers protest in solidarity. To defend democracy and justice, we cannot let the students fight the suppression alone. HKCTU hereby announces and calls all workers to participate in a general strike tomorrow. We demand: Police must release the arrested protesters immediately. They must guarantee the basic human rights of the arrested protestors during retention. The government and police must stop suppressing the peaceful assembly and apologize to the people. National People’s Congress must withdraw the ‘fake universal suffrage’. The Hong Kong government must restart the consultation of political reform. Workers have been demanding a fair election system to rectify the long standing problem of the business-leaning government. However, the ‘fake universal suffrage’ framework proposed by NPC is merely ‘old wine in a new bottle’. Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying must step down to bear the responsibility of violent suppression of protest. Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Union September 28th, 2014. ITUC report *** The B u l l e t Socialist Project • E-Bulletin No. 1042 October 1, 2014 Students Unfurl the “Umbrella Revolution” in Hong Kong Sean Starrs The largest student demonstrations and occupations in Hong Kong's history is currently unfurling – what is increasingly being called the “Umbrella Revolution” in reference to the sea of umbrellas being used as cover against both pepper-spraying riot police and the rays of the sun (the latter a common practice in Northeast Asia). What began as a Hong Kong-wide class boycott on Monday September 22 with around 10,000 university and college students congregating on the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus for speeches and volunteer lectures on civil disobedience – moving across town to a sit-in on Wednesday the 24th in front of the main Hong Kong government buildings in the district of Admiralty – by the night of Monday September 29 morphed into an unprecedented occupation of four major districts in Hong Kong involving at least 80,000 people, predominantly students. Three major arteries running through Admiralty, Central, and parts of Wan Chai (a roughly 2.5km by 500 meter area) – constituting the core business and government skyscrapers in Hong Kong, and encompassing the headquarters of the 6,000-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China Hong Kong garrison – in addition to the largest intersection in Causeway Bay (Hong Kong's busiest shopping neighborhood) and the main thoroughfare in Mong Kok and Jordan (Nathan Road) across the harbor in Kowloon (one of the most densely populated districts in the world), are in complete lock-down with multiple barricades and throngs of students blocking all traffic. Students, Umbrellas and Occupiers This stunning accomplishment that has shocked everyone (including the students themselves) follows violent police repression on Saturday and Sunday of an intensity not seen on the streets of Hong Kong since 1967, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tried to spread the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) to the then-British colony. The main organizer of the week-long boycott of classes, the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), had planned on ending the strike and sit-in in front of the government buildings on Friday evening, but late that night some 200 or so students stormed a police line and fence to occupy a square within the government complex. The police reacted violently with batons and pepper spray, making over 70 arrests, including one of the most high profile student leaders, 17 year-old Joshua Wong, co-founder of the mostly high school student group Scholarism. As news of the violent police repression swiftly spread, masses of students and other supporters poured into the whole area, eventually blocking major roads (on Monday afternoon there were still some abandoned BMWs and public buses in the middle of the road surrounded by throngs of students). On Saturday, the three co-founders of the group Occupy Central with Love and Peace announced the commencement of Occupy Central, moved forward from its initial start-date of Wednesday October 1 (a public holiday in China, including Hong Kong, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic). Two professors and a clergyman initiated plans in January 2013 to occupy what is now a comparatively tiny section of Central, the downtown core of Hong Kong. Some students accused the co-founders of Occupy Central of opportunism and hijacking the student-initiated mass sit-in, but others welcomed the extra support. By Monday the three co-founders moved out of the main government building area, with at least one moving to the occupation in Kowloon across the harbor – hence the epicenter of Admiralty remains almost entirely student-driven. On Monday scores of businesses could not open due to being in the occupied zones, and over 200 public transportation lines were either cancelled or heavily diverted, the former including the iconic double-decker trams. According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (the territory's de facto central bank), “23 banks including HSBC and Standard Chartered had closed a total of 44 branches, offices and cash machines.” Both the Hong Kong dollar and the Hang Seng stock index fell on Monday morning. Hong Kong air and noise pollution plummeted from the absence of traffic, with eerie scenes of major thoroughfares several blocks from the epicenter being virtually empty on Monday afternoon (before being filled again with students and supporters by Monday evening). The City Hall was forced to shut down for the first time since Typhoon Wanda in 1962. Screw Us and We Multiply In the aftermath of Sunday's violent police repression of peaceful and unarmed students (many of them teenagers) – according to the police themselves firing tear gas 87 times in nine separate areas – support has been broadening and deepening, with thousands more on the streets from the after-work crowd on Monday and Tuesday. The Confederation of Trade Unions and the Professional Teachers Union both called on its members to strike in support of the students. At least 1,000 social workers, high school and university teachers joined the strike, as well as pupils from at least 31 schools. HKFS extended the student class boycott indefinitely. The Chairperson of Swire Beverages Employees General Union, distributor of Coca Cola in Hong Kong, announced to cheering students in Admiralty that more than 200 workers joined the strike, while 100 more reduced their hours. There were also reports of some taxi drivers striking. Even certain chief executives supported the strike, with for example CEO Spencer Wong of the McCann advertising firm informing employees: “It's up to you whether you come to work of [sic] not. The company will not punish anyone who supports something more important than work.” This is a sharp turnaround from July when the Big Four global accounting firms published a joint warning against Occupy Central of impending chaos if they had their way. A number of legislators, especially from the Civic and Democratic Parties, have also expressed support, with some even being arrested on Saturday and Sunday. But the vast majority of the initiative, leadership, and involvement remains with the students, many of them protesting for the first time. There is a constant stream of supplies pouring into the occupied zones, from water bottles to sodium chloride (first-aid against tear gas) and surgical masks to food and sleeping mats. Support and donations arrive from all walks of life and ages, from a pre-teen helping with cleanup to a 92 year-old lady chanting on the frontlines. There is no centralized chain of command, with the occupations now far beyond the control of either the leadership of the HKFS or Occupy Central with Peace and Love, with many spontaneous actions sprouting across the occupied zones (such as small groups bringing large objects from afar to construct more and increasingly elaborate barricades along the streets). Perhaps most significantly, even more students poured onto the streets after the leadership of HKFS and Occupy Central on Sunday night urged students to return home, as rumors swirled of the impending use of rubber bullets by riot police and increasing fears of a Tiananmen Square-like crack-down in which at least 2,600 students were massacred in 1989 (while many riot police brandished military-style rifles before being taken off the streets by Monday afternoon, thankfully none were used). The core demand is for universal suffrage to decide Hong Kong's Chief Executive Officer (what is essentially its mayor), rather than the changes proposed by Beijing on August 29th that would render it impossible for any anti-CCP candidate to run for office. From Monday morning, another demand being increasingly shouted is for the current Chief Executive C.Y. Leung to step down, and initiate a new reform proposal committee. What is clear is that the ramped up police repression on Sunday failed spectacularly, echoing a sign popular in Madison, Wisconsin in spring 2011: “Screw us and we multiply.” There was widespread outrage over the violent police tactics on unarmed, overwhelmingly peaceful and non-aggressive students, many of them simply quietly sitting around. Yet, as mentioned above, the police fired tear gas 87 times in nine separate areas, according to their own estimate. Incidentally, the stockpile and use of tear gas is banned by the 1993 UN Chemical Weapons Convention, of which China is a signatory. Apart from using tear gas against South Korean farmers during the 2005 WTO protests, the streets of Hong Kong have not seen this chemical weapon since 1967. The riot police were formally taken off the streets by noon Monday, officially because the “illegal protesters” have “mostly calmed down.” In reality, the riot police were the ones that calmed down once they realized they could not defeat the students. During the climax of repression on Sunday night, I was in one area that was tear gassed around 4-5 times (each barrage with multiple canisters) in only two hours. The police formed two lines and fired tear gas in order to advance toward the epicenter in Admiralty, after which most of the crowd would flee and then quickly regroup, surrounding the police on both sides with hands in the air to show non-violent intent. On another note, while unprecedented for Hong Kong, the violent police repression was still relatively tame compared to the demeanor, equipment, and tactics now often employed by the heavily militarized police in North America, from the 2010 Toronto G20 protests to Ferguson, Missouri last month. By Monday afternoon, there was only a heavy police presence around the government buildings, the PLA HQ, and the police HQ (all within a few blocks of each other). Vast areas had no police presence at all, of which many students took ample advantage, extending the barricades several hundred meters to the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the west, into the heart of the poshest shopping district of flagship luxury brands (a significant advancement of occupied territory from Sunday night). The expanding Umbrella Revolution is no doubt a momentous conjuncture for Hong Kong, and possibly for China itself. All local news outlets are of course doing live and ongoing coverage, but this has also received much international attention. The New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and others have their Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, and all have given this their front page. There also happen to be a number of veteran China reporters that have been deported from the Mainland in the past year or two (especially from Bloomberg and the New York Times), and most have relocated to Hong Kong – from where they are all too happy to write less than enthusiastically on the CCP and the heavy-handed and disproportionate repression of the Hong Kong police. A common chant heard on the streets is “the world is watching.” Nothing short of the future of Hong Kong is at stake. Officially, Deng Xiaoping's promise of “one country, two systems” is supposed to last until 2047 (half a century after the 1997 handover), but many in Hong Kong fear that Beijing is gradually moving toward “one country” much sooner. The CCP's attempt to change the security law in 2003 and standardize the education system to emphasize “love of China” in 2012 were both defeated due to hundreds of thousands taking to the streets. The latter incident is the context in which Joshua Wong, then 14 years old, co-founded Scholarism to protest Beijing's attempted interference in Hong Kong's school curriculum. But this time is different. We are currently in the midst of by far Hong Kong's largest civil disobedience ever. Students have pledged to maintain the occupied zones, vastly larger than Occupy Wall Street or any of its global spawns ever were, until Beijing reneges on its August 29th proposal and grants Hong Kong universal suffrage. Students are so far incredibly successful, unimaginably more than anyone could have predicted even on Sunday morning. Perhaps most importantly, momentum is far greater on the side of the students, as we begin two Chinese public holidays (including in Hong Kong), tomorrow and Thursday. Whatever the eventual outcome, at the very minimum the Umbrella Revolution will have politicized a new generation of Hong Kongers. Of course, this doesn't mean everyone will be radicalized, as for example numerous veterans of 1989 Tiananmen Square after being exiled to the West became investment bankers or Silicon Valley capitalists. Nevertheless, others became critical scholars or full-time activists, perhaps most prominently Han Dongfang, the number one most wanted man by the CCP in the aftermath of June 4, 1989, who gave himself up and was tortured for 22 months in a Chinese prison, and subsequently exiled to Hong Kong where in 1994 he founded China Labour Bulletin, which is still going strong today. Students and Workers Stand up, Fight Back Moreover, by far the largest act of civil disobedience in Hong Kong history comes at a very awkward time for the Chinese Communist Party, which at least partly explains the unprecedented and swift but spectacularly failed attempt by the Hong Kong Police to violently repress the students and prevent their momentum from growing. With President Xi Jinping's “anti-corruption campaign” so far targeting only his rival factions, the CCP is currently in the midst of the one of the most serious tests to its unity in decades. More broadly vis-à-vis the Chinese people, the CCP is increasingly using nationalism and China's “glorious” past, including reviving Confucianism, once reviled by the CCP as a product of feudal and patriarchal authoritarianism, in order to replace “communist” ideology. Indeed, the CCP announced that class struggle was officially over in China, and therefore removed the right to strike from the constitution in 1982. Yet, since especially the Nanhai Honda strike in 2010, there have been hundreds if not thousands of increasingly daring strikes across China, the largest of which was earlier this year when 40,000 workers at a Dongguan shoe factory went on strike, less than 100km north of Hong Kong. And certainly after 1989, it is clear that the tenets of freedom of assembly and speech do not jive well with this CCP hegemonic project, yet are very dear to the hearts of many Hong Kongers. At the time of the handover, Hong Kong's GDP accounted for almost a fifth of China's, yet today it is only 3 per cent. The central government in Beijing will likely do much in its now considerable imbalance of power to prevent any demonstration effect in Hong Kong that might spread to the Mainland. And there is certainly the basis for an Occupy Shenzhen and others across China, as many grievances range from high labour exploitation to severe air pollution, from food safety scandals to rural and urban land seizures, from widespread corruption to increasing violent crime and one of the highest inequality rates in the world. Hence, especially over the past ten years, burgeoning social unrest in China seems to be increasingly rattling the upper echelons of the CCP. Since 2009 China spends more on domestic security than external military defense. And the CCP has reacted to the Umbrella Revolution with record Internet censorship on the Mainland, banning many search words such as “Class boycott,” “Occupy Central,” “Hong Kong police,” and “Hong Kong tear gas,” while deleting relevant posts on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social network, including all posts with the hashtag #HongKong. Meanwhile, for the first time, China completely blocked Instagram on Sunday morning, as pictures from Hong Kong started to go viral around the Mainland. There is already contagion internationally, as hundreds of supporters in Taiwan (a country with its own misgivings concerning Beijing's increasing encroachment, as witnessed by its “Sunflower movement” earlier this year when students occupied the Taiwanese parliament) occupied the lobby of the Hong Kong Trade Office. Solidarity demonstrations are also planned across the world over the next couple days, from Paris to Sydney, from San Francisco to Vancouver and Toronto. China, of course, has a massive diaspora abroad, much of which is still deeply connected with the Mainland (as well as Hong Kong). But back in “Asia's world city,” Beijing is in a real damned if they do, damned if they don't situation. Granting universal suffrage to Hong Kong would be a significant setback for the authority of the CCP, with highly uncertain consequences both in Hong Kong and the Mainland concerning the CCP's paramount goal: the longevity of its power. But at least at the time of writing, tens of thousands of students and their supporters remain more entrenched in the three main occupied zones than on Sunday. Seventeen year-old Joshua Wong of Scholarism has said that most do not expect Beijing to back down, but that was last week. Similarly, many a week ago expected Occupy Central to fail in occupying only a tiny square in Central; even the co-founders did not dare to dream of maintaining a complete lock-down of vast swathes of Hong Kong spanning three of its most important neighborhoods. As of Tuesday night Hong Kong time, the possibility of what would be an historic retreat by the Chinese Communist Party with unknown consequences is at least slightly higher than it was only a few days ago. And very few seriously give any likelihood to a bloodbath on the scale of the Tiananmen Square massacre. There would simply be too big a risk that Hong Kong would be rendered utterly ungovernable if such a tragedy occurred. Beijing also signaled on Sunday that it would not intervene, and praised the Hong Kong police for handling the situation well. That was, however, before the massive student success and advancements on Monday that have continued into Tuesday. If the student-led occupations cannot be defeated soon, each day that goes by increases the risks for Beijing of contagion. In the immediate short-term, the students have this Wednesday and Thursday on their side, as both are public holidays in China, including Hong Kong. The annual fireworks celebrating the coming to power of the CCP on October 1, 1949, usually scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled by the Hong Kong government. An average 800,000 Mainlanders cross the border into Hong Kong every day, and this will see a sizable increase tomorrow and Thursday due to the national holidays. One problem, however, is that the vast majority of students have very little political experience, let alone an awareness of the incompatibility of capitalism and democracy, not to mention the environment. Some make the connection between increasing inequality in Hong Kong, with universal suffrage as a means to counter the power of tycoons, the majority of whom are pro-Beijing and of course favour the status quo. But I have argued in an opinion piece that will be published by Hong Kong's main English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, that too few discuss whether political democracy is possible without economic democracy. Regardless, this is certainly a giant first step in politicizing a new generation of Hong Kongers, a populace more known for shopping in gleaming malls rather than occupying vast swathes of the third most important financial center in the world. Also, from my own very limited one-month experience so far teaching at City University of Hong Kong, many students are extraordinarily receptive to criticism of capitalism at large, more so than my former students at York University in Toronto. The Umbrella Revolution and the Global Cycle of Protest As should be clear, the Umbrella Revolution is shaped by specific local conditions in Hong Kong. With that said, it must be placed in the broader context of occupations and popular uprisings the world over that have been inspired by the Arab Spring, especially the occupation of Tahrir Square in early 2011. The occupation of Tahrir Square inspired the occupation of the State Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin and the indignados of Madrid, Spain – both of which inspired Occupy Wall Street in September 2011 and the subsequent blossoming of Occupies around the world, including the original Occupy Central, one of the longest-lasting camps, until September 2012. And as the Umbrella Revolution and other recent protests around the world reveal, the conditions continue to be ripe for politicizing the masses of especially young people for the first time (as well as occasionally breathing fresh air into the spirits of 1968 Paris and 1999 Seattle veterans, among others). The ranks of those receptive to radical system change around the world continues to swell as the twenty-first century progresses, even if some also drop out and/or need greater encouragement. In any case, in regard to the largest civil disobedience ever in Hong Kong, anyone's crystal ball as to how this will end is as uncertain as anyone else's. What is certain, however, is that the humble umbrella will forever have a new significance in Hong Kong: to protect not only from rain and shine, but also from the instruments of state repression. • Sean Starrs is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the City University of Hong Kong and received his Ph.D. in June 2014 at York University, Toronto. I thank Jordy Cummings for encouraging me to write this. &&& *** Tutu calls for support of Hong Kong protesters Tutu says he salutes the courage of the Hong Kong citizens who have taken part in mass demonstrations. Eyewitness News & Reuters | about 12 hours ago CAPE TOWN - Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has called on all who believe in democracy to support the people of Hong Kong. There was little sign of momentum flagging on the fifth day of the mass campaign, whose aim has been to occupy sections of the city and express fury at a Chinese decision to limit voters’ choices in a 2017 leadership election. In a statement, Tutu says he salutes the courage of the hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong citizens who have taken part in mass demonstrations in recent days. Many had feared police would use force to move crowds before Wednesday’s start to celebrations marking the anniversary of the Communist Party's foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Those fears proved unfounded. The crowds have brought large sections of the Asian financial hub to a standstill, disrupting businesses from banks to jewellers. Overnight thunderstorms failed to dampen spirits and the protesters woke to blue skies on Wednesday. Riot police had used tear gas, pepper spray and baton charges at the weekend to try to quell the unrest but tensions have eased since then as both sides appeared prepared to wait it out, at least for now. Protests spread from four main areas to Tsim Sha Tsui, a shopping area popular with mainland Chinese visitors. It would usually do roaring trade during the annual National Day holiday. Underlining nervousness among some activists that provocation on National Day could spark violence, protest leaders urged crowds not to disturb the flag-raising ceremony on the Victoria Harbour waterfront on Wednesday morning. Proceedings went ahead peacefully, although scores of students who ringed the ceremony at Bauhinia Square overlooking Hong Kong harbour booed as the national anthem was played. A beaming Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who was appointed by Beijing, shook hands with supporters waving the Chinese flag even as protesters who want him to stand down chanted: “We want real democracy”. “We hope that all sectors of the community will work with the government in a peaceful, lawful, rational and pragmatic manner ... and make a big step forward in our constitutional development,” Leung said in a speech. The Hong Kong and Chinese flags billowed in the wind at the completion of the ceremony but one of the main protest groups said they marked the occasion “with a heavy heart”. “We are not celebrating the 65th anniversary of China. With the present political turmoil in Hong Kong and the continued persecution of human rights activists in China, I think today is not a day for celebrations but rather a day of sadness,” said Oscar Lai, a spokesman for the student group Scholarism. SOLIDARITY Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered outside luxury stores and set up makeshift barricades from the early hours of Wednesday in anticipation of possible clashes. As in most parts of Hong Kong, the police presence was small. Protesters have set up supply stations with water bottles, fruit, crackers, disposable raincoats, towels, goggles, face masks and tents. M. Lau, a 56-year-old retiree, said he had taken to the streets of Hong Kong to protest in the 1980s and wanted to do so again in a show of solidarity with a movement that has been led by students as well as more established activists. The protests are the worst in Hong Kong since China resumed its rule of the former British colony in 1997. They also represent one of the biggest political challenges for Beijing since it violently crushed pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Cracking down too hard could shake confidence in market-driven Hong Kong, which has a separate legal system from the rest of China. Not reacting firmly enough, however, could embolden dissidents on the mainland. China rules Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems” formula that accords it some autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, with universal suffrage an eventual goal. However, protesters reacted angrily when Beijing decreed on 31 August that it would vet candidates wishing to run for Hong Kong’s leadership. Leung has said Beijing would not back down in the face of protests and that Hong Kong police would be able to maintain security without help from People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops from the mainland. CENSORSHIP Communist Party leaders in Beijing worry that calls for democracy could spread to the mainland, and have been aggressively censoring news and social media comments about the Hong Kong demonstrations. Cybersecurity researchers in the United States said they had found a computer virus that spies on Apple Inc.’s iOS operating system for iPhones and iPads that they believe is targeting the protesters in Hong Kong. Researchers from Lacoon Mobile Security said the code used to control the server was written in Chinese by “really sophisticated guys”. Hong Kong shares fell to a three-month low on Tuesday, registering their biggest monthly fall since May 2012. Markets are closed on Wednesday and Thursday for the holidays. The city’s benchmark index has fallen 7.3 percent over the past month, and there are few indications that the protests are likely to end any time soon. Mainland Chinese visiting Hong Kong had differing views on the demonstrations, being staged under the “Occupy” banner. A woman surnamed Lin, from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, however said the protesters’ demands for a democratic election were “disrespectful to the mainland”. *** Hong Kong’s Protesters Say Peaceful Resistance Is Key By Lucy Westcott Filed: 9/29/14 at 10:24 PM | Updated: 9/29/14 at 10:59 PM Filed Under: World, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Protests, Occupy Central, Occupy Central with Peace and Love Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests have seen tens of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets to demand universal suffrage from the Chinese government. What started as a student-led campaign for democracy last week evolved into a standoff with police, who lobbed tear gas at the growing crowds and made arrests Sunday and Monday. But one group taking part in the movement says protesters are focused on maintaining a “peaceful resistance.” “We are seriously upholding the principle of nonviolence,” Chan Kin-man, co-founder of democracy group Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) and a professor of sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong tells Newsweek. “We are fighting a non-democratic regime, we don’t have as many resources as them, we don’t have weapons,” said Chan. “The only thing we rely on is our spirit. We spend a lot of time explaining the importance of having a movement that can express our love to the community,” he said. OCLP started in March 2013 as a way to put pressure on the governments of Beijing and Hong Kong to allow fair and open elections in Hong Kong. Chan said the group is inspired by other peaceful movements that have fought “against systems, not individuals,” he said, speaking from a square next to the central government office in Hong Kong on Monday, where protests were continuing. The protests partly have their roots in an unofficial referendum earlier this summer which called on Beijing to allow for free elections in which Hong Kong residents could nominate their own candidates for local government positions. Beijing has said voters can choose from a list of pre-determined candidates. Chan compared the 2017 elections to an election in authoritarian regimes such as North Korea or Iran. “All the candidates have to be screened by Beijing before they’re put forward,” Chan said of the movement's impetus. “As an international city we don’t think this is acceptable,” he said. “We want a genuine universal suffrage by the end of 2017.” “We learned from examples like Gandhi in 1940s and Martin Luther King in the 1960s,” said Chan. “[We were] also inspired by Nelson Mandela in fighting for democracy.” Pro-Democracy Protesters Face Police in Hong Kong Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, many of them students, faced tear gas and arrests as they took to the streets in massive numbers to call on China to allow free elections for territory’s next leader VIEW GALLERY The movement has been dubbed the “umbrella revolution” by some, with protesters using umbrellas to protect themselves from tear gas and the sun. The protests saw Hong Kong police firing tear gas into crowds for the first time in nearly a decade, since protests erupted outside the 2005 World Trade Organization talks, The Telegraph reports. The action has brought “shame” to the city, said Anson Chan, former chief secretary of Hong Kong said in a statement. “What we need now is leadership and accountability, not violence and repression,” the statement read. Photos and videos with the hashtag OccupyCentral have been widely shared over social media, despite the Chinese government’s decision to block Instagram on Sunday. Some praised protesters for organizing supplies, handing out water and tidying up after themselves. Chan said this were examples of the movement’s strategy of nonviolence. Protests are expected to continue through October 1, which is China’s National Day, according to local media. "We hope that Hong Kong people can hang on and occupy the several spots that we are now having our demonstrations [until] at least October 1…to show our dignity and our determination to fight for democracy," Chan told local media on Monday. *** Hong Kong leader believes protests could last weeks Students spearheading the protest movement ratcheted up pressure on Leung Chun-ying. Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Picture: Bridgette Hall. Reuters | about 9 hours ago HONG KONG - Hong Kong authorities will not immediately move to clear tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters occupying large areas of the city, and will let them stay for weeks if need be, a source with ties to leader Leung Chun-ying said on Wednesday. In contrast, students spearheading the protest movement ratcheted up pressure on Leung, saying they would occupy more government buildings unless the Beijing-backed chief executive stepped down by Thursday night. Hong Kong protesters are angry about China's decision to limit voters' choices in a 2017 leadership election, and, in a major challenge to Beijing's authority in Hong Kong and beyond, have brought much of the financial hub to a standstill. As the mass action approached its sixth day on Wednesday evening, the number of people on the streets remained high. Fears among demonstrators that police might try to remove them forcibly ahead of the National Day holiday marking the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 proved unfounded, and the atmosphere was calm but defiant. Hong Kong student leader Lester Shum issued an ultimatum to Leung: step down or else face wider protests. "We will escalate the action if CY Leung doesn't resign by tonight or tomorrow night. We will occupy more government facilities and offices," he told protesters. "I believe the government is trying to buy more time. They want to use tactics such as sending some people to create chaos so that they would have a good reason to disperse the crowd." Riot police had used tear gas, pepper spray and baton charges at the weekend to try to quell the unrest, but tensions have eased since then as both sides appeared ready to wait it out, at least for now. Protesters have dug in, setting up supply stations with water bottles, fruit, disposable raincoats, towels, goggles, face masks and tents. Leung has said Beijing would not back down and that Hong Kong police would be able to maintain security without help from People's Liberation Army troops from the mainland. According to a government source with ties to Leung, the chief executive appeared ready to allow the anger to subside, and would only intervene if there was looting or violence. "Unless there's some chaotic situation, we won't send in riot police ... We hope this doesn't happen," the source said. "We have to deal with it peacefully, even if it lasts weeks or months." Leung could not be immediately reached for comment. _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list [email protected] http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/