https://themilitant.com/2019/08/17/hong-kong-protests-demand-beijing-grant-political-rights/
Hong Kong protests demand Beijing grant political rights
??By Roy Landersen
Vol. 83/No. 31
August 26, 2019
Demonstrators at Hong Kong airport shut down all flights Aug. 12-13.
Hundreds of thousands of working people have been protesting over 10
weeks. Demands include direct elections.
Reuters/Issei Kato
Demonstrators at Hong Kong airport shut down all flights Aug. 12-13.
Hundreds of thousands of working people have been protesting over 10
weeks. Demands include direct elections.
Protests involving hundreds of thousands of working people demanding
greater political rights have continued for a 10th week in Hong Kong.
Many at the actions are demanding the government of the semi-autonomous
territory and its Beijing overseers grant direct elections for Hong
Kong???s top officials.
The tens of thousands who demonstrated over the weekend of Aug 3-4 faced
attacks from cops using tear gas and rubber bullets. Masked thugs helped
cops arrest demonstrators.
A citywide strike and mass protests for political rights Aug. 5 blocked
much of the road and rail network. The strike caused hundreds of flights
to be cancelled at Hong Kong???s international airport, one of the world???s
busiest. A subsequent sit-in at the airport swelled to thousands Aug.
12-13, forcing the cancellation of all flights those days.
Those joining the strike included bus drivers, construction workers,
teachers, lawyers and pilots. People rallied in numerous working-class
or shopping districts. Many civil servants defied orders not to protest
and shops were shut.
The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, which called the strike,
said 350,000 workers took part. The pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of
Trade Unions opposed the action.
Wilson Ng, a teacher from Hong Kong, told the Militant Aug. 12 that
demands of those taking to the streets include the ???formal withdrawal???
of the shelved extradition bill, an amnesty for all protesters arrested
on ???riot??? charges and ???an independent investigation into police
violence??? and on how the crisis arose. While calls for Chief Executive
Carrie Lam???s resignation persist, Ng said, ???people realize that even if
she steps down the person who succeeds her won???t be much different.???
Lastly, he said, is the demand for ???direct elections of the chief
executive.???
Currently Hong Kong???s chief executive is ???elected??? by a
Beijing-appointed committee of 1,200 people, including many backers of
the Chinese government along with company bosses from the island. Hong
Kong, a former British colony, has been under a ???one country, two
systems??? arrangement since it reverted to China in 1997. London waited
over 150 years until the end of its colonial rule to begin implementing
some direct elections.
Hong Kong actions impact in China
The Chinese government fears the impact that the fight for democratic
rights in Hong Kong will have on working people across mainland China.
Beijing???s aviation authority ordered Cathay Pacific Airways to remove
all workers involved in protests from their flights from Hong Kong to
China Aug. 9. The airline???s bosses said they would comply.
As economic growth has slowed in China, labor actions have increased.
The China Labour Bulletin reports that so far this year there have been
25 protest actions among auto workers, mostly over layoffs and unpaid
wages. Some 220,000 jobs have been lost as vehicle sales dropped 14% in
the first half of the year. Most were layoffs but others resigned,
unable to survive on a bare wage without overtime payments and bonuses.
In response to the Aug. 5 general strike, Lam claimed that the city was
???on the verge of a very dangerous situation.??? A spokesperson from
Beijing???s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office threatened that protesters
should not ???play with fire??? and ???mistake our restraint for weakness.???
Working people in Hong Kong know this is not an idle threat. On June 4,
nearly 200,000 attended a memorial to mark the 30th anniversary of the
brutal crushing by Beijing???s military of mass protests in Tiananmen
Square. Hong Kong is the only part of Chinese territory where that
history is not censored.
Protests have been rising since February against Lam???s proposed
extradition law, which would give Beijing legal cover to go after
political opponents in the semi-autonomous region. Millions marched June
9 and 16, forcing Lam, with Beijing???s agreement, to suspend the bill.
Some company bosses and business groups have made calls for the
extradition law to be completely withdrawn and for an inquiry into the
cops??? treatment of demonstrators.
Some small groups of protesters have targeted the legislative assembly
building, police stations and symbols of Beijing???s overbearing presence,
provoking a violent response from riot police. Ng told the Militant that
the media focuses on these smaller confrontations as ???the government is
trying to cover up??? the size of the massive peaceful protests.
Chinese government officials seek to drive a wedge between the large
numbers of working people at many of the protests and those leading
violent confrontations with authorities. Yang Guang, Beijing???s
spokesperson in Hong Kong, claimed there was a division between
???kind-hearted citizens who have been misguided and coerced to join??? and
???a small number of violent radicals.???
Growing economic inequalities in the territory are also driving unrest
among working people. Hong Kong has the world???s longest working hours
and highest rents, according to the New York Times. Rents have
skyrocketed in recent years and over 210,000 Hong Kong residents live in
subdivided apartments known as ???cages,??? where tenants are squeezed into
spaces as small as 15 square feet.
In This Issue
Front Page Articles ???Stop the raids! Amnesty for immigrants in the US!
???Protesters in Kashmir say, ???India get out of our country???
???SWP presents working-class candidates, road forward
???Blackjewel miners win solidarity in fight for jobs and stolen wages
??????Workers need to organize unions to fight to change our conditions???
???End censorship of the ???Militant,??? Walmart workers tell Florida prisons
Feature Articles ???Fight to end US embargo of Cuba discussed at Nepal forum
Also In This Issue ???Hong Kong protests demand Beijing grant political rights
???US Steel ???doesn???t care about health of Mon Valley people???
???Layoffs, workers??? debts refute gov???t claims of ???good times???
???Ebola outbreak worsened by wars wracking Congo
???New Puerto Rico governor defends US colonial rule
??????Militant??? reporters head to Puerto Rico
Books of the Month ???Women???s emancipation requires ending domestic servitude
25, 50 and 75 years ago
?? Copyright 2019 The Militant?? -?? 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor -?? New
York, NY 10018?? -?? themilitant@xxxxxxx
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George Carlin
??? Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe,
and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they
have to touch it to be sure. ???
??? George Carlin
