South China Morning Post
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Alex Lo
SCMP Columnist
My Take
by Alex Lo
My Take
by Alex Lo

Ghosts of Occupy return to haunt Hong Kong

  • The government has already made concession after concession on the contentious extradition bill but once again, as in 2014, protesters are demanding all or nothing
Alex Lo
Alex Lo
Why you can trust SCMP
It looks like 2014 all over again. The scenes of young people barricading roads and scuffling with police in Admiralty are a painful reminder that Hong Kong’s underlying political problems and social malaise have never been addressed, only ignored for a time.
Sadly, many activists, protesters and opposition leaders seem to have learned nothing from the failures and mistakes of the Occupy movement of 2014 and the Mong Kok riot in 2016.
Indeed, they are set to repeat them. Those who think they can secure another victory over the government as they did in 2003 with the withdrawal of the proposed national security law – under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution – are being wholly naive and unrealistic.

No one can fail to be moved by the peacefulness and dignity of a million people rallying against the government’s proposed amendments to the laws covering fugitives, which could see Hong Kong residents being extradited to the mainland.

But demands made in the streets still need to be negotiated with officials to translate into a viable settlement.

The government is ready to compromise, but it will not withdraw the extradition bill. In 2014, the central and Hong Kong governments were ready to offer an expanded if flawed electoral franchise with a road map to reaching full democracy. But the opposition demanded all or nothing, and ended up with nothing.

They are now making the same kind of maximal demands: withdraw the extradition bill while asking Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to resign. Lam will face the music, but not yet. Beijing will, no doubt, blame Lam for failing to contain this escalating crisis, which now threatens to be worse than those faced by her two predecessors. Leung Chun-ying had to answer for the Occupy protests by not seeking a second term, while Tung Chee-hwa resigned after a rally of half-a-million people forced the government’s withdrawal of the national security bill. But getting rid of Lam will solve nothing.

The government has already made concession after concession by repeatedly watering down the bill. After Sunday’s extraordinary turnout, it may well be ready to talk and concede more. But with Beijing looking over its shoulders, shelving the bill is simply not an option. With no realistic demands made and no one from the opposition to negotiate with, the government will simply push on to get the bill passed before the month is out.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: The ghosts of Occupy return to haunt HK
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