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My Take | 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
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Alex Loin Toronto
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.
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