Pro-democracy demonstrators are uncertain about
what lies ahead for the movement, but determined not to give up on its goals
Tuesday evening in
front of Hong Kong’s Central Government Complex seemed at first glance like any
other in recent memory, with pro-democracy protesters milling around the
tent-filled section of highway they have christened Umbrella Square.
And this memory
remains fresh in people’s minds.
“It was a sad day
because of what the police did,” said 24-year-old Alan Yip, who was on the
front lines on Sept. 28 and has been camping out in the ritzy Admiralty
district for the past 20 days. “Many people suffered.”
Tuesday’s
commemoration, attended by thousands, was filled with symbolism and perfectly
orchestrated. At exactly 5:57 p.m., the time the first tear gas was deployed,
protesters opened a sea of umbrellas and observed 87 seconds of silence for the
87 canisters fired. Many donned goggles and face masks as they had during the
onslaught.
There was a huge
cheer as the silence ended, and a long yellow banner was unfurled reading “I
want real universal suffrage.” As music began to play and a screen off to the
side showed scenes of that tumult, plus everything that has happened since,
many protesters wept anew as they reflected on their ongoing struggle for
democracy.
“The achievement
we’ve had is totally unexpected,” Benny Tai, co-founder of the
civil-disobedience movement now being called Occupy Hong Kong, tells TIME. “A
new era has started.”
Tai also urged the
protesters to consider the relationship between the Umbrella Movement — a name
derived from the protesters’ use of umbrellas as shields against police pepper
spray — and Hong Kong’s three-decade-long history of democratic movements. “How
can we see the Umbrella Movement beyond Umbrella Square?” he asks.
Oct. 21 talks between Hong Kong officials and student leaders
yielded little progress, and on Tuesday the students asked for a meeting with China’s Premier Li Keqiang, according
to Bloomberg.
For protesters
like Dominic Lee, though, the immediate future looks somewhat bleak. “It’s a
bit of getting nowhere,” he said. “You can see the government didn’t respond,
they didn’t change anything.”
“We will
eventually have to retreat because it can’t stay like this forever,” agrees
Felix Yeung, a 27-year-old musician. “If something happens, it gives both sides
a step to move forward. This movement is going nowhere if there is no further
catalyst.”
On Sunday, a
public vote to determine the next course of action for the movement was abruptly
canceled, which protest leaders attributed to a lack of discussion and
security fears.
Meanwhile, groups
opposing the Occupy movement have stepped up efforts to rally people against
the disruption to everyday life. A petition in support of the police and urging
an immediate clearing of the roads gathered over 800,000 signatures in three
days, according to organizers. Although some have questioned its validity, anti-Occupy leader Robert Chow
stressed the apparent groundswell of supporters.
“If we’re talking
about democracy, then isn’t it true that democracy’s backbone is majority
rule?” said Chow, a spokesperson for the Alliance for Peace and Democracy
group, which initiated the petition. “Just because [the protesters] have an idea,
they have no right whatsoever to hold Hong Kong hostage, to disrupt law and
order and disregard the rule of law.”
Chow hopes the
anti-Occupy petition, which will run until Sunday, will give the government and
the police the “moral backing of the people to do something about restoring
roads.”
The protesters, on
their part, are not backing down yet. An informal survey conducted by Reuters revealed that 9 out of
10 are prepared to stay on the streets for more than a year.
“We can’t lose,
because if we end this revolution now we will get nothing,” said Sam Shum, a
23-year-old student. “If we lose, we will lose our future.”
People
& Power - Hong Kong: Occupy Central
