Hong Kong protests hit home for some

Thousands of protesters have been gathering in the Central district in Hong Kong since Sunday. Photo from Wikimedia Commons

By Katie Coleman

BELLEVILLE – The Occupy Hong Kong movement is happening thousands of miles away but the sentiments can be felt even in Belleville.

For Jeuyu (Nino) Liu, a first-year Loyalist College photojournalism student, the protests in Hong Kong are more than just news on the television. Since Liu is from Hong Kong, these protests hit close to home.

Citizens gathered to protest for the right to democratically elect the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2017. Their request was denied by current Chief Executive C.Y. Yeung. That’s when the protests ramped up Sunday morning.

Liu says  not all citizens in Hong Kong are supportive of the protests. The island has a population just shy of 7.2 million people while the protesters are currently numbering in the tens of thousands. Those protesting are just a small fraction of the population and that has caused some resentment among Hong Kongers, says Liu.

“The way they are fighting is kind of ridiculous. We know we have to fight for democracy but you can’t block all the main districts in Hong Kong,” he said.

These protesters are currently occupying the Central and Admiralty districts of Hong Kong. Central is the financial district and Admiralty is where the government buildings are located.

“For me, Hong Kong, there’s always been a lot of freedom there,” he said. “We’re terrified of the Chinese government taking over us so we’re really sensitive about freedom of speech.”

There are striking similarities between these protests and those in Tiananmen Square in 1989 where Chinese troops massacred student protestors. Liu says the government wouldn’t dare take the same action on Hong Kong since it’s such a powerful international city and financial centre.

Liu doesn’t feel reducing the city to a standstill will make a difference.

“I think democracy is a process. It has to be step by step.”

The group that’s occupying these districts have been threatening to take over government buildings but Liu doesn’t think this is the way to handle it.

“It doesn’t help democracy,” he says.

As of Friday morning, protesters have taken control of the office of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. The government’s next steps are unknown.