Mike Rowse

Opinion | How does the world view Hong Kong’s political turmoil, from Occupy to the oath-taking saga and the German asylum case? Probably very differently from us

Over the past four years, events like the tear-gassing of Occupy protesters, the disqualification of lawmakers over their oaths, and the asylum-seeking of wanted activists have attracted worldwide attention, and the city’s reputation is at stake

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Pictures of Hong Kong activists Alan Li (left) and Ray Wong held by protesters at a demonstration near the German consulate in Hong Kong, on May 23. Photo: AP

Mike Rowse

Published: 7:00am, 3 Jun 2019Updated: 7:00am, 3 Jun 2019

“Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us.” This quote from Scottish poet Robert Burns sprang to mind when I saw in the news that a delegation from the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong was protesting outside the German consulate in Hong Kong.

Led by the party’s deputy leader, Holden Chow Ho-ding, the delegation had gone there to complain about Germany’s decision last year to grant political asylum to two Hongkongers. Activists Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing were due to go on trial here on charges relating to the 2016 Mong Kok riot, but jumped bail in late 2017.

Germany granted them sanctuary on the grounds that they could not be certain of receiving a fair trial. Such a finding is a serious blow to Hong Kong’s reputation. But, before we look at the merits of the decision, we need to put it in the context of events in Hong Kong in recent years, as they might be seen and interpreted by outsiders.

Start with the outcome of the consultation exercise on political reform in 2014. Beijing’s ruling that all candidates for chief executive must receive majority support from the election committee was seen as highly restrictive and disappointing by democracy advocates. Their demonstration outside government headquarters began on September 26, characterised by yellow umbrellas, and became the Occupy Central movement.

It set out to be a peaceful occupation of a prominent location for a few days, in the same mode as Occupy Wall Street, to draw attention to a grievance. The outcome was a 79-day blockage involving three different locations which disrupted the lives of millions.

For the purposes of this discussion, we do not need to examine the rights and wrongs of the 2014 ruling, or the police use of tear gas to disperse the crowd, or the demonstrators’ lack of a plan to bring the occupation to a smooth conclusion, or the authorities’ decision to let the protest peter out rather than apply the law to impose an end, because there are legitimate opinions on all sides. The point is that the events were widely covered by media around the world. People everywhere saw what was happening.

In subsequent years, Hong Kong’s political system attracted attention for controversial reasons. In 2016, returning officers began to disqualify some candidates from taking part in elections. Six were banned that year and three more in 2018.