Occupy Central 佔領中環

[tooironic]

“It’s very inconvenient. We are tourists; we came here to shop,” said Emily Liu, visiting from Shanghai.

That's the saddest thing I've heard for a very long time.

[skylee]

"Inconvenient" is quite mild. I understand the feeling. I would find it inconvenient if I encounter a strike or similar activities when I travel. And such things are quite common. I almost missed my flight when there was a subway workers' strike in Paris, and had to change my travel plans when the railway workers in Belgium had a strike. I can find more such incidents if I check my travel notes. So I think the comment is all right.

[Shelley]

I might find it inconvenient if strikes or similar action upset my travel plans but I wouldn't moan about it, I would just get on with altering my plans and hope the peoples involved got what they wanted/needed.

 

It seems a very petty thing in the overall scheme of things.

[Lu]

It's an understandable sentiment, but it just sounds so callous when you say it out loud where the people involved can hear/see it. If someone jumps in front of a train, the sentiment inside the train also quickly moves from 'oh my god, the poor guy' to 'this is annoying, now I'm late for work', but nobody is going to tell the newspaper they're annoyed.

[skylee]

This is quite funny - 香港煙花燃料不足，國慶煙花表演取消 (see the attached photo).

PS - HK Government's press release - "In view of the latest situation, it is anticipated that main access roads leading to hot spots for viewing the fireworks display may continue to be seriously affected. Having regard to public transport arrangements and public safety considerations, the National Day Fireworks Display originally scheduled at Victoria Harbour on October 1 (Wednesday) at 8pm will be cancelled."

[skylee]

I am walking on a flyover in Central taking pictures. It is surreal. Extremely peaceful and quiet with so many people here. Volunteers collecting rubbish and distributing food and drinks. It is like a live museum. I will post the photos later. The network is weak.

PS - I am right outside the PLA barracks in Central.

[roddy]

Thanks, Skylee. 

[Angelina]

I believe the sad part is 

 

we came here to shop

[roddy]

To be honest - mainland citizens, suddenly asked to comment on politics, to an overseas media outlet, about a subject they probably don't know much about? 99% are going to say the first anodyne thing that comes into their heads, and personally I don't blame them. Sit 'em down privately and ask what they think. 

 

Via BBC: 

Student leaders say #OccupyHK protests may occupy key government buildings (except essential services) if CY Leung does not resign tomorrow

 

I can't see that being a good idea.

[skylee]

Ah yes. They should come and occupy Wanchai so perhaps I won't have to go to work, haha.

There is little use occupying Tamar, really. Half of HK island is paralyzed now, so the occupation works. Though no one knows what can be achieved.

And have I mentioned that there is a PLA barrack next to Tamar?

[skylee]

I am not the type who takes part in demonstrations and protests. But I like to watch, and when the weather is fine I enjoy walking. So today I took this walk from Central through the "occupied" areas towards the east of Hong Kong Island. I had to pick up some Lonely Planet guidebooks reserved at the Central Library so my walk ended at the subway station "Tin Hau", one stop east of Causeway Bay. The walk took about 90 minutes.

As I reported earlier, there were a lot of people in the areas but it was very quiet and peaceful. I saw volunteers collecting rubbish, managing supplies points and distributing food and drinks. There were grown-ups taking their children there, showing them what was going on and, as I overheard a man telling his daughter, what they don't get to learn in their classrooms and textbooks. There were many posters, placards and banners, but not much chanting of slogans or music or noises. There were a lot of people like me taking pictures and generally just watching. I saw many non-Chinese and I assumed that some were tourists or reporters.

These are some of the photos I took. The first barricades I saw were outside the Landmark. I then turned to Connaught Road, walked along it to Harcourt Road, and then Gloucester Road. The Central/Admiralty occupied area ends there (near where you apply for your Chinese visa). I then walked on to Causeway Bay where one of the world's busiest junctions, Hennessy Road outside Sogo Department Store, is occupied by protesters. This is a much smaller area. The last photos were taken there. I was quite surprised that Sogo was business as usual, and felt very relieved - it is a good sign that Sogo finds it safe enough to open its doors.

[Lu]

I am not the type who takes part in demonstrations and protests.

Perhaps you should rethink that. You could start with the occupation of Wanchai, and then you wouldn't have to go to work :-)

Thanks for posting those pictures.

[skylee]

Some more photos. Please bear with me.

[Lu]

I like how it goes from:

- Please separate your garbage

- Please clean up the protest sites

- Please write down your heartfelt wishes. Don't be silent anymore.

They look so very polite and organised, even putting up signs explaining how to get around the occupied sites.

[Shelley]

Thank you very much for the photos, gives me the feeling of sharing much more than just the stuff on the news.

[Guest realmayo]

Yes, thanks for the amazing photos skylee.

[imron]

Well done 香港分舵舵主

[Simon_CH]

I'd like to discuss the potential effects of this protests under the (likely imho) scenario that most things stay as they are politically, but China feels the need to punish HK, or demonstrate its influence by changing some preferential legislation vis a vis Hong Kong. So if a heavy-handed police or military intervention is out of the question an economic sanction may come into play. 

 

To state the obvious, Shanghai or Singapore are currently no alternatives for most companies in Hong Kong. Singapore does not have the proximity and access to China in terms of capital and goods flows, and does not have the legal setups that allow companies to operate in China while being incorporated in HK, a setup that many state-owned Chinese companies also use by the way to expand internationally. And Shanghai quite simply is within the PRC system, the choice is never Shanghai or Hong Kong, it's Shanghai or Beijing, Guangzhou... the same capital control, investment rules, bureaucracy etc.. and the FTZ doesn't seem to be going anywhere either. 

 

So if HK has to be punished to demonstrate power and resolve this could first and foremost hurt businesses that do business in and out of China, both foreign and Chinese, private and state owned. I don't think there is any merit to the argument whether China or Hong Kong will be hurt more by potential sanctions or changes in regulation, because there is simply no alternative to the interdependent nature of the current setup.

 

Imagine if all the foreign exporting companies had to register their businesses in China and pay local taxes, would they be able to absorb these costs or would they have to relocate and purchase their products elsewhere? It's often said that there is no alternative to made in China, and that's certainly true for many products and industries, but for how long?

 

The implications of "drying up" Hong Kong are huge for the global economy and especially China, and the PRC is fully aware of that, so in my opinion things would have to escalate dramatically before China would contemplate actions that are more than temporary, symbolic.

 

What's your take on this?

[roddy]

I struggle to see that being likely enough to warrant consideration. Business, by and large, tends to be pro-Beijing, if only because that's the status quo. Beijing'd be shooting itself in the foot if it took measures designed to hurt its own supporters. If it was to seek to punish anyone, which I don't think it will do (although Joshua Wong probably shouldn't apply for any courses at PKU in the near future), it'd be better off aiming at those actually protesting. It could do something to increase migration from the mainland, I guess, but that's already happening. Free taxi for all demobbed PLA soldiers who move to Hong Kong?

[gato]

Did you read about Xi Jinping's meeting with the big HK tycoons a week ago? Among the attendants were Li Ka-shing and other billionaires. Rather cheeky of the tycoons.

If Xi wanted go punish HK businesses, he'd probably different between pro-CCP businesses and anti-CCP ones, rather than treat them all as the same.