Hong Kong financial firms brace for disruptions as protests intensify

[CityFarmer]

The end of the protest, officially declared by CE Leung CY...

HK chief declares end to Occupy as last site cleared

HONG KONG — The Chief Executive of Hong Kong declared an end to the pro-democracy protests that blocked the city’s roads for more than 11 weeks, as the police cleared the last demonstration site yesterday.

Cars and trams returned to areas of the popular Causeway Bay shopping district that had been taken over by protesters, after police officers dismantled barricades and took down tents. More than 10 demonstrators, including lawmaker Kenneth Chan, were taken away by the police as they refused to leave and staged a sit-in.

“As the clearance of the Occupy site in Causeway Bay finishes, the illegal movement in Hong Kong that has lasted for over two months has come to an end,” Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told reporters. “People should reflect and conclude on an important topic: What kind of democracy should Hong Kong be looking for?” He reiterated that discussion on electoral changes must be based on the Basic Law, the city’s de facto Constitution.
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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...te-cleared

[thor666]

That's funny. I think this is just the beginning.

Occupiers have one practical reason to quit at this time: winter is coming (literally). Protesters have evolved to "shopping" in any case, I wonder how long that would last.

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[CityFarmer]

A new "normal" in HK...

Protesters return to HK streets for second night

HONG KONG – Hong Kong police say they have arrested 37 people as pro-democracy protesters return to the city’s streets for a second night in a row.

The police said in a statement yesterday (Dec 25) that protesters blocked five roads overnight in the Mong Kok neighbourhood and disobeyed police orders to clear out. The age of the arrested protesters ranged from 13 to 76.

Police arrested 12 protesters in the same neighbourhood overnight on Wednesday, also after they had blocked roads.

Thousands of protesters occupied three of the city’s busiest neighbourhoods for more than two months over the fall. They demanded the semi-autonomous city be allowed to pick its chief executive in 2017 from an open list of candidates. The Chinese government has insisted a committee believed friendly to Beijing pick the candidates. AP
http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...cond-night

[CityFarmer]

Aftermath of the "protest"?

HK tycoons may cast their net abroad after tough year

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s tycoons had a tough year in 2014. First, the Occupy protests heaped scorn on a system of government with which they are intricately involved. Then last month, one of the city’s biggest businessmen was found guilty of corruption after a sensational trial.

This year might be almost as eventful: Bankers increasingly believe there is potential for the tycoons to turn their attention overseas.

The trial of the Kwok brothers, alongside three others, rocked Hong Kong, where establishment figures are rarely seen in the dock. Mr Raymond Kwok was cleared of all four charges and Thomas of two, but the latter was found guilty on one count of bribing an official and sentenced to five years in prison.

Coming only weeks after Occupy, the protest that blocked streets and disrupted government for more than two months, the verdict was a second blow to the standing of the tycoons.

Among protesters’ calls for universal suffrage was criticism of the city’s election committee — the 1,200-strong group that chooses the candidates for Chief Executive. All the city’s biggest businessmen are represented on the largely pro-Beijing body.

As a result, dealmakers sense an opportunity to tempt some of Asia’s richest to diversify their Hong Kong holdings with overseas assets.
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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...tough-year

[CityFarmer]

This has a long term implication for HK future, similarly on Taiwan. It has provided more room for Singapore in the global competition... Good or bad for HK as a whole? Well, HK people need to decide for themselves...

HK chief’s town hall meetings axed over fears of unrest

HONG KONG — The Hong Kong government has cancelled the Chief Executive’s town hall meetings for the first time over concerns about potential public unrest spurred by pro-democracy protests that ended last month.

Mr Leung Chun-ying’s meet-the-people sessions were called off because of the situation and atmosphere in the city when they were scheduled, a spokesman for Mr Leung’s office, who asked that his name not be used per office policy, said by phone. The South Chinese Morning Post reported the cancellation yesterday.

Mr Leung held at least three of the sessions annually over the previous five years to gauge public opinion before his annual policy address and budget release. The cancelled meetings were due to take place in the last quarter of last year, before the policy speech in the middle of this month and the budget announcement in late February.

The cancellation of the dialogue between Hong Kong’s top leader and the public is a sign that the Occupy Central movement, which ended on Dec 15 after 79 days of occupation of the streets by pro-democracy protesters, is having far-reaching effects on the city’s public affairs.
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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...ars-unrest

[CityFarmer]

The face-off continue...

Dozens of Hong Kong protest leaders facing arrest: Report

HONG KONG — Hong Kong police will soon begin arresting more than 30 organisers of the pro-democracy protests that disrupted the city for more than two months, the Standard newspaper reported, citing an unidentified police official.

Among those targeted are leaders of the Federation of Students including secretary general Alex Chow, Mr Eason Chung and Mr Lester Shum, as well as Mr Joshua Wong of the group Scholarism. They will be charged with organising unauthorised assemblies, the Standard said.

Mr Benny Tai, Mr Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, leaders of the Occupy Central With Love and Peace movement that aligned with student groups leading the protests, were also on the list, the paper said. The Hong Kong police didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

“The police are still investigating at this stage, so we can’t comment on this,” Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen told reporters last night (Jan 5) when asked about possible prosecutions.

“I can only say that we will act in accordance with usual procedures, that is, all the relevant information and evidence will be presented to the Department of Justice. The department will decide according to the law and the code of prosecution.”

Pro-democracy lawmakers including the Civic Party’s Alan Leong, Labour Party’s Lee Cheuk-yan and League of Social Democrats’ Leung Kwok-hung may also face arrest, the official told the paper. Media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who backed the protests, is also in the police sights, the Standard reported.

Pro-democracy demonstrators occupied key parts of the city for 79 days to protest China’s decision to vet candidates for the city’s first election of its chief executive in 2017. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments refused to make any concessions and the final demonstrators were cleared by police from the last site in Causeway Bay on Dec 15. BLOOMBERG
http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...est-report

[CityFarmer]

The same situation as in Thailand? Thailand still has the King to stabilize, and Military Coup to "normalize".

Once Hong Kong becomes "Thai", is a disastrous to HK, IMO

Making concessions to protesters could lead to anarchy: HK chief

HONG KONG — The embattled leader of Hong Kong’s government yesterday warned that concessions to pro-democracy demonstrators could invite anarchy, as he laid out measures to defuse public anger over housing and inequality, which had resounded with the protesters who seized streets for 11 weeks last year.
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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...y-hk-chief

[CityFarmer]

The exercise of the "power" should be last resort for China authority...

China ‘has power’ to introduce tough security laws in HK

HONG KONG — Former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa yesterday said tough Chinese national security laws could be introduced in Hong Kong, stoking fears that China may tighten control in its southern financial hub after last year’s pro-democracy street protests.

Pro-Beijing politicians and left-leaning newspapers have called for China’s draconian national security laws, used by the Communist Party authorities to crush dissent, to be implemented in Hong Kong after the civil disobedience campaign.
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http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...ty-laws-hk

[CityFarmer]

An aftermath of the sociopolitical event...

S’pore named most-livable city again; HK falls to 33rd

HONG KONG — Asia’s financial hub has dropped out of the world’s top 30 most-livable cities because of poor air quality and social unrest caused by the Occupy Central movement, a survey by consulting firm ECA International for Asian expatriates showed.

The city’s livability ranking fell 16 spots to 33rd — one of the steepest slides in the survey — while another regional financial hub, Singapore, topped the list for the 16th-straight year, based on a report posted on ECA’s website on Thursday.

While Hong Kong remains highly ranked, “air quality remains a lot poorer there than in many other parts of the region”, said Mr Lee Quane, ECA’s regional director for Asia. “In addition, Hong Kong’s sociopolitical score worsened this year as a result of the unprecedented unrest there and the restrictions placed on movement.”
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http://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/sp...falls-33rd

[thor666]

The irony. I read off unofficial posts that hongkong's best air quality were on the days of occupy movement.

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