Hong Kong students plan to head to Beijing

Democracy campaigners march over arrests in mainland China. Picture: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

The plan signals a shift in the focus of the protests in the former British colony away from the Hong Kong government, which has said it has limited room for manoeuvre.

But China is highly unlikely to allow any known pro-democracy activists into Beijing, especially if the trip coincides with this weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum there.

“I think one of the ways we can solve this problem is to go to Beijing personally and have a direct dialogue with Beijing officials on this matter since the [Hong Kong] government claims that all decisions have to be passed up to the NPC [National People’s Congress],” Alex Chow, leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), said.

Previously protesters blocked roads leading into three of Hong Kong’s most economically and politically important districts for weeks. The campaign drew well over 100,000 at its peak and hundreds remain camped out at the admiralty district, home to government offices and next to the main financial district.

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The HKFS has not said whether its planned trip was to coincide with Apec, which would mean, if allowed, it would take place in front of world leaders. A student leader, Nathan Law, said details would be revealed today.

Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying signalled on Tuesday that a plan to link the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets had been delayed as a result of the protests and urged society to pull together to restore order.

China has ruled Hong Kong since 1997 through a “one country, two systems” formula which allows wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland.

The protesters are demanding fully democratic elections for the city’s next chief executive in 2017, not the vote between pre-screened candidates that Beijing has said it will allow.

A survey by Hong Kong University’s public opinion programme on Tuesday showed that HKFS has become the most popular political group in the city.

Yesterday, Regina Ip, a former Hong Kong security chief and a top adviser to the city’s embattled leader, proposed HKFS be given seats on the committee that nominates candidates for chief executive. Ip said the committee should include young people and women and could cut back on agriculture and fisheries representatives, according to the report shown by a local broadcaster.

Pro-Beijing groups have increasingly criticised the impact the protests are having on business. Data on business conditions in the city’s private sector economy released in the HSBC purchasing managers’ index show the strongest pace of deterioration in October in three years.

The chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, Tam Yiu-chung, said on Tuesday he would help convey the students’ message to Beijing if they stopped occupying main roads, the public broadcaster RTHK reported.

Tam was also quoted as saying a trip by the students to Beijing during the Apec meeting would not be successful.

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