Let Hong Kong, not Beijing, deal with democracy protesters
If Beijing really trusts Leung Chun-ying and his government, it should seriously consider stopping its micro-management of the official handling of the Occupy protests.
If Beijing really trusts Leung Chun-ying and his government, it should seriously consider stopping its micro-management of the official handling of the Occupy protests. Despite official mainland statements that repeatedly express complete support for the chief executive, signs are that Beijing is deeply involved in the response to the unrest.
As a result, the Hong Kong government is increasingly toeing the party line; over the weekend it alleged that the Occupy movement is funded and manipulated by "external forces from different countries from different parts of the world".
"This is not entirely a domestic movement and it is getting out of hand," Leung reportedly said. This is simply unhelpful and counterproductive. I leave aside the controversy over the existence or non-existence of foreign forces. What Leung's public statements mean is that he is adopting Beijing's view that the unrest is not a manifestation of deep-seated social discontent but a matter for national security.
While I support Beijing's stance that our constitutional reform concerns the mainland as much as Hong Kong, the current protests are a matter for Hong Kong to handle - if nothing else, simply on practical grounds.
When the government takes a more conciliatory stance, protesters lose momentum and public sympathy, especially from those whose livelihood and children's schooling have been adversely affected. But just when that happens, hardline statements and police actions galvanise the protesters. A good example of the convoluted hard-soft approach is the tortured path to talking to the students. The forum could have taken place more than a week ago - instead of today - if government No 2 Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor didn't angrily call it off.
The suspicion was that Lam and Leung were abruptly instructed by higher-ups from the mainland to call off the meeting. So just when the city was losing patience with the protests, they gave an excuse to Occupy leaders to take the moral high ground.
Seeing the error of their ways, perhaps mainland honchos have now finally sanctioned a meeting. Let the Hong Kong government deal with Occupy. It will quickly run out of steam, absent of official provocations.
