Organiser of Occupy Central poll hopes international media will put pressure on Beijing
Occupy Central organiser encouraged by wide international coverage of plebiscite, and he expects more global attention for July 1 march
An organiser of Occupy Central is hoping that extensive international media coverage of its unofficial referendum on political reform will put pressure on Beijing to implement genuine democracy in the city.
Heavyweight newspapers, magazines and websites - including , and - have reported on the 10-day plebiscite, which ends today.
Many used the vote, which gauges views on how the chief executive should be elected in 2017, as a starting point to examine the city's future and its relations with Beijing.
"Coverage by international media on this scale has rarely been seen since the July 1 rally in 2003," said Dr Chan Kin-man, referring to the 500,000-strong march that forced the shelving of controversial national security legislation.
Chan said overseas media had been impressed by the unexpectedly high turnout - which hit 760,000 yesterday. They were also interested in the nature of the unofficial poll, massive cyberattacks on the electronic voting system and the aggressive response of state media.
Reports from Beijing mouthpieces such as the and have pulled no punches in condemning the vote, describing it as an "illegal farce" that was "tinged with mincing ludicrousness".
