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Who are Hong Kong's protesters? | Who are Hong Kong's protesters? |
(about 9 hours later) | |
Tens of thousands have taken to the streets of Hong Kong in defiance of tear gas and government warnings. | |
Campaigns by students and pro-democracy activists ballooned into mass protests. They have been angered by the Chinese government's ruling limiting who could stand as a candidate in elections for Hong Kong's leader, due in 2017. | |
The demonstrations have been denounced by China. | |
Who is out on the streets? | |
At the heart of this protest is a civil disobedience movement launched by democracy activists, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, known as Occupy Central. | |
After China's electoral ruling it set a date of 1 October to begin demonstrations. Then students began a separate class boycott and protest in the name of democracy in late September. When they broke into the main government compound on Friday, Occupy kicked off its campaign early. | |
Since then ordinary Hong Kong residents have also taken to the streets in spontaneous action, even defying requests from Occupy to disperse once tear gas was used by police. | |
Tens of thousands have been on the streets, mostly young, but pensioners and young families have also been seen among those demonstrating. | |
Could protests change China's mind? | |
Before these protests began, activists admitted the movement was unlikely to sway China. | |
Public protests play an important role in Hong Kong. Locals have free speech and the right to protest, even though they cannot directly elect their government. | |
And they have used this right to effect in the past. A controversial national security law known as Article 23 was proposed in 2002, but dropped after large protests the following year. More recently, the government was forced into a U-turn on "patriotic education" classes. | |
The size and passion of these protests have taken observers by surprise, but the demands strike at the very heart of the nature of Beijing's authority. | |
Demanding full democracy would radically change how Hong Kong is governed and China is unlikely to cave in on this - it would be seen as a dangerous precedent. | |
How violent could it get? | How violent could it get? |
Hong Kong rallies are frequent and generally peaceful and well-organised. But as Hong Kong's politics has become more polarised so protests have become more confrontational. | |
And there is no single group in control of the protest movement on the streets right now. | |
Most witnesses report a peaceful and co-operative atmosphere, but tear gas has already been deployed so much may also depend on how the police responds to the crowds. | |
Occupy Central insists it is a non-violent movement, but the rapid growth of the student-led campaign that has already seen the government complex stormed could also change the dynamic. | |
What do Hong Kong people think? | What do Hong Kong people think? |
There is a large spectrum of opinion in Hong Kong which analysts say appears increasingly polarised. | |
The campaigners and protesters want political reform and democratic elections that meet international standards. | |
But Hong Kong is also a business-minded city, and many will be reluctant to take part in civil disobedience, or anger Beijing, fearing it could hurt the economy. | |
Who are the key players? | Who are the key players? |
Occupy Central's leaders - law professor Benny Tai, sociologist Chan Kin-man and church minister Yiu-ming - are seen as moderate pro-democracy figures. | |
The group is supported by many political parties in Hong Kong's pan-democratic camp. Some backed softer reforms, but China's restrictions on who could stand for election only served to unify them. | |
In the last few weeks student leaders like Alex Chow and Lester Shum have come to the fore. Joshua Wong who was at the helm of the campaign against "patriotic education" is also a force in these latest protests. | |
All three were arrested as the student demonstrations erupted but have since been released. | |
Pro-Beijing and pro-business parties tend to be against the campaign, and several anti-Occupy Central groups have also been set up. They claim to own the silent majority. | |
What are China's biggest fears? | |
China does not want any movement that could be perceived as a challenge to its authority. Nor does it want a pro-democracy campaign spreading from Hong Kong to the mainland. | |
The fury in state media is palpable. It has accused "external forces" of meddling in Hong Kong's affairs and encouraging "separatist sentiments". | |
There has also been speculation over whether China would get involved in a crackdown. That would almost certainly be seen as an absolute last resort, given the likely international and business repercussions. | |
What happens now? | |
To enable direct elections in 2017, the Hong Kong government will have to present a political reform plan to Hong Kong's law-making body, the Legislative Council, for a vote. Pro-democracy lawmakers, who hold enough seats for a veto, have said that they will vote down any proposal based on China's ruling. | |
If the proposal is voted down, Hong Kong will be unable to implement universal suffrage, and its elections are expected to proceed as before, with a committee of 1,200 mostly pro-Beijing figures selecting the leader. | If the proposal is voted down, Hong Kong will be unable to implement universal suffrage, and its elections are expected to proceed as before, with a committee of 1,200 mostly pro-Beijing figures selecting the leader. |
Before any of this, however, it needs to find a way out of the current impasse on the streets. | Before any of this, however, it needs to find a way out of the current impasse on the streets. |