Dispatches from the State Ministry of Truth

[Eddie Teach]

The words "tribune" and "decimate" evoke the Romans.

[Monoriu]

I guess the best solution, then, would be for Bejing to send a popular tribune to take over the local administration in Hong Kong and decimate civil servants and local business sector for bringing people into the streets with their selfish policies. 

I think the best solution is for Beijing to let HK conduct free and fair elections.  If Beijing doesn't like a particular candidate, it may explain the reasons to the HK electorate, and threaten that if so-and-so is elected, it will exercise its lawful and constitutional powers to refuse to appoint him.  I think this arrangement is a better alternative than using a vetting committee that prescreens the candidates.  This will be seen as Beijing backtracking on its promises to allow universal suffrage in HK. 

[Martinus]

The words "tribune" and "decimate" evoke the Romans.

I want merely to decimate Mono.

[Jacob]

The words "tribune" and "decimate" evoke the Romans.

I want merely to decimate Mono.

I don't think 90% Mono is going to be that different from 100% Mono.

[Eddie Teach]

He might have less trouble lifting his legs.

[MadImmortalMan]

I blame the Brits.

And what do you think the Brits should have done? 

I told you. They should have turned Hong Kong over to the rightful Chinese government in Taipei.   

[Barrister]

I blame the Brits.

And what do you think the Brits should have done? 

I told you. They should have turned Hong Kong over to the rightful Chinese government in Taipei.   

It's too bad that the UK recognized the PRC as the rightful government of China at the time.

[The Minsky Moment]

I blame the Brits.

And what do you think the Brits should have done? 

Brought real democracy to HK long, long before '97

[Valmy]

I blame the Brits.

And what do you think the Brits should have done? 

Brought real democracy to HK long, long before '97

I don't know.  If they had brought it by 1897 that would have been sufficient.

[Monoriu]

I blame the Brits.

And what do you think the Brits should have done? 

Brought real democracy to HK long, long before '97

From the 40s-60s, HK was a safe haven for mainland refugees.  People lived a hand to mouth existance, and were more concerned with whether they would have a next meal than democracy.  Activists fought for stuff like the right to use Chinese in official communication, and welfare for the handicapped etc. 

In 1967 (i.e. the beginning of the cultural revolution), the communists tried to wrestle control of the colony from the Brits by force.  The Brits won but with great difficulty (the Portugese in Macau basically surrendered).  So the Brits were careful to maintain control at all costs after the episode.

Starting from the 80s, any change in the political system basically required agreement with the Chinese. 

[Monoriu]

Walked past the riot main camp today on my way to work.  There are a lot fewer people there

[crazy canuck]

Walked past the riot main camp today on my way to work.  There are a lot fewer people there

Excellent.  So the people molesting the peaceful protestors have gone back to the mainland?

[Monoriu]

Walked past the riot main camp today on my way to work.  There are a lot fewer people there

Excellent.  So the people molesting the peaceful protestors have gone back to the mainland?

It is Admiralty, the largest rioter base that is largely undisturbed compared with the others.  Like I said, this is a normal working week compared with the previous week when there were only 3 working days.  People need to go back to work and school.  I guess many have accepted reality after venting steam for a bit more than a week.  The Chief Executive is here to stay and Beijing has said on an almost daily basis that they will not give an inch of ground on matters of "national sovereignty" (i.e. democracy). 

[Monoriu]

6 October 2014 Last updated at 23:17
 
Representatives from Hong Kong's Occupy Central movement have agreed to hold formal talks with the government.

No date has been set but the students made it clear the talks would be called off if the remaining demonstrators were cleared from the streets by force.

As the protests entered their second week, crowds began to die down as civil servants returned to work on Monday.

Pro-democracy activists are protesting at China's plans to vet candidates when Hong Kong holds elections in 2017.

They are demanding that the central government in Beijing allow a fully free vote for the territory's leader.

The BBC's John Sudworth in Hong Kong says that although the number of protesters has fallen since the weekend, a hard-core group still remain and had bedded down on the barricades on Monday night.

Only a few hundred protesters remained on the streets on Monday night as the crowds' momentum slowed down

The first round of preparatory talks with student representatives and some government officials ended on Sunday night, and on Monday it was agreed that both sides would begin a formal dialogue.

The BBC's Juliana Liu in Hong Kong says protesters appear to have decided to beat a strategic, possibly temporary, retreat - partly out of sheer exhaustion.

She says activists have been encouraged by the news of the informal meetings to lay the groundwork for talks on political reform.

The protesters are angry at China's plans to vet candidates when Hong Kong holds elections in 2017.

Losing momentum?

Alex Chow, secretary-general of one of the main protest movements, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, told reporters he was not worried about the crowd dwindling.

"People need rest, but they will come out again. It doesn't mean the movement is diminishing. Many people still support it," he said.

Over the weekend Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung had called on the protesters to end the demonstrations, warning that police had a responsibility to take all actions necessary to resume order.

He said civil servants had to return to work and children needed to go to school.

Last week some protesters vowed to remain on the streets until Chief Executive Leung stood down
Alex Chow, one of the "Occupy Central" organisers, was recently elected as head of the Hong Kong Federation of Students
The protests have been largely peaceful despite disturbances after tear gas was deployed by police last week
In the past week parts of central Hong Kong were brought to a complete standstill as huge crowds in the tens of thousands gathered on the streets.

However the numbers of protesters had trickled down to the hundreds on Monday night, with around 500 protesters remaining camped outside in the main protest zone on Harcourt Road according to the South China Morning Post.

Several hundred remain in Mong Kok, north of the harbour, despite earlier calls by organisers for protesters to withdraw from that site, following clashes at the weekend with people opposed to the demonstrations. A smaller number of protesters are still camped out at Causeway Bay.

Police said on Monday that at least 37 people had been arrested so far in Mong Kok. They said five others had been arrested for allegedly hacking government websites.

The mass demonstrations have split opinion in Hong Kong, with many residents frustrated at the disruption caused by the protests.

On Monday the South China Morning Post reported that 59 prominent businessmen signed an open letter on the Occupy protests, saying: "Disrupting the social order of Hong Kong is not helpful to the development and discussion of the political reforms. Nor would it solve any problem."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29516487

Normalcy and the status quo are within sight. 

[Monoriu]

Nobody expects much from the talks.  There is no middle ground between the positions of the rioters and the HK government.  In any case, the HK government has no authority to go beyond what Beijing has decided.  So the talks (which are almost certain to be held in public in front of cameras) is just a PR stunt for both sides to say what they want to say to the public.