Students protesting for democracy.
17 years ago, the Chinese Government pledged that Hong Kong shall be ruled under the “one country, two systems” concept for 50 years. It allows Hong Kong to be ruled by its own people, and to have elections to choose its leader through universal suffrage. But on August 31st 2014, Beijing determined that all candidates for the Chief Executive must first be voted on by a nomination committee, and the top two or three candidates shall stand in the general election. This ruling enraged many Hong Kong residents. So on September 28th 2014, many people started a protest and have since occupied and remained in several key routes in the city.
The use of tear gas from the police.
However, the public was totally outraged when the police used tear gas in trying to disperse the protest. The protesters’ anger towards the Chinese government was understandable in the beginning, but after the protesters branched out to other key streets, their action have caused massive traffic jams and brought more troubles to the general public, all of which made me feel unsympathetic towards their methods of protesting.
Hong Kongers protesting at the heart of downtown.
Small local businesses such as clothing stores and wonton noodles restaurants located in the affected districts expressed that their businesses suffered big losses due to the absence of the public. Big retailers like McDonalds were not as troubled since their chain stores were able to counterbalance the loss.
Protestors causing traffic jams, and disturbance to businesses.
Even as a Hong Kong native, I feel that they are being unrealistic for wanting to reverse the election framework. The protestors were blinded with their emotions and left behind many facts behind in their protest; they forgot that China, which is their sovereign country, contributed to the development of Hong Kong into a premier financial hub, especially in the past decade. I believe that it is now time for the protestors to face the reality and repair the damage that have been caused to the Hong Kong economy.
http://qz.com/278586/an-end-to-hong-kongs-unrest-is-now-more-distant-than-ever/
http://time.com/3453736/hong-kong-stands-up/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29563788
image: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/78140000/jpg/_78140852_78140570.jpg