Yanni Kousidis, Staff Writer
In Hong Kong on September 27th, a new movement started called Occupy Central to petition for a proper Democracy for Hong Kong. The massive crowd has flooded a main highway near important government buildings, and has been growing for days. For Hong Kong’s next election, candidates for Hong Kong leaders will be chosen by Beijing. The protesters want this to change, and want a proper democracy for their country. Even though the protesters have stayed completely peaceful, the Hong Kong police have thrown over 85 canisters of tear gas at the crowd to try to get it to disperse, as well as spraying pepper spray.
“I think that it is great that the citizens of Hong Kong are doing what they need to do in order to help their country progress, and doing it peacefully,” NHS freshman Kevin Reiss said.
The riots have made a sizable impact in the everyday happenings of Hong Kong, and many schools have been closed. The annual fireworks display for China’s national day has been canceled due to the swelling crowds. Instagram has also been blocked in China, because pictures of the riot were spreading, and the Chinese government wants to keep knowledge of these from reaching the mainland. As of September 29th, there are over 10,000 protesters, and that amount will most likely increase on September 30th, because it is China’s national holiday.
“China will not compromise, even if some people threaten them illegally,” Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive C.Y. Leung said. Leung also pleaded to the protesters clear the streets, because they were holding back emergency vehicles that are needed to save lives. After protesters demanded that Leung step down, government officials said that he could not, and would not be allowed to. Barricades have been set up by both sides; for the police to keep the people out, and for the people to keep the police out.
The symbol of the movement is black t-shirts, and yellow ribbons. There are people working nonstop to make ribbons for any person that wants to wear one to show their allegiance. The student leaders want the protest to remain peaceful, but police might be forced to resort to more tear gas in order to disperse the crowd at the end of the national holiday.
"We just want a peaceful dialogue, but we're scared because they're using violence," said protester Wilson Wong in an interview with CNN.
The police also said that any attempt to occupy a government building will come with serious consequences. There is most definitely a big impact being had on local businesses, many of them are fighting hard to keep from going into debt, and the days that they will not be able to operate due to the riots will hurt them a lot, potentially putting them into deep debt.
Peaceful riots seem harmless and simple, but they are really causing a disruption in Hong Kong, and police might be forced to use more force to contain the crowd that is knocking on the door of their most important leader. As stated before, normal life is far away for many people that can’t get to work or run their business, and they are most likely hurting financially. There is no true answer to when the riots will stop, and both sides are very firm in their opinion of not backing down.
