With the National Day, Mid-Autumn Festival and the Mainland's "golden week" holiday approaching, Hong Kong society is permeated with a happy and auspicious atmosphere these days. Tourism industry estimates the number of Mainland visitors would increase by 60 per cent during the holiday season this year. Citizens are also going out shopping, and booking reunion dinners at restaurants.
However, in a time when people generally think of stability ahead of the joyous festival season, a hubbub came from somewhere in front of the Central Government Offices at Admiralty on Hong Kong Island last night. It turned out to be a gathering of Occupy Central founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Demosistō and their ilk to clamor for "striving for genuine universal suffrage" and "resisting tyranny", etc.
Holding such an activity not only is at odds with the current social atmosphere, but also goes against Hong Kong people's fundamental interests. For vast majority of citizens, the unspeakably painful 79 days are like a terrible nightmare.Occupy Central activists began their illegal occupation. Certain areas on Hong Kong Island's Tim Mei Avenue, in Causeway Bay and on Mong Kok's Portland Street were illegally occupied. Pedestrians and traffic were blocked and shops were unable to do business. Police officers on duty were kept constantly on the run and violently attacked. The SAR suffered the most severe political antagonism and public disorder since Hong Kong's return to the Motherland. A bunch of young people and university students were even misled to go astray, attempting to split the nation by seeking "independence for Hong Kong".
Facts are before our eyes, for whole Hong Kong society, Occupy Central is by no means so-called "civil disobedience" or "achieving justice by breaking the law", but a downright illegal riot bringing disaster to Hong Kong. Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and their ilk working in the service of Western anti-China and anti-communist forces took the opportunity of political reform to incite trouble and antagonism, copying what their American masters did to bring "Colour Revolutions" in Arabian countries some years ago to stage an "occupation" show in Hong Kong. With the Central Government's timely decisions and the SAR Government's resolute law enforcement actions, Occupy Central ended in failure. But the evil fruit and residual poison it left in Hong Kong society of law-breaking assaults and advocate for separatism have yet to be eliminated. The only correct attitude on drawing a lesson from the bitter experience is to further expose the error of Occupy Central and the nature of Benny Tai and his ilk to harm Hong Kong people's well-being, and to demand the SAR Government to govern in accordance with the law and to bring those criminally liable to justice. Absolutely no incident similar to Occupy Central must be allowed to happen again.
For the vast majority of citizens, the 79-day Occupy Central serves a lively negative example. It was shocking and there still is a lingering fear of the shock. With a bunch of Occupy Central activists being brought to justice, and as the new Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, after taking her office, concentrates energy on economic development, improving people's livelihood and promoting harmony, Hong Kong's social atmosphere undertakes a relatively big change. The public aspires to harmony and stability. Radical opposition stubbornly advocating violent antagonism has fallen into a predicament of being utterly isolated, having fewer and fewer way out and less and less influence.
Ahead of the holiday season, good news comes from Hong Kong's tourism: it is estimated tour groups and individual visitors from the Mainland will grow 60 per cent. A leading figure in tourism attributes this to social atmosphere tending to become harmonious and citizens' attitude toward Mainland visitors tending to become friendlier. Such change and tendency are heartwarming, which truly reflect a major change in Hong Kong society having experienced assaults and withstood a test. Political antagonism and confrontation are not beneficial but harmful. Hong Kong society's genuine well-being lies in implementing what Central Government leaders have repeatedly reminded and advised: to concentrate energy and efforts on economic development and people's livelihood, firmly seizing opportunities such as the Belt and Road initiative and the construction of the Greater Bay Area. Today, the evil Occupy Central and Benny Tai and his ilk are cast aside with disgust by Hong Kong society, and end up facing a thousand accusing fingers.
29 September 2017
