What’s Going On in Hong Kong at the Moment

On October 30, three pro-democracy protesters were arrested.  All three of them men, aged between 24 and 50. According to the Wall Street Journal, two of the men were arrested for “obstructing police officers executing their duty.” The other man was arrested, according to the WSJ, on suspicion of criminal damage.  According to the AP, the skirmish began when a protester shined a cell phone camera light in an officer’s face. The officer tried to arrest the man, and a line of protesters swarmed the police.  The protesters are in their 6th week and are planning on marching from the business district to the Chinese government liaison’s office this Sunday.  Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, what they call their president (shows the economic history of Hong Kong), will be in Beijing for the Asia-Pacific Economic corporation forum.  The student groups who said they would go to Beijing during this conference say they will wait because they want their own time with Chinese officials.  It isn’t going to be easy for them to go to main-land China anyway, China can deny entry to anyone, even Hong Kong residents.

It seems strange to me that the student leaders of this protest aren’t taking full advantage of what is going on.  Hong Kong is an economic gold mine for China, that is why they wanted it back and why Great Britain took it after the Opium Wars. This is also why the Chinese government wants to control Hong Kong faster, as opposed to the forty years that was promised after the hand over in 1997.  I am curious of the aims of Hong Kong: the protesters say they want democracy but not independence.  Do the protesters want permanent democracy or China to keep their promise for another 20 years?  These are some of the questions I have that maybe you could lead me to a good answer about.