Hong Kong activists heckle Chinese official as democracy hopes fade

Brief scuffles erupted as police used pepper spray to stop protesters from storming the hall where a member of China's National People's Congress told delegates that a local leader disloyal to the mainland will not be tolerated.

Pro-democracy lawmakers hold up a banner and signs that read 'shameful', during a protest as Li Fei (seen on screen), deputy general secretary of the National People's Congress standing committee, speaks during a briefing session in Hong Kong on September 1, 2014. Pro-democracy activists vowed on Sunday to bring Hong Kong's financial hub to a standstill after China's parliament rejected their demands for the right to choose their next leader in 2017. Bobby Yip / ReutersShow less

HONG KONG // Hong Kong activists launched their fightback on Monday against Beijing’s landmark decision to limit voting reforms.

Protesters heckled a senior Chinese official in angry scenes after hopes for full democracy were crushed.

Li Fei, a member of the top committee of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, was forced to speak over the cries of pro-democracy lawmakers and protesters during a meeting with local officials in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

Brief scuffles erupted outside the venue as police used pepper spray to stop protesters from storming the hall, where Mr Li told delegates that China will not tolerate a local leader who is disloyal to the mainland.

“Anyone who does not love the country, love Hong Kong or is confrontational towards the central government shall not be the chief executive,” he said.

His visit comes a day after democracy activists vowed an “era of civil disobedience” including mass sit-ins at the international business hub’s financial district in response to Beijing’s decision to grant only limited reforms in the former British colony.

Democrat lawmakers said on Monday they would sink Beijing’s proposal when it comes before the city’s legislature early next year.

“If it’s the same proposal decided by the NPC [China’s National People’s Congress] we will vote against it,” pro-democracy lawmaker Frederick Fung said, adding at least 25 of his colleagues have signed a declaration against it.

The proposal needs to win two-thirds support – or 47 votes – in the 70-seat legislature to pass.

For years, activists have agitated for both the right to nominate candidates and to vote for Hong Kong’s leader – a campaign buoyed by a recent surge in discontent over rising inequality and perceived interference by Beijing.

But their hopes were dashed on Sunday.

The NPC standing committee announced that citizens will be allowed to elect their next leader in 2017, but candidates must be chosen by a pro-Beijing committee and must win the backing of more than half of the committee members to stand. Only two or three will be allowed to contest the election.

Democracy activists have called the restrictive framework a betrayal of Beijing’s promise to award Hong Kong universal suffrage by 2017 and say the nominating committee would ensure a sympathetic slate of candidates and exclude dissidents.

As Mr Li approached the platform to speak at the Asia World Expo convention centre, veteran dissident lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung started shouting him down, his fist raised in the air.

He was joined by a dozen pro-democracy lawmakers and some younger demonstrators who unfurled a banner in front of the lectern where Mr Li was speaking and chanted: “The central government broke its promise, shameless.”

The meeting was briefly suspended while security officers removed the hecklers, to loud cheers and applause from pro-Beijing lawmakers.

Police officer Kwok Pak-chung said that two colleagues used pepper spray outside the venue when “protesters behaved violently and they charged towards the security guards and police officers”.

Delivering his speech in Mandarin in the Cantonese-speaking city, Mr Li warned pro-democracy activists against seeking a break from Beijing.

“[Those who] wish Hong Kong will become an independent political entity or will change the country’s socialist system will not have a political future,” he said.

Mr Li flew to Hong Kong from Beijing late Sunday and was forced to drive past a crowd of largely student protesters gathered outside his hotel, in the kind of scenes that would be unthinkable on the Chinese mainland.

Britain handed Hong Kong back to China on July 1, 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement which allows residents civil liberties not seen on the mainland, including free speech and the right to protest.

Following Beijing’s decision to vet candidates, the pro-democracy group Occupy Central said on Sunday it would go ahead with its threat to take over the city’s central financial district in protest, at an unspecified date.

Shortly before Mr Li’s speech, activists launched what they described as a “slow drive” through the city, the first of a string of promised small-scale civil disobedience acts.

Some 10 cars, decked with flags, made their way deliberately slowly through the city accompanied by police motorcycles, but traffic was not noticeably disrupted.

Chinese state media on Monday said those embarking on civil disobedience were destined to fail.

“The radical opposition camp is doomed to be a paper tiger in front of Hong Kong’s mainstream public opinion and the firm resolution of the central government,” wrote the Global Times, which is close to the ruling Communist Party, in an editorial.

If the proposal is voted down, China has insisted that the next chief executive will simply be chosen by the same pro-Beijing committee that selected current leader Leung Chun-ying.

* Agence France-Presse