Hong Kong Students Call for Territory’s Independence From China

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Sinosphere

By ALAN WONG

HONG KONG — Marcus Lau was born in 1996, but his argument for Hong Kong’s independence from China goes back to 1984, when Britain agreed to return its colony to Chinese rule without admitting a third party — Hong Kong itself — into the negotiations.

Less than two decades since Hong Kong’s transfer, in 1997, Mr. Lau says that he and many other young people have lost confidence in China’s promise to maintain Hong Kong’s civil liberties and way of life for 50 years under a “one country, two systems” formula. Instead, he said in an interview on Thursday, China has “meddled” in Hong Kong people’s affairs and has denied them the right to a greater say in the election of their leader, the chief executive.

Mr. Lau said that he and other young people in Hong Kong had come to see themselves not as Chinese, but as belonging to a distinct Hong Kong identity. If people ask him whether he is Chinese, he said, he says no.

It was for this reason that Mr. Lau and 12 other students at Hong Kong University called in the latest issue of the student magazine Undergrad for Hong Kong to declare independence in 2047. In their manifesto, which was released online on Sunday, they cited the Chinese government’s resistance to allowing greater democracy.

“The Umbrella Revolution was our loudest cry,” the manifesto read, referring to 79 days of street protests in 2014 calling for freer elections. “We thought naively that we could win some political concessions. We didn’t.”

Now we know that the movement for democracy is behind us, as we usher in the movement against authoritarian rule,” it continued. “We demand that Hong Kong become an independent, sovereign state recognized by the United Nations, the building of a democratic government and the drafting of a Hong Kong Constitution by all the people.”

Chinese and Hong Kong officials have responded dismissively to the students’ appeal for independence.

“How could it be possible?” asked Qiao Xiaoyang, who leads the law committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, on Wednesday.

“Hong Kong has always been part of China since ancient times,” said Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong’s chief executive, on Tuesday. “It will not change after 2047.”

I’d suggest that we spend time and resources on how to better our ‘one country, two systems,’ ” said Rimsky Yuen, the Hong Kong secretary for justice.

Mr. Lau seemed unfazed.

“At the moment, Hong Kong doesn’t have the conditions for independence,” he said in the interview. “That is precisely why we need to develop them.”

The magazine’s unambiguous call for Hong Kong’s independence is a marked step up from its discussion in January 2015 of self-determination, which drew a stern warning from Mr. Leung during a televised policy speech. Since then, various political groups have demanded greater autonomy, though not necessarily independence, and are seeking to bring their demands to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council via elections in September.

Joshua Wong, 19, the student leader who rose to prominence during the 2014 street protests, is forming a party that advocates holding a referendum to determine Hong Kong’s future after 2047.