Students worldwide are uniting to support the massive pro-democracy protests underway in Hong Kong.
The so-called umbrella revolution has grabbed international headlines with footage of thousands of people boycotting main areas of the city, including major highways.
The movement’s goals, as told by co-founder Joshua Wong in an interview with CBC, are universal suffrage and nomination by citizens. The protests were first initiated in part by the Hong Kong Federation of Students, but now incorporate all pro-democratic citizens.
In his article “China’s Tempest in a Teapot,” Carleton political science professor Jeremy Paltiel noted all Hong Kong officials have been handpicked by Beijing.
“Since 1997, a series of invertebrate Chief Executives have been elected by an electoral college handpicked by Beijing. Their compromised legitimacy has meant that these figures rush for Beijing’s guidance at the slightest whiff of controversy,” he wrote.
To distinguish themselves from pro-Chinese supporters, protesters don a yellow ribbon. According to The Independent, yellow ribbons symbolize the universal campaign for suffrage.
These ribbons tie together students from Hong Kong in every country of the world. New student organizations, like the Carleton University branch of Ontario United Front of Hong Kong Students (OUFHK), have popped up on campuses worldwide to support the protests.
“We hope to achieve solidarity with the student’s movement in Hong Kong,” reads the OUFHK’s mission statement.
Vivian Li, a participant in the Carleton OUFHK group, said despite being born in Ottawa, her heart rests with Hong Kong.
“I got involved because I feel the need to spread the truth about the government,” she said in an email.
Carleton student and OUFHK participant JJ Julian Ng shares similar views.
“To me it seems that the Chinese want Hong Kong to be more like China, whereas I know Hong Kong citizens want to be separated from China,” he said.
“These groups help a lot in terms of morale,” said Cleo Tse, a journalist and active protester in Hong Kong. “Even just a video or a movement means a lot to us. It means that they are watching.”
Chinese state officials have been using tear gas and pepper spray on protesters.
“The [Chinese government] denounces the discontented rather than reach out to meet their demands,” Paltiel wrote. “It arrests anyone who promotes “universal values” emanating from the West.”
Despite the graphic footage of violent officials in Hong Kong seen in Western media, Tse said the protesters themselves are mostly peaceful.
However, Tse said no talks of agreement are occurring with the Chinese government.
“The government said that we could talk, but it also said that they will not change their decision.”
On her part, Tse said she will continue the fight for democracy.
“It is something that every single of us should have—just like water, electricity, food, and accommodation. We understand the value of democracy and freedom.”
