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THREE of the founders of Hong Kong’s Occupy Central movement said yesterday that they will surrender themselves to the police today to take responsibility for protests that have shut down parts of the Asian financial center for more than two months.
Benny Tai, Chu Yiu-ming and Chan Kin-man made the announcement at a press conference yesterday afternoon, in which they urged protesters, including students, to leave the Occupy areas.
“As we prepare to surrender, we three urge the students to retreat,” they said.
It was an important time to transform the movement when violence emerged, said Tai.
The trio also admitted that they had participated in gatherings at occupied areas and that the action may constitute a crime.
Also yesterday, the Foreign Ministry warned Britain that further persistence over its request for a parliamentary delegation to enter Hong Kong would be equivalent to “lifting a rock only to drop it on its own feet.”
Spokesperson Hua Chun-ying said such attempts would be “unreasonable and futile,” after British Prime Minister David Cameron labeled China’s decision to refuse visas to members of the British foreign office committee “mistaken.”
“These lawmakers are not attempting to enter China on a ‘friendly visit’ but rather for investigative purposes. We don’t need foreign politicians researching on Chinese territory,” Hua said.
The Occupy Central movement is illegal and the Central Government supports the Hong Kong government to deal with it according to Chinese laws, Hua said.
(Xinhua)
Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong’s busiest areas since Sept. 28 have caused serious traffic disruption, less tourists, temporary closure of schools and banks and a slump in the trading of the local stock market.
There had also been a series of clashes between protesters and police, with one of the most furious scuffles taking place Sunday when the protesters stormed the police cordon lines and blockaded the access to the Central Government Offices in Admiralty district.
(Xinhua)
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