Hong Kong's protestors have already partly won

Events in Hong Kong over the last week have ensured that the region will never be the same again. Foot soldiers in a political war have filled the city’s broad streets, demanding democratic rights.

As The Tablet reported, the Church has supported those taking the fight to Beijing. Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun told protestors: “Beijing does not allow civil nomination because they fear us, do not trust in us, thinking that we will intentionally choose a leader who will confront them.”

Unlike the Catholic Church in mainland China, Catholicism in Hong Kong is free of political interference from the Communist Party. Churches are deeply imbedded within Hong Kong society. Christians have been bringing food to protesters, and also providing shelter. The Catholic Church has a strong interest in Hong Kong maintaining levels of freedom, and is right to support the protesters.

One of my friends in Hong Kong has taken to the streets. He told me on Thursday that although the demonstration has been entirely peaceful, there are strong tensions within the city. Banks have closed and many bus routes are suspended.

He said some people who are against the Occupy Central demonstrators don’t like the way their protest is disrupting their daily life. “They also think the demonstration will destroy Hong Kong’s economy,” he told me.

The three core demands of Occupy Central are the resignation of the current chief executive, chosen by the Chinese, stronger communication between Hong Kong and Beijing, and absolute universal suffrage. This last concern is the most significant, and unfortunately, most unlikely.

Hong Kong’s last governor, Lord Patten, wrote in his book East and West, “those young men and women brought up in Hong Kong [who] had been encouraged to read Locke, Hume, Paine, Mill and Popper … could hardly be expected to accept that in Britain’s last colonial redoubt the full panoply of civil liberties they had been taught to cherish should be denied to them.” They are no more willing to accept the lack of liberties offered by Beijing today.

At the time of writing, I believe another Tiananmen Square-style massacre will not happen – the authorities cannot risk the repercussions, especially with the free press of Hong Kong watching over them. Still, there is no evidence to suggest that Beijing has even the slightest interest in bridging the democratic deficit. They would be loath to surrender control and send a message to the world that China bows to populist movements. Nonetheless, we must hope the protesters keep going. They can’t win in the short term, but they have indicated to Beijing that it cannot steamroll through legislation and treat Hong Kong as mainland China.

This is not a violent rabble spoiling for a fight, but peaceful young people demanding a fair future for their home. Any of us in the Western world would find living under Communist Party rule intolerable. Basic rights such as freedom of speech, religion and the press are non-existent.

As citizens who treasure such rights, we owe the protestors our continued support.

Tom Kennedy has recently graduated in politics and international relations and spent the summer working in China and east Asia