Calling for immediate stop to Occupy Central in public interest

The "Occupy Central" movement has entered its third day today. Although this is only the third day, its impact on residents' daily life and economic activities in certain core districts of Hong Kong has begun to surface.

Over the past few days, we have received a lot of information. Although not reported by the media, this information is all true. There were a number of cases in which emergency services were adversely affected and could not be provided as quickly as usual for the injured and ill. Since these people could not be sent to hospital in the shortest possible time, there could be serious consequences.

At the same time, the Hong Kong community, especially people and businesses in areas affected by "Occupy Central", should be both psychologically and actually prepared for the persistence of the movement for a prolonged period of time. This is the plan of the organisers of "Occupy Central". At the locations affected, we can see barricades set up by the organisers and a number of large supply stations, even first aid stations. Judging from this, we can foresee that "Occupy Central" and its impact will not go away in a few days, but will last for quite a long time. Hong Kong will pay an increasingly heavy price in terms of our people's daily life and their safety in cases of emergency, as well as our economic development and international image. I hope you will think this over.

Over the past few days, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government has repeatedly called for and tried through different means to secure the reopening of some trunk roads in Hong Kong for public transport and emergency vehicles. For example, police officers went to the locations affected yesterday (September 29) to try to persuade those people gathering on these roads to vacate part of the road surface for use by public transport and emergency vehicles. All these attempts were in vain.

We all know that Gloucester Road, Harcourt Road and Connaught Road Central are trunk roads normally used by fire engines and ambulances. Now that these roads are completely occupied by protesters, fire engines and ambulances are forced to use narrower streets to go from the fire stations to the sites of incidents and then to the hospitals. Our community should pay serious attention to this situation.

The organisers of "Occupy Central" have said repeatedly that if the movement runs largely out of control, that they will call a halt to the movement. Now, I call on the organisers of "Occupy Central" to fulfil their pledge to society and stop the movement immediately.

To those people assembled on the roads, I want to say that I and the SAR Government always respect and protect the right of the public to express their opinions about the Government and political matters by different means, including holding assemblies. But I hope that they will first pay attention to their personal safety. In the early hours today, a car sped along a road normally open to traffic but which now has many people gathered on it overnight in the past few days. This was dangerous and could have caused casualties. I hope the public will stay alert to this kind of situation.

Yesterday, we learnt that on many occasions, people holding different opinions have had arguments with each other at the locations of the assemblies. Regarding the incident mentioned above in which a car drove through the crowd, the situation was tense after the incident happened. As you may have learnt from media reports, police officers went to the home of the driver immediately and are investigating the matter. What does this show? This shows that the Police are impartial in law enforcement. We do not pick on protesters. We protect them too. This is one of the difficulties faced by the Police in carrying out their duties. I will say more about the work of the Police later. I hope those people gathering on the roads will take care of their personal safety and also take into consideration the needs and rights of other people to use the roads or public areas concerned.

As you are aware, many bus routes have been suspended. We all know that many people use these bus routes every day. They have not spoken out and have been quite tolerant despite the inconvenience caused to them. I therefore urge the protesters to respect the rights of other road users and minimise the impact on their daily life. In areas with a wider mix of people from different backgrounds, the Police are concerned about the composition of the crowd in the last couple of days, and will do their best to maintain law and order in such areas.

About the Police, I have said that our police force is of a very high standard, as evident in its operations. Our police officers act according to the law, which includes the Police Force Ordinance, and are internationally acclaimed. No matter whether they are maintaining law and order from day to day or responding to emergency situations, including assemblies, they demonstrate a high degree of professionalism. Therefore, my predecessors and I have always highly valued and respected their professional judgment. They have a difficult job to do and it is not easy to strike a balance. They are under a lot of work pressure.

When an emergency happens, the Police not only have to deal with the emergency itself but need to ensure that Hong Kong's good law and order will not be compromised by overstretched manpower. We all know that Hong Kong's crime rate is very low. This is not achieved by accident, but by the hard efforts of our police over the years. Apart from crime detection, our police have also done a lot in crime prevention. Not only is our crime rate one of the lowest in the world, but the number of every type of major crime has been dropping over the past decade or so. We should thank our police and continue to have confidence in them to act according to the law and not to be influenced by political considerations.

From its conception nearly two years ago to the present, "Occupy Central" has been about constitutional reform and about the Chief Executive (CE) election in 2017. The thinking behind the movement is that threatening to paralyse our financial centre will coerce the Central Authorities into acceding to some people's demands, no matter whether their demands comply with the Basic Law or not. However, the decision adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) on August 31, 2014 shows that the Central Authorities will not submit to the threat of such unlawful acts. I believe that the continuation of such unlawful acts will not make the Central Authorities withdraw the NPCSC decision adopted on August 31 in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Basic Law. In making this decision, the Central Authorities have indeed exercised their powers under the Basic Law to enable, in accordance with the Basic Law, Hong Kong people to elect their own CE in 2017 by "one-person, one-vote" for the first time in Hong Kong's history.

According to the Basic Law, if there is a need to amend the method for selecting the CE, such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) and the consent of the CE, and they shall be reported to the NPCSC for approval. I must reiterate that it is "for approval", not "for the record", since some people who should be quite knowledgeable about this, including retired senior officials and legislators, have accused the Central Authorities of moving the goalposts. They claimed that the Basic Law only stated "for the record", and asked why it was "for approval" now. Please look at Article 7 of Annex I to the Basic Law. It stipulates that any amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the LegCo and the consent of the CE, and they shall be reported to the NPCSC for approval.

Each of these three parties has the power to decide, not individually but collectively and jointly, on the election method in the future. Although one-third of all the members of the LegCo does not constitute a majority since it is less than half of all members, it can still override my consent and the decision of the NPCSC. Therefore, the NPCSC exercised its powers under the Basic Law in making this decision. This decision, rather than ruling out universal suffrage for Hong Kong people, allows Hong Kong people to have universal suffrage in 2017, and, operationally, 2017 is indeed the earliest year in which we can implement universal suffrage.

Universal suffrage under the framework laid down in the NPCSC decision includes nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee, as specified in the Basic Law, followed by a "one-person, one-vote" election. I know, I have heard and I understand that this arrangement is different from what some people have in mind about universal suffrage, such as general election after civic nomination. However, in the final analysis, first, we should comply with the Basic Law; second, if we do not implement this method of universal suffrage, we can only stand still, which means that Hong Kong people will lose the chance to elect the CE by "one-person, one-vote".

I think we should deliberate over this matter in a rational, peaceful and calm manner. I very much hope that all Hong Kong people gathering on the roads and the organisers of "Occupy Central" will calm down and stop to think what is in the best interests of Hong Kong in the long term.

September 30, 2014