Hong Kong Tiananmen Student Protest. 'Occupy Tiananmen' Tweets, Social Media 'Umbrella Revolution' Weigh On Beijing's Pro-Democracy Crackdown
Hong Kong Tiananmen Student Protest (Beijing): Published reports say that the Hong Kong protests over direct elections has hit head on towards political change in China. And the protestors are not backing off. The skirmish, which started September 28, sounds similar to the Tiananmen Square debacle of 1989. Twenty-five years after quelling a democracy movement, China faces a political challenge that may or may not be successful.
Though there are many similarities between the two protests, local reports say that it is unlikely the two will be resolved in a similar fashion. The "Occupy Tiananmen" movement has introduced social media into the Hong Kong democracy protest, tweeting residents in Beijing to occupy the streets with umbrellas in their hands on Saturday. The Hong Kong pro-democracy movement has adopted the umbrella as its symbol.
The tweet also requests supporters to walk towards Tiananmen Square, reminiscent of the 1989 protest. The Tiananmen massacre, as it was called was a violent crackdown where the Chinese government used violence to stop mass protests during a broad call for democratic reforms.
The tweet is believed to have come from Hong Kong on Thursday, according to its "hashtag". Local newspapers suspect that the 'Occupy Tiananmen' is unlikely to succeed, given the tight security that occupies the central Beijing plaza.
While the CEO of Hong Kong has refused to step down, Beijing's plans to selectively provide Hong Kong "universal suffrage" by limiting the number of candidates to just a handful after approval from an advisory committee. This is not acceptable to the Hong Kong democracy protestors who demand a free election to select a new leader in 2017.
"The support of many of Hong Kong's business community for the students - even if they admit they are "trying for the impossible" - is barely less astonishing, in a place famed for its money-minded pragmatism. There is the same sense of infectious excitement at having broken out of a mould, if not for ever then at least for a few more days," BBC News reported.
