December 2005 protest for democracy in Hong Kong

On 4 December 2005, tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protested for democracy and called on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage

Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...

. The protesters demanded the right to directly elect the Chief Executive

Chief Executive of Hong Kong

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and head of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The position was created to replace the Governor of Hong Kong, who was the head of the Hong Kong government during British rule...

and all the seats of the Legislative Council

Legislative Council of Hong Kong

The Legislative Council is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong.-History:The Legislative Council of Hong Kong was set up in 1843 as a colonial legislature under British rule...

. They also urged the government to abolish the appointed seats of the district councils

District Council of Hong Kong

The District Councils, formerly District Boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 Districts of Hong Kong. Under the supervision of Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, they are consultative bodies on district administration and affairs.- History :In 1982, under the...

.

Organised by the Civil Human Rights Front

Civil Human Rights Front

Civil Human Rights Front or CHRF is an organization that focuses on the issues of Hong Kong politics and livelihood, affiliates almost all the pan-democratic camps in Hong Kong. Forty-eight NGOs and political groups have been involved in the organization as of January 2006...

and pro-democracy lawmakers, the protest began at the football pitches in the Victoria Park

Victoria Park, Hong Kong

Victoria Park is a public park in Hong Kong, named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. It is located in Causeway Bay, on the north of Hong Kong Island, between Causeway Bay and Tin Hau MTR stations...

. The march, from the park towards the Central Government Offices

Central Government Offices

The Central Government Offices houses the most major offices of the Hong Kong Government. Located in Central in Hong Kong, it occupies the lower level of Government Hill.- History :...

in Central

Central, Hong Kong

Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...

, started at 3 p.m.

There were several estimates of the crowd turnout ranging from 63,000 to over 250,000 (see the section Controversy over turnout below).

Background

The protest was organised by the Civil Human Rights Front

Civil Human Rights Front

and pro-democracy lawmakers of the territory, to oppose the electoral reform as proposed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang

Donald Tsang

Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, GBM, KBE is the current Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong....

, and to demand the implementation of universal and equal suffrage in Hong Kong. The theme colour for the march was black.

Under the current system, the Chief Executive is selected by an 800-member Election Committee

Election Committee

The Election Committee is an 800-member electoral college in the politics of Hong Kong. It was established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong. This article defines the method of electing the Chief Executive. It is renewed every five years when the sitting Chief Executive's term has expired...

, consisting of members (electors) as elected from respective sectors, mainly representing business and professional interests. Only half of the sixty members of the Legislative Council are directly elected by the public, with the rest representing different sectors of the community, mainly business and professionals.

In his reform package, revealed in the Constitutional Development Task Force Report No.5 that was widely considered to be backed by Beijing

Central People's Government

The Central People's Government is the central government of the People's Republic of China in Beijing. According to the 1982 Constitution, "Central People's Government" is synonymous with the State Council.-History:...

, Tsang proposed to double the number of electors to the Chief Executive election of 2007 to 1600 members and add ten seats to the Legislative Council (to seventy seats). The former would enable all members of district councils, including appointed ones, to be member of the Election Committee and the latter would increase the number of seats elected through geographical and functional constituencies by five each. However, the proposal did not include a clear timetable for universal and equal suffrage, and many doubt it helps to make any meaningful progress in democracy.

See also:

Democratisation in Hong Kong
Hong Kong legislative election, 2004
Hong Kong legislative election, 2004
The 2004 Hong Kong legislative election for members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong was held on 12 September 2004. The elections returned 30 members from directly elected geographical constituencies and 30 members from functional constituencies, of which 11 were unopposed.-General...

Remarks on the march

Most of the participants in the march comprised ordinary Hong Kong residents with mainstream

Mainstream

Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....

social and political views. Notable remarks by individuals from the business, social or political elite

Elite

Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...

of Hong Kong included the following.

Gordon Wu
Gordon Wu
Sir Gordon Ying Sheung Wu, GBS, KCMG, FICE is the chairman of the board of Hong Kong-listed Asian infrastructure firm Hopewell Holdings Ltd.Born in Hong Kong in 1935, Wu has been an advocate for more than two decades for the construction of Asia's largest bridge project linking Hong Kong, Macau...

, chairman of property developers Hopewell Holdings Ltd, criticised marchers by stating that deciding reform proposals through demonstrations reflect mobocracy rather than the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...

.

Stanley Ho
Stanley Ho
Stanley Ho, GBM, GLM, GBS, GML, OBE , also known as Ho Hung Sun, Stanley Ho Hung Sun, is an entrepreneur in Hong Kong and Macau. Ho is sometimes nicknamed "The King of Gambling", reflecting the government-granted monopoly he held of the Macau gambling industry for 40 years...

, gambling magnate in Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

, estimated four days prior to the demonstration that the number of participants would be no more than 50,000. According to Ho, Hong Kong is "not ready" for democracy as most Hongkongers "do not know much about politics". By way of support of this view Ho indicated that he had not himself received political education in Hong Kong between kindergarten and university.

Anson Chan
Anson Chan
Anson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang GBM GCMG CBE JP was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Hong Kong Island, succeeding the late legislator Ma Lik....

, the former Chief Secretary participated in the march and criticised both the Hong Kong government and Beijing for the lack of real democratic reform.

Controversy over turnout

As in the annual vigil in memory of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...

, the 1 July marches, and other public marches and assemblies, the turnout figure is a matter of controversy, since it is difficult to accurately estimate. With different methods of estimation, the organisers estimated there were at least 250,000 participants, and the police

Hong Kong Police Force

The Hong Kong Police Force is the largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. It is the world's second, and Asia's first, police agency to operate with a modern policing system. It was formed on 1 May 1844, with a strength of 32 officers...

projected 63,000. A study team from the University of Hong Kong estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people. A University of Hong Kong actuary lecturer and his team estimated 60,000 to 80,000. The different methods used by the organisers and the study teams contributed to discrepancies. The police declined to disclose the method they had adopted, saying that their figure is for internal reference and arrangement.

Aftermath

Chief Executive Donald Tsang declined to meet with pro-democracy lawmakers during the protest. Afterwards, he said he would work to "perfect" the reform package for 21 December, however he said there was little scope for him to work with. He also ruled out travelling with pro-democracy lawmakers to Beijing to speak with the central government.

Pro-democracy lawmakers also pushed their demand for a timetable for universal suffrage, saying that even if Tsang removed the functional constituency councillors from the reform package, they would still vote it down.

Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...

, Premier of the PRC

Premier of the People's Republic of China

The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking of the Civil service of the...

, said in Paris he was "concerned" about the situation in Hong Kong. The government

Central People's Government

in Beijing has stated that moving too quickly to full democracy will put Hong Kong's economic and political stability at risk.

Rumour of Beijing offer for suffrage in 2017

On 7 December 2005, it was reported by several news agencies that an official in the PRC government might make a verbal offer soon for universal suffrage for Hong Kong by 2017.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Ronny Tong

Ronny Tong

Ronny Tong Ka-wah QC, SC is a Senior Counsel and current member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , representing the New Territories East constituency. He is also a member of the Civic Party Executive Committee....

said he was contacted by a middleman and that he would not agree to the 2017 date, because too many leaders will have changed in Hong Kong and Beijing before then. Democratic Party

Democratic Party (Hong Kong)

The Democratic Party is a pro-democracy political party in Hong Kong. It was established on 2 October 1994. The party is currently the second largest party in the Legislative Council, headed by Chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan and, following the November 2008 merger with the Frontier, had around 745...

chairman Lee Wing Tat

Lee Wing Tat

Lee Wing-tat is a Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , returned by direct election as representative of the New Territories West constituency. He was the third Chairman of the Democratic Party...

responded to the rumours by saying that 2017 was too late, and 2012 was the latest date he would accept. James To

James To

James To Kun-sun is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing the Kowloon West constituency. James To was also a member of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council until 2007.-Views, policy positions and Legco voting:...

, also of the Democratic Party, said he was contacted by someone in the PRC government asking for his reaction if Beijing proposed "letting Hong Kong have democracy as early as 2012 if conditions are mature, and not later than 2017." It is unknown what To's response was.

However, according to Xinhua News Agency, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong responded by saying these reports "are groundless".

The Vote

Report No.5 was voted on by LegCo on 21 December. This legislation needed 40 votes in the 60 seat LegCo to pass. The 25 pro-democracy legislators were expected to vote against it, although there were continuing rumours that some might switch their position and supported it. The report needed 6 pro-democracy legislators supporting it to pass. The radio program The Tipping Point ran a survey on which legislators are most likely to vote for it.

Eventually, with the opposition of 24 pro-democracy legislators (except for Lau Chin Shek

Lau Chin Shek

Lau Chin-shek is the President of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and a vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee. He was born in Guangzhou and had a secondary school education...

who abstained), both the election reform proposals for Chief Executive and LegCo were turned down.

External links

Website of Civil Human Rights Front

Press release of the government

CE speaks to the media after the public rally
Details of the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force: http://www.info.gov.hk/cab/cab-review/eng/report5/

Media coverage

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