|
|
|
|
Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Hong Kong riot police fire teargas at protesters early on Monday, September 29. Wally Santana/AP
|
Tourists and business travelers from all over the world and currently visiting Hong Kong are witnessing protests unseen since the city was given back to the People’s Republic of China by the British.
A Chinese tourist from the mainland commented on the ongoing protests in Hong Kong: "It’s very inconvenient. We are tourists; we came here to shop.” ETN reader Bea asks: "Does anyone have a movie suggestion for me? I’m bored in my Hong Kong hotel room."
Instead of tourists taking photos, visiting museums, or shopping in the center of Kowloon, they are meeting tens of thousands of young protesters. The climate remains dangerous enough for the Hong Kong Tourism Board to now begin communicating warnings for tourists to stay away.
Luxury hotels are safe havens for tourists to remain in and watch what is unfolding from their Hong Kong hotel room or hotel suite windows.
According to a statement eTN received from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), operations in most districts in Hong Kong remain normal. Various areas, including Admiralty, Central, Causeway Bay, and Mong Kok have been impacted due to the recent events. The Hong Kong Tourism Board advises visitors to avoid going to these affected areas for the time being unless necessary. The HKTB will continue to closely monitor the development of the movement.
The media reports: Hong Kong Protest Rages Out Of Control - Police Using Tear Gas, and Government Officials Talk Quietly About Worst Nightmare Coming True.
ETN reader Robert Barnett commented on current CNN headlines: "Violent protests rock Hong Kong." So, too, the BBC, Time, Reuters, and others. What violent protests?
A BBC viewer said: "Are Hong Kong's protesters also the most polite? Meet this man who brought apples for protesters.
Hong Kong is demanding for the resignation of Chief Executive CY Leung. Why would any replacement be more acceptable to protestors?
The government-controlled China Morning post reports:
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying reiterated yesterday that the government was resolutely opposed to the Occupy Central movement and the police would handle the situation in accordance with the law.
He said the civil disobedience movement is aimed to coerce the central and Hong Kong governments through unlawful action to paralyze core areas of the city.
"It's not ordinary expression of views by residents but unlawful intimidating actions," Leung said.
The State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said the central government firmly opposed all illegal activities that could undermine the rule of law and jeopardize social order.
The central government offered strong backing to the Hong Kong government in its efforts to maintain social stability and protect residents.
Speaking at government headquarters yesterday afternoon, Leung said the government "highly appreciates and approves" of students caring about current issues, but they had to express their concerns in a "peaceful and rational environment."
The Wall Street Journal report:
With the protests continuing into their third day, we’ve yet to hear from Chinese President Xi Jinping or any of the other top Communist Party leaders in Beijing. But tough talk in the state media suggests Beijing has no intention of backing down.
n watching the events unfold in Hong Kong, China’s top leaders fear any “contagion effect” that encourages the disgruntled elsewhere in China to press for greater rights or which suggests national sovereignty is being undermined by “foreign hostile forces” that challenge Communist Party rule, said Dingding Chen, an assistant professor of government and public administration at the University of Macau.
A further problem, Mr. Chen said, is that compromise will become tougher the more the Hong Kong protests appear to challenge national sovereignty or are seen as a model for other movements, rather than a reflection of the city’s unique standing within China.
Should events spin beyond the control of Hong Kong’s police forces, the People’s Liberation Army maintains a garrison in Hong Kong, and a retired official said earlier this year that the forces might be called upon to suppress a riot. A contingent of China’s paramilitary police, trained in quelling civil unrest, is deployed in Guangdong province, adjacent to Hong Kong.
Experts say these protesters are not going away. So far no country has issued travel warnings against Hong Kong. Not only the travel and tourism industry is concerned, but more so the financial world is worried about the safety in this financial center of Asia.
SOURCE
© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
