The Hong Kong Government Calls Off Talks With Student Leaders

At a press conference this evening Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's Chief Secretary, was supposed to announce the details of the talks between government representatives and student leaders which were scheduled for tomorrow. Instead, she surprisingly declared that the administration had decided to cancel the meeting altogether.

“The talk is based on two conditions," she said. "First the discussion must be within the framework of the decision made by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. Second it must not be linked to the Occupy movement. Unfortunately, the protesters rejected the rational proposal and went back to their old position.

"They now insist on public nomination and to abolish the decision made by the NPCSC. They also link the dialogue with the Occupy movement and even said the movement would last until the talks produce a result [they want]. This is sacrificing public good for their political demands, and is against public interests and political ethics.”

This is obviously a trick. The whole protest movement is about abolishing the decision of the National People's Congress (NPC) and about public nomination. Otherwise, what would the protesters be protesting for? If they have to accept the framework, it means that Beijing and the Hong Kong government (which is de facto a shadow government of the Communist Party in Hong Kong) will have their way.

Calling off the talks means that Leung Chun-ying and his administration have no intention to make a real compromise and listen to the students. The government just wants to try to persuade them that it would be in their best interest to accept the NPC decision, stop confronting Beijing, and return to orderly and stable life. It is clear that the government doesn't want to talk with the students; it simply wants to lecture them on why Hong Kong must be subservient to the Communist Party.

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