67% of HK residents want immediate end to street occupation

HONG KONG — Pro-democracy protesters in the city are losing public support, an opinion poll showed, increasing pressure on their leaders to call an end to almost two months of demonstrations.

About 67.4 per cent of people surveyed said the activists should give up their street occupation immediately, a poll conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong from Nov 5 to 11 showed.

Those against the movement rose to 43.5 per cent from 35.5 per cent last month.

The options for the Hong Kong protesters are shrinking as crowds who have occupied key parts of the Chinese-controlled city for seven weeks have dwindled, attempts to negotiate with Beijing failed and Hong Kong’s High Court issued injunctions for the removal of barricades at several protest sites.

The demonstrations, the largest since China resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, were sparked by Beijing’s decision to screen candidates through a committee for the city’s leadership election in 2017.

The protesters are demanding open nominations of the candidates.

Support for the movement, which has occupied parts of major commercial districts in Hong Kong since Sept 28, fell to 33.9 per cent in November from 37.8 per cent last month, the poll showed.

The university surveyed 1,030 Cantonese-speaking residents aged 15 or above, it said.

“Protesters surely have the right to express their discontent against Beijing’s ruling,” Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang wrote in his blog late Sunday. “But to deny a proposal that enables several million Hong Kong residents to vote for the next Chief Executive also contradicts the meaning of democracy. Have the protesters thought about the rights of other people?”

Younger people and those who are more highly educated are more likely to support the movement, the university said.

Three members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the main groups behind the protests, were blocked from flying to Beijing on Sunday after their China travel permits were cancelled. Mr Alex Chow, head of the group, was seeking to meet Chinese officials to press for open elections, after earlier attempts to arrange meetings through Hong Kong politicians fell through.

The High Court chief judge ruled last week that bailiffs can remove obstructions at two protest sites in Mong Kok on the north side of Victoria Harbour. An injunction was also granted against protesters in Admiralty, where the city’s government headquarters are located.

The court on Saturday dismissed an appeal against the injunction issued against protesters in Mong Kok and heard an appeal for the Admiralty site yesterday.

The police will help court-appointed bailiffs implement the injunctions this week, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday, citing an unidentified person. They will move against the protesters in Admiralty first, before removing the barricades at Mong Kok, the newspaper reported.

The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that gives the city more autonomy and freedom than the mainland and a goal of universal suffrage.

The protests, which drew well over 100,000 at their peak, have dwindled to hundreds camped out in colourful tents at key intersections on both sides of the harbour.

China and Hong Kong launched the Stock Connect scheme yesterday, giving foreign and Chinese retail investors unprecedented access to the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges. There were no protests at the Hong Kong exchange yesterday against the scheme that will bolster financial ties with the mainland.

While the university survey showed a lack of support for the protesters’ occupation of the streets, it also showed displeasure with the Hong Kong government’s handling of the crisis.

About 40 per cent of those surveyed felt the government’s response had been inadequate and nearly half — 48.5 per cent — said the government needed to make concessions. AGENCIES