HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s last British governor, Chris Patten, on Wednesday urged protesters not to “lose faith” over what he described as moves by Beijing…
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s last British governor, Chris Patten, on Wednesday urged protesters not to “lose faith” over what he described as moves by Beijing to tighten its control over the semi-autonomous city.
The former British colony was returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” framework that gives it its own legal system and more freedoms than on the mainland. It has been rocked over the past year by huge rallies that exposed deep divisions between democracy-minded Hong Kongers and the Communist Party-ruled central government in Beijing.
The protests began over a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be sent to the mainland for trial, and continued for more than seven months over police conduct and perceptions that Beijing is tightening its controls over the city’s affairs.
The demonstrations, which were largely peaceful at first, over the months descended into occasionally violent clashes between police and protesters. More than 8,000 arrests were made.
“They shouldn’t lose heart. They shouldn’t lose their sense of dignity and decency and moderation,” Patten said in an online interview organized by The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong.
