The Umbrella Movement occupation phase has ended.
Epoch Times will be tracking democratic developments in Hong Kong here.
For what happened from day one till day fifty-four, check out the first half of our daily updates archive.
Want to know how the Umbrella Movement started and what’s it all about? Check out the key events leading up to the Sept. 28 demonstrations and our FAQ.
Day Seventy-nine
Monday, Dec. 15
- Police cleared out the last remaining protest site in Causeway Bay.
- Police Commissioner Andy Tsang said that the force will start a three-month investigation into the instigators of the Occupy Movement.
When asked by reporters as to why officers hid their identifications during operations, Tsang reportedly said that police will only wear identification when necessary.
Tsang also said that the use of tear gas on Sept. 28 was “necessary.”
- At about 2:00 p.m. local time, Hong Kong’s Legislative Council staff asked protesters to leave, which they did voluntarily.
- About 800 police officers will be involved in the clearance of Causeway Bay on Monday, TVB reports.
- 9Wu continues in Mong Kok. Police have made over 20 arrests, and are charging an off-duty auxiliary police officer for taking part in the “Shopping Revolution.”
- Apply Daily reports that while Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying praised the police force for carrying out their tasks of suppressing the Umbrella Movement protesters, he has refused to consider giving them a pay rise.
- Media mogul Jimmy Lai resigns his position as Chairman and Executive director of Next Media, which publishes the pro-democracy publication Apple Daily.
After his arrest in Admiralty last week, Lai also resigned as Apple Daily’s publisher.
- Tomorrow, the Hong Kong Legislative Council will meet and decide what to do with the protesters camped in their compound.
- Alex Chow, secretary general from the Hong Kong Federation of Students, has urged people to start a “non-cooperation” campaign. Tactics include paying bills and rental slowly.
- Benny Tai, one of the co-founders of Occupy Central With Love and Peace, warned that peaceful demonstrations could make way fro violent riots if the government still refuses to listen to people’s demands for democracy.
Day Seventy-seven
Saturday, Dec. 13
- Police announce that the Causeway Bay protest site will be taken down on Monday, 9:30 a.m. local time.
- Two banners, one asking for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to step down, and another with “I want true universal suffrage” written, were flown from Lion Rock hill and Devil’s Peak. The fire department removed the banners shortly after they were seen.
- Hong Kong Federation of Students deputy secretary Lester Shum notes that the Federation could have handled communications better with the other groups, and should have considered the overall public opinion.
Shum also says that the HKFS will have to reflect on the failed attempt at escalation by taking Lung Wo Road and areas outside government offices to prevent civil servants from reporting to work.
- Mong Kok 9Wu “shoppers” have “migrated” to the Causeway Bay site, as have some Admiralty protesters.
Some of these “shoppers” dress up in church robes and wander around the area, singing songs that poke fun at the police, government, and promote democracy.
The group dispersed shortly after police raised yellow flags.
- Liberal Party member James Tien asks the Hong Kong government to meet student leaders to discuss political reform. Tien adds that dialogue should take place even though the protest sites have been cleared.
Day Seventy-six
Friday, Dec. 12
- Occupied Admiralty streets were opened to traffic, 75 days after they were occupied.
- Hong Kong Federation of Students secretary general Alex Chow was released unconditionally and without charge from police custody.
- Police are expected to clear Causeway Bay next week.
- Henry Tang, the former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong and the runner-up to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive Elections, says that Leung should properly reflect on how to do a better job now that the 75-day pro-democracy protests have “ended,” according to Ming Pao.
- Former Chief Secretary Anson Chan tells Bloomberg TV that Hong Kong will have free elections eventually.
“Hong Kong will never be the same again after the Umbrella Movement,” Chan said
“Whatever the views about the rights or wrongs of civil disobedience, I think one thing is very, very clear, that within the community there is a strong preference for genuine universal suffrage.
‘“I have no doubt it will come because that’s the only way to secure Hong Kong’s long-term stability and prosperity. Even within the rigid framework handed down by the standing committee of the NPC, there is still some room for maneuver.”
- HKFS asked why pan-democratic legislators only showed up at the final Admiralty clearance and not for the entire 75-day period.
- Some of the Mong Kok “9Wu”/“Shopping Revolution” crowd has “migrated” to Causeway Bay, the last Umbrella Movement occupied area.
Day Seventy-five
Thursday, Dec. 11
- Bailiffs and police showed up to clear out the Admiralty site.
Check out our coverage of the event:
- Authorities, Protesters Reveal Plans for Final Showdown
- Police Confirm Thursday Clearing of Major Protest Camp
- Hongkonger’s Trust in Police Shattered by Protest Violence
- One Day More: Defiant Mood in Main Hong Kong Protest Site Ahead of Police Clearing
- Hong Kong Protests: 5 Things to Know Before ‘Umbrella Square’ Shutdown
- Umbrella Movement Evicted in Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Police Dismantle Main Camp, Arrest Protesters, Lawmakers (+Photo Gallery)
- Before and during the clearing, police arrested several pro-democratic/radical group leaders. Notable among them is Civic Passion leader Wong Yeung Tat.
- Tamar Park has yet been cleared. Police have made a small passageway for protesters to exit the site via Tim Mei Avenue.
- Pan-democrat lawmakers and leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Students were arrested.
Police started releasing them at about 3:00 a.m. local time (4:00 p.m. Thursday).
Those arrested were charged with unlawful assembly and obstruction of police duties.
- After his arrest at the Admiralty site, Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai resigned from his position of President of Apply Daily, a pro-democracy publication.
- About 200 “carollers”marched through Causeway Bay, singing Christmas carols with lyrics modified to mock the police and call for democratic reform in Hong Kong. They also weaved in words about the “Shopping Revolution.”
The “carollers” dressed up in fake priest robes and carried crosses with “I want true universal suffrage” banners.
At about 10:30 p.m. HKT, police raised yellow banners and asked them to disperse, which they did.
- The British government has asked the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom to explain why British MPs were barred from entering Hong Kong.
Day Seventy-four
Wednesday, Dec. 10
- On the eve of the Admiralty site clearance, student leaders from Scholarism and the Hong Kong Federation of Students tell protesters not to give up hope and to resist police in a nonviolent fashion for as long a time as possible.
Alex Chow from HKFS and Scholarism’s Oscar Lai plan to let themselves be arrested during the clearing as part of the civil disobedience movement.
Prominent student leader Joshua Wong says he won’t be at the front lines because he is on bail and due in court with HKFS’s Lester Shum on Jan. 15.
- Meanwhile, new student group Student Front has criticized the two leading student groups for being passive about the police clearing, and has declared that they will resist the police with “defensive” tactics and gear for as long as they can hold out.
Student Front, a group that chooses to remain leaderless, wrote in a Facebook post that they don’t want the “Umbrella Revolution” to end without securing the Umbrella Movement’s aims of genuine universal suffrage for the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive elections.
- In Admiralty, the crowd are putting up banners and street art declaring: “We will be back.”
- A number of university deans, chancellors, and professors say they will be on the ground in academic regalia to observe the clearing. Some pan-democrats have also announced that they will be stationed near the PLA complex overnight while awaiting the start of the clearance.
- In a new poll by the University of Hong Kong, the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong garrison is more popular than the Hong Kong police force. An earlier poll reveals that public support for the police reached an all-time low of 29 percent.
- In a separate poll by the University of Hong Kong, of the 514 surveyed, 31.3 percent support the student occupation, up 3 percent from the past poll. 49.3 percent are against.
As for the government’s handling of the protests, 37 percent are in favor while 46 percent are opposed.
“Our survey shows that those who support the students or the government are both minorities,” said Robert Chung, director of the Public Opinion Program, according to Wall Street Journal. “To overcome this lose-lose situation, both sides must exercise restraint, try to understand, tolerate and not agitate each other, in order to resolve the problem in a civilized and rational way”
Day Seventy-three
Tuesday, Dec. 9
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