| The following statement issued by the Occupy Central with Love and Peace
( October 18, 2014, Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government’s clearance action has provoked the re-occupation action that has further strained relations between the police and the public. The clashes that took place last night and this morning in Mong Kok and Lung Wo Road serve to highlight the seriousness of the problem. Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) believes the deadlock over political reform must be resolved through dialogue. We call on the government to conduct talks with the students as soon as possible and to create the space to ease the deadlock.
The government’s use of “removing obstructing materials” as an excuse to clear occupied zones will only push the resentment from occupiers and citizens who support them into a vicious circle and dead end, it is totally unhelpful in solving the problem. What needs to be condemned is the fact that even as a chink of light appeared for dialogue between the government and the students, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying took a hardline and stressed that dialogue does not mean no clearance – thereby creating an obstacle to dialogue. OCLP calls on the Leung Chun-ying administration to change its tune, to return the path of solving problems through dialogue, to reconcile with society, and to desist from carrying out its so-called “removal of obstructing materials” operations.
OCLP understands the resentment on the part of the occupiers, however we hope that we can all see the police are merely implementing the orders of hardliners in the government. Citizens should not vent their anger on frontline police; and the police must understand the occupiers’ firm resolve all along to struggle for a democratic political system through peaceful means and to make sacrifices for the long term benefits of Hong Kong. Therefore, we urge both sides to exercise restraint.
OCLP Secretariat
18 October 2014
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