September 6, 2016 (The New Atlas) - Hong Kong held legislative elections this week with one of the leaders of the so-called "Umbrella Movement" also known as "Occupy Central" apparently winning a constituency seat. The BBC in an article titled, "Hong Kong election: Anti-China activists set to take LegCo seats," would report:
Nathan Law in particular was featured on the US State Department's National Endowment for Democracy (NED) website "World Movement for Democracy" in a post titled, "Democracy Courage Tribute Award Presentation." In it, NED would write in regards to the award presented to Nathan Lee:
While the NED itself vehemently denied senior opposition leader Martin Lee was involved in the protests when accusations of US influence were first raised in 2014, NED itself would eventually recognise Lee's role in the protests at a Freedom House event titled, "Three Hong Kong Heroes," which also included protest leaders Joshua Wong and Benny Tai.
Lee would shuffle onto stage with a yellow umbrella in hand, an overt admission of his leadership role in the protests, a role NED had obviously lied about in its previous statements and was now openly rewarding.
In fact, extensive documentation was made by independent analysts regarding the entirety of the opposition's leadership, drawn straight from both the NED's own documentation and event notes, as well as from the various front organisations opposition leaders maintained before the protests, all funded by US State Department money.
While a pro-Beijing electoral system may or may not entirely represent Hong Kong, a territory of China itself, an opposition run out of Washington is unquestionably illegitimate and fundamentally undemocratic, incapable of representing the people of Hong Kong when the summation of its support comes from an ocean away.
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A new generation of anti-China activists have won seats on Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo), preliminary results indicate.What the BBC neglects to inform readers is that while it claims the opposition failed to do better because of a pro-Beijing electoral system, the opposition itself exists solely because of Western backing.
Among them is Nathan Law, one of the young leaders of the mass pro-democracy demonstrations of 2014, who is now on course to win a constituency seat.
It is the first taste of real political power for the young protest leaders.
But pro-Beijing politicians will retain a majority of seats, partly because of the electoral system.
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| (Nathan Law (left) poses next to US State Department Natioanal Endowment for Democracy (NED) President Carl Gershman.) |
The Umbrella Movement’s bold call in the fall of 2014 for a free and fair election process to select the city’s leaders brought thousands into the streets to demonstrate peacefully. The images from these protests have motivated Chinese democracy activists on the mainland and resulted in solidarity between longtime champions of democracy in Hong Kong and a new generation of Hong Kong youth seeking to improve their city. The Hong Kong democracy movement will face further obstacles in the years to come, and their idealism and bravery will need to be supported as they work for democratic representation in Hong Kong.It is one of many post-Occupy Central award ceremonies the US State Department conducted, rewarding its proxies for their efforts in the streets of Hong Kong in 2014.
While the NED itself vehemently denied senior opposition leader Martin Lee was involved in the protests when accusations of US influence were first raised in 2014, NED itself would eventually recognise Lee's role in the protests at a Freedom House event titled, "Three Hong Kong Heroes," which also included protest leaders Joshua Wong and Benny Tai.
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| (Martin Lee (right-most man with umbrella) clearly played a role in leading the "Umbrella Revolution." Yet the NED now celebrating that role, had initially denied it in 2014 in order to put distance between him and the protests. This was because Lee had just been in Washington D.C. before the protests lobbying for US support.) |
Lee would shuffle onto stage with a yellow umbrella in hand, an overt admission of his leadership role in the protests, a role NED had obviously lied about in its previous statements and was now openly rewarding.
In fact, extensive documentation was made by independent analysts regarding the entirety of the opposition's leadership, drawn straight from both the NED's own documentation and event notes, as well as from the various front organisations opposition leaders maintained before the protests, all funded by US State Department money.
While a pro-Beijing electoral system may or may not entirely represent Hong Kong, a territory of China itself, an opposition run out of Washington is unquestionably illegitimate and fundamentally undemocratic, incapable of representing the people of Hong Kong when the summation of its support comes from an ocean away.
The New Atlas is a media platform providing geopolitical analysis and op-eds. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
