September 9, 2014 5:44 AM
Benny TaiJenny W. Hsu/The Wall Street Journal
Benny Tai, a legal scholar in Hong Kong, has become one of the Chinese Communist Party’s biggest irritants as he spearheads the city’s Occupy Central movement with two other activists.
After Beijing effectively shot down pro-democracy demands by ruling all candidates for Hong Kong’s top post must be vetted by a committee of China loyalists, the movement appeared to shift its goalposts, but speaking to China Real Time this week, Mr. Tai said plans to disrupt the city’s Central business district with sit-ins were on track.
Sitting in his office at the University of Hong Kong, with a trophy that said “Best Dad” on his bookshelf, the 49 year-old constitutional law professor spoke about the motivation behind nonviolence protests, why he wants to get arrested and his long-term vision for Hong Kong’s democratic development.
What do you hope to achieve through Occupy Central?
The overarching goal is to fight for Hong Kong’s democracy. But we are not naive to think we can change China’s governance on Hong Kong through one event. So a major purpose is to foster a political culture in Hong Kong in which people know they can stand up for their rights.
In the past 30-plus years, the people of Hong Kong have been quite obedient [to Beijing]. Even the pan-democracy faction complied with China’s timeline. But now, we have entered a new era of resistance, which means, we can choose not to play by your rules. I am not fighting for Hong Kong independence. I still accept the notion of “one country, two systems,” but it doesn’t mean we must follow everything that Beijing says.
How prepared are you to occupy Central?
The goal behind disrupting Central is to get arrested. We want to cause disorder to the extent that we will be arrested after the police has exerted violence. Now that’s civil disobedience. We are not just organizing something that is nonviolent, we are organizing civil disobedience which is to create social-order disturbance in order to generate sympathy so as to awaken more people to a just cause. We have to plan our actions, tune it in a very careful way, because if we cause disorder or disturbance more than necessary, it will backfire.
We have already worked out different scenarios–water cannons, tear gas and physical removal by the police. We had a rehearsal on Sunday so we are prepared.
What was your reaction when you heard Beijing’s decision?
Actually, we now have a more clear direction where to head next. Prior to the ruling, we still had heated debates and mixed opinions within the group on how to respond, depending on what the National People’s Congress decided. After the decision was announced, we all became united. Internal disputes disappeared; even the most radical faction didn’t put up a fight. It was a big unifier.
Are you worried some people might adopt a more aggressive approach despite your call for non-violence?
Those kinds of forces are very marginal in the democratic movement. And if you say Hong Kong people are pragmatic, they are not even willing to join in civil disobedience, then how many of them will join these more radical groups?
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What kind of pressure have you been getting?
I have received absolutely zero pressure from the university and I don’t feel I am in any physical danger. Actually, I am in the safest position because if anything happens to me, people will blame it on Beijing no matter what. The biggest pressure comes from within the movement because we have so many different opinions. There are many times that I have had to sacrifice my views in order to accommodate others.
Are there spies in your group?
Definitely, there is no question about that. So if we ever need discuss something that must be concealed from the public, it will not be discussed in the group. The most important discussions take place between the three co-founders. We meet once or twice every two weeks at Professor Chan [Kin-man]‘s house.
Where do you see Hong Kong in 10 years?
I am an optimistic person. We will have democracy. The elitists in Beijing should understand that what we are doing is in the interest of Beijing in the long run. I believe they will be able to see that and will respond to the things we are doing in a more positive way in the future.
What do your children think about what you are doing?
In fact, my son is very proud of me.
–Jenny W. Hsu and Chester Yung. Follow Jenny on Twitter @jen1113. Follow Chester @chester_yung
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-23968
