Edward Chin, the representative for the group of finance and banking professionals in support of Occupy Central
Yesterday a group of finance and banking professionals formed to support Occupy Central staged a demonstration at Exchange Square to announce the launch of an international media campaign. The aim is to increase international pressure on Beijing to give Hong Kong pro-democracy activists what they want, namely the ability to elect the chief executive in 2017 in accordance to international democratic standards.
The full text of the open letter that ran in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times
“We are not trying to fight in any violent way but we will be continuously placing ads when we can raise money to do so,” said Edward Chin, a representative for the group. Open letters to President Xi Jingping ran as ads in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal yesterday, asking for universal suffrage and telling him that the “world is watching”.
When asked why the group supported Occupy Central in particular, Chin responded that “it’s not really the occupying part that matters, it’s the moral awakening part, what Benny Tai proposes, that we like”.
The small demonstration took place in front of Exchange Square
Despite the often very public denouncement of Occupy Central by certain finance and banking corporations, Chin believes that “more and more people will come out when they see their livelihood is being threatened when there is less opportunity unless you kowtow with Beijing”.
Chin was outspoken on corruption in the Communist party. “They are trying to protect their self-interests more than the intersts of Hongkongers,” he said, though he also believed that “a lot of Communist party members they are Hongkongers already so they know democracy is the way to go”.
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Wall Street Journal, New York Times run ads requesting China avoid Tiananmen crackdown in Hong Kong
Photos: Laurel Chor/Coconuts Hong Kong
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