The Occupy Central movement has been dragging on for 4 weeks now. Citizens of Hong Kong have established a petition in opposition to the movement and in support of the police force. Though there has been disruption by hackers and troublemakers, 650,000 Hong Kong citizens have signed a petition in opposition to Occupy Central hosted by the police department in the past two days. Of these, 550,000 were delivered in person, and 100,000 signed online. The petition will be open until Nov. 2nd.
Carrie Lam, the Chief Secretary for Administration in Hong Kong, said that she had already signed online to support the general election and oppose Occupy Central. She is encouraging all other government officials to sign as well.
During the night of the 25th, hackers attacked the online petition and disrupted the online signature process. Though it was later fixed, hackers have continued to interfere with the online petition. According to the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, the IP addresses hackers used were from Europe and America. There were further disturbances at some signature-gathering locations. These dirty tricks, as the Alliance for Peace and Democracy calls them, show how weak the Occupy Central backers are, that they are reduced to violence to impede citizens' freedom of speech.
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said on his blog that the illegal conduct of Occupy Central would damage the rule of law, the cornerstone of Hong Kong. The influence would not be short-term if such behavior becomes the new political paradigm in Hong Kong. "The economy always has its ups and downs. Hong Kong has the ability to recover from economic adversity. But if the government and the legal compliance of the public are undermined, no one can tell whether Hong Kong will ever recover or not."
Professor Albert Chen Hung-yee from Hong Kong University said on Oct. 25th that Occupy Central has brought Hong Kong to the point of self-destruction, and he is worried this could become the turning point for Hong Kong from prosperity to decline.
