Continuation of Hong Kong Protests

As I wrote yesterday, the conflict between protesters in Hong Kong and the government has not subsided. According to a recent report in the BBC, leaders of the protest movement are considering stepping back from negotiations with the government. The reason is because of their belief that the government is not doing enough to protect the protesters from attacks by those who support the government.

The situation is tense, as government buildings near the protest sites not be operating because of the difficulty to get to the offices. However, the protests are not giving into government pressure, as many are calling for complete free elections (BBC, 2014).

Again, the continuation of these protests alone shows the ability to challenge the undemocratic practices of the Chinese government in Hong Kong. It will be interesting to see if the Hong Kong leadership will offer a major political incentive for the citizens to end their protests, or if the leadership is going to remain steady in this position. It will also be interesting to note if the protesters will be willing accept a demand less than the leadership’s resignation.

These protests in international relations are fascinating to see, and very interesting to try to explain. There has been frustration with the Chinese state’s role in Hong Kong for years, but will be important to analyze in detail the entire protests that are taking place, and equally important, the coordination and organization strategies that that the civil society groups used and are using. This will be an interesting question within context of the study of social movements in international relations.