Since then, China and pro-democracy lawmakers and activists in Hong Kong have battled to a standstill over how to elect the city’s leader, with a Beijing-sponsored bill defeated in the Legislative Council in June.
The world remembers the massive political protest of Umbrella movement, the worst movement since China took back control of Hong Kong from the British in 1997, on its anniversary today.
“I’m not saying that civil disobedience is not useful in the future”, he said. The resulting Umbrella Movement was named after the umbrellas protesters carried to shelter from sun, rain, tear gas and pepper spray.
Social media played a large role in both the communication and development of events to the extent that the Hong Kong government accused services such as Twitter and Instagram of being evidence of foreign interference. The use of FireChat was an attempt to circumvent any potential government attempts to censor the internet and to reduce pressure on telecommunications networks in the area.
“The democratic camp feels lost and confused on which direction the movement should be headed, and there are also different arguments on what kind of tools or measures to rely upon in the fight for democracy”, Dr Chan Kin Man, an associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told local broadcaster RTHK on Sunday.
“The shameful prosecution of these activists demonstrates the Chinese authorities’ contempt for freedom of expression, which does not bode well for Hong Kong”, William Nee, China Researcher at Amnesty worldwide said in a statement released on Monday.
Despite the Hong Kong legislature voting down changes that would have allowed for Beijing to screen candidates in the 2017 election, the struggle for democracy continues.
The younger protesters are not just distrustful of Beijing, but also of the old political guard that forms the opposition in Hong Kong.
Leaders of the Occupy protests are expected to appear at various rallies, including a moment of silence just before 1000 GMT (6 p.m. EDT) to mark the time when police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Liaison Office in Hong Kong did not respond to requests for comment. They accuse democracy activists of disrupting daily life in the city.Occupy Central was launched exactly a year ago, calling for fully free leadership elections in the semi-autonomous city, following more than a week of student protests. “We have not forgotten our original aim [of genuine universal suffrage and democracy]”.
Pro-democracy campaigners said they had no plan to start more mass demonstrations.
An Umbrella movement part 2 could still happen, but not until a tipping point is reached when there is more support from society, the Occupy leaders say.