Learning from the enemy

EACH side of Hong Kong’s increasingly bitter political divide seems to have been taking lessons from the other. The “pan-democrat” camp, intent on seeing genuine choice in an election in 2017 for the territory’s chief executive, is trying to master the Chinese art of the united front. Normally fissiparous, the “pan-dems” are holding together against the threats and blandishments of the pro-China establishment. The “pro-Beijing” group, for its part, has been adopting its opponents’ techniques of mass-mobilisation and street protest. Both sides still have a lot to learn.

On August 17th Hong Kong saw an unusually big pro-Beijing demonstration against “Occupy Central”, a movement led by pro-democracy activists who threaten to mobilise thousands of people to bring Hong Kong’s central business district to a halt if Hong Kong is denied a real election in 2017. It was obvious that many protesters had been bused in, paid and treated to lunch, and in many cases had come from other parts of China. Evan Fowler, a local writer, says almost everyone he came across was part of an organised group. It was, he says, less a spontaneous protest than a sponsored walk.