We stand in Central

The stirring images of prodemocracy protesters weathering tear gas and pepper spray fired by riot police on Sunday in Hong Kong tug at the heart of Filipinos of a certain generation. Those images are a potent reminder of that season of protest, in the thousand days between the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in August 1983 and the glorious triumph of People Power in February 1986, when Filipinos in search of democracy took, repeatedly, to the streets.

If for this reason alone, we stand in solidarity with the brave students and other citizens of Hong Kong, who are fighting to claim something that was not only promised to them but is in fact their birthright: the right to vote for leaders of their own choosing.

But there are other images from the so-called Occupy Central protest (Central being the principal district on Hong Kong island) that are proving unforgettable. The umbrella has become the accidental symbol of the protests, used not only to provide shelter against the rain but also as a defense against pepper spray. Images of city streets filled with crowds abloom with umbrellas of many colors are eye-catching. As the South China Morning Post described the protests that took place on Tuesday night: “Holding high the umbrellas they used to fend off riot police, protesters sang songs and chanted slogans in the rain. Roads in Admiralty, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Central and Mong Kok were transformed into seas of umbrellas.” (How sharply those images contrast with the poignant AP photograph of a lone man blocking a line of tanks in Beijing shortly after the brutal crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in June 1989, a crackdown in which hundreds of young pro-democracy demonstrators were killed.)

Perhaps most impressive, however, have been reports of order and discipline on the part of the protesters, mainly students under the rather loose command of student organizations such as the Federation of Students and Occupy Central. There are anecdotes about protesters bringing their books and studying during lulls, and demonstrators recycling their trash and keeping street corners clean.

This conduct is exemplary in the basic sense—it is a good example of how to conduct a mass-based civil disobedience campaign—and an even better reason to stand with the protesters. They are fighting in a nonviolent way, to force a government to keep its promises of greater democracy.

As in the Philippine experience of the mid-1980s, there is no assurance that the Hong Kong protesters will get what they want. Beijing’s decision to limit the list of qualified candidates for chief executive of China’s high-profile Special Administrative Region in the next election, the principal cause of the protests, seems irrevocable. The protesters’ general demand for greater democracy will inevitably put a strain on the “one country, two systems” framework that governs the administration of Hong Kong, one of the world’s main financial hubs.

Beijing, which marked yesterday the anniversary of the Communist Party’s foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, has an extra reason to handle the situation very carefully. Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province that must one day be reunited with the mainland, has been studiously watching the developments in Hong Kong. A diplomatic statement from the Taiwanese president, Ma Ying-jeou, still took a clear position on the protests. “We fully understand and support Hong Kong’s demand for universal suffrage.”

A Taiwanese activist who went to Hong Kong to join the protests told the BBC: “We strongly care about Hong Kong because we really cherish our freedom and democracy. We’re worried that today’s Hong Kong will be tomorrow’s Taiwan.”

As important as the future of democracy in Hong Kong is, there are other, greater stakes in the successful resolution of the Occupy Central protests. For that reason, above all, we stand with the gallant citizens of Hong Kong.