4 | Monday, October 28, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY CHINA Rioters’ separatist agenda to be no avail: Academic The US’ and UK’s acts suggest their support for anti-government activists in HK, which is nonsense, says Ross By YANG HAN in Hong Kong [email protected] Candidates from the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions contesting the upcoming District Council elections display evidence of their canvassing efforts being disrupted and regional offices vandalized by anti-government protesters. PHOTOS BY CHINA DAILY Hong Kong is part of China and the rioters have “zero chance of success” of separating the city from its motherland, an economic policy expert says. “(For) the people who lead these pro- John Ross, a British academic at the FTU slams ‘intimidation’ campaign, tests, their demands are not the ones Chongyang Institute for Financial that they put forward, and what they Studies at Renmin University of really want is the separation of Hong China, talks to China Daily. CHINA DAILY Kong from China,” said John Ross, a calls for fair elections in November senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin Univer- Hong Kong’s largest labor Other candidates from the sity of China, in an interview with China group on Sunday condemned pro-establishment camp have Daily on Thursday. The key task for the radical protesters for launch- also complained of assaults on The rioters are trying to disrupt Hong Kong Special ing an “intimidation” campaign members of their campaign “one country, two systems”, and they Administrative Region against candidates contesting teams during canvassing activi- have absolutely no chance of success in next month’s district council ties. achieving their separatist agenda, said government is to sepa- elections, calling for fairness in A social worker for candi- Ross, who was born in Britain. He is also rate out the small group the upcoming polls. date Holden Chow Ho-ding a former director of economic and busi- of people who are very The Hong Kong Federation was hit and injured by a car on ness policy for the mayor of London. of Trade Unions expressed Saturday after a dispute with But the danger is that this smaller violent and have a concern that the violence, van- the driver over their political group of people is manipulating a much political agenda, and dalism and disruptions would views. Chow, who’s running larger group, he said, referring to people deal with them in accor- influence the outcome of the for the Democratic Alliance for who have grievances about the city’s elections due to be held on Nov the Betterment and Progress social problems. dance with the law.” 24. of Hong Kong, condemned the Ross also noted that there had been John Ross, incident and urged the police to foreign interference that complicated senior fellow at the Chongyang Insti- Under attack investigate. the situation in Hong Kong, including tute for Financial Studies at Renmin Kwai Tsing District Councilor O ces of the DAB — the city’s from his own country, and also from the University of China, former director Alice Mak Mei-kuen said her largest political party in Legisla- United States. of economic and business policy for election advertisements have tive Council — have also come the mayor of London. been repeatedly removed or under attack. The party, which Interference nonsensical damaged since she was nomi- is fi elding 179 candidates in the On Thursday, members of Britain’s nated on Oct 4. She complained upcoming elections, said more House of Lords, the upper house of ment activists in Hong Kong. that this would lead to unfair than 60 of its o ces have been the parliament, debated over the Hong America will never allow the separa- competition as banners put up vandalized more than 90 times. Kong protests and whether to offer tion of any part of it; but they want to by the opposition camp have United Kingdom citizenship to Hong separate Hong Kong from China, Ross been left intact. Voters’ safety at stake Kong residents. Hundreds of demon- said, adding the protesters could not to Mak, a candidate from the According to FTU President strators protested outside the British be reasoned with. FTU, called such behavior by Stanley Ng Chau-pei, 14 o ces consulate in Hong Kong on Thursday protesters “disgraceful” which of the union’s members have evening. Punishment deserved is aimed at silencing all the pro- been vandalized more than 20 Ross dismissed the move as nonsense, He said the key task for the Hong establishment candidates. Hong times during the ongoing anti- saying it was just bluff to talk about Kong Special Administrative Region Kong voters, she said, have government protests, causing giving UK citizenship to Hong Kong government is to separate out the small good judgment and should be inconvenience to residents as people. He added that the British gov- group of people who are very violent free from any interference and the o ces provide public servic- ernment could have given citizenship to and have a political agenda, and deal intimidation when taking part es, like medical services for the From top: Rioters set fire to an MTR station in Mong Kok.; A all Hong Kong people a long time before with them in accordance with the law. in political activities. elderly and vocational training. black-clad rioter is placed under arrest at an unauthorized 1997. “They didn’t do so because they Ross said that in any normal society, if To make matters worse, can- Mak said her o ce had to sus- assembly in Tsim Sha Tsui on Sunday. didn’t want people from Hong Kong people start using deadly weapons such didates whose advertisements pend services helping residents (going) to Britain.” as Molotov cocktails, they should expect have been damaged may not be to obtain the government’s And in the US, Senator Marco Rubio to spend many years in prison. able to replace them as election HK$4,000 handouts under the slapped an elderly woman as ing day. has, among other things, nominated He said the fundamentals of Hong expenses are limited, said Mak. Caring and Sharing Scheme she tried to enter the FTU o ce More than 1,000 qualified Joshua Wong Chi-fung for the Nobel Kong under the principle of “one coun- She urged the Electoral A airs after protesters stormed her at On Ting Estate in Tuen Mun. candidates will contest council Peace Prize. Ross cited this as an exam- try, two systems” will not be damaged Commission to deal with inter- o ce and destroyed the appli- The union denounced the seats in the 452 constituencies ple of US politicians and government by the protests. The city should always ference in the election cam- cants’ fi les. attack, saying it created panic in the city’s 18 districts. establishment including Congress try- focus on the advantages it has as the paigns and take steps to ensure A recently leaked surveillance among voters, who expressed ing to provide support to anti-govern- gateway to China, he added. fairness. video showed a young man fears for their safety on poll- CHINA DAILY Bridging cultural dialogue between China and the Philippines By LI BINGCUN in Hong Kong knowledge of Chinese paintings ships and deepened the cultural ny, Florentina Colayco, president [email protected] had been largely theoretical. The bonds between the two countries. of the Metropolitan Museum of latest trip had given him the oppor- The program was co-organized Manila, said the exchange program A bilateral art and cultural tunity to learn directly from the by Bank of China, the Chinese Cul- had fostered collaborative spirit exchange program bringing togeth- master Chinese painters, observing ture and Art Association, China and mutual understanding among er Chinese and Filipino artists has their techniques, and collaborating Daily and the Metropolitan Muse- Chinese and Filipino artists. She promoted mutual understanding, with them in creating artworks. um of Manila. called for more such initiatives in cooperative learning and collective During the exchange program, An exhibition showcasing 50 future. improvement, participants said. the 10 artists jointly created two works of the 10 artists opened in Yan Bing, vice-head of Bank of Five Filipino artists were treated landscape paintings based on Shenzhen on Saturday. Some of China’s Shenzhen branch, said to an artistic tour of Liling, Hunan their impressions of the blue seas the exhibits were created by the interaction in art and culture province from Oct 21 to 23. During of the Philippines, and the green artists from both countries during would enable the two countries to the three-day fi eld trip for sketch- fi elds in Liling. the exchange trips. draw inspirations from each other ing and painting, they drew inspi- Salvosa said he learned a lot while retaining their individual rations from the idyllic scenery, about the “secrets” of brush paint- Clicks in art characteristics. time-honored history and the city’s ing from his Chinese friends dur- At the inaugural ceremony, Chi- She said the joint exchange art-friendly atmosphere. ing the time they spent together. na Daily Asia Pacifi c Publisher and program and exhibition marked The tour was part of a two- Chinese and Filipino artists jointly create a landscape painting at the He believes it will help enrich his Editor-in-Chief Zhou Li said it was a good start in forging deeper art month bilateral art and cultural opening ceremony of a joint exhibition entitled “In Harmony with future creations as he has learned the third time China Daily had co- and cultural ties between the two exchange program themed “In Har- Nature” at Art Wharf in Shenzhen on Oct 26.