A Surprising Tie That Binds Hong Kong's Protest Leaders: Faith
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong in the past two weeks, demanding democracy and grabbing global attention.
Many threads have run through the protests, including one that might seem surprising: faith. Many of the leaders are Christian, and some cite faith as an inspiration.
When Hong Kong's Occupy Central group first announced last year it was planning pro-democracy demonstrations, it did so in a church in the city's Kowloon section. The group's full name is Occupy Central with Love and Peace, in the Christian spirit, and its top leaders include a minister and a law professor who is also Christian.
Many leaders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement are Christians. Protesters erected this shrine to protect themselves from attack.
"There are many Christians and Catholics among the pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong, the older generation," says Joseph Cheng, who teaches political science at City University of Hong Kong.
Cheng, 65, is also a pro-democracy activist and a Christian himself. He says many of the movement's leaders were educated in Hong Kong's Christian missionary schools, which helped shape their beliefs.
"There is this Christian spirit," says Cheng, who wears a yellow ribbon pinned to his shirt pocket — a symbol of the movement. "You are more willing to suffer. Social justice means more to you."
Cheng says another reason Christians have been drawn to the democracy push in Hong Kong is the way they feel about the Communist Party in Beijing.
"Christians, all over the world, tend to be distrustful of the communist parties, naturally," says Cheng with a laugh. "If you are a Christian in China, if you are a Christian in Hong Kong, you know the Chinese Communist regime has been suppressing Christianity for many decades."
Officials in the east China province of Zhejiang have ordered crosses removed and the destruction of government-approved churches in what appears to be one of the toughest crackdowns on Christianity in many years.
David Zweig, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a longtime political observer, says the Chinese Communist Party must be eyeing the Christian connection in Hong Kong warily.
"They see any religion that has an alternative explanation for the future, that has an organizational capacity as a threat," Zweig says.
Sing Ming, a pro-democracy activist, Christian and scholar, emphasizes that the pro-democracy movement is not faith-based and some Protestant churches oppose it.
"A number of pastors, they come out in a very high-profile manner, attacking the desirability of this entire movement," he says. "They have been extremely politically conservative in the past, so actually the local Protestant churches are quite divided."
Christianity isn't the only belief system that has a presence in the protest movement. In Mong Kok, a neighborhood known for gangsters and mainland shoppers, protesters have built on a bamboo and metal barricade a shrine to an ancient Chinese general some refer to as Guan Gong.
Protesters in Hong Kong's Mong Kok neighborhood erected a shrine to an ancient Chinese general to protect them from police, who fired tear gas at them last week, and gangsters, who beat them.
"He's kind of a god for war and loyalty and brotherhood," says Kevin Tsang, a nurse and one of hundreds protesting in the neighborhood Thursday.
Tsang says both gangsters, known in Hong Kong as triads, as well as police worship the general for protection. Protesters have had trouble with gangsters, who they say attacked them last week — they believe on behalf of the government. They've also had trouble with cops, who fired tear gas at them.
Tsang says demonstrators built the shrine to the general to send a message to their antagonists: Guan Gong is on our side.
"We want this god to punish whoever tries to hurt unarmed citizens," says Tsang, 24, who wears a gray, cardigan-style sweater.
If that doesn't work, protesters have built another shrine at another barricade two blocks away, this one with a picture of Jesus and an open Bible.
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Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
The Hong Kong government has abruptly canceled talks with student leaders of the pro-democracy movement. The meeting had been set for tomorrow. Hong Kong's chief secretary said they won't meet, as long as protesters threaten more school boycotts and demonstrations. Protest leaders called the government insincere and are urging people to return to the streets, where last week tens of thousands demanded democracy.
We're going to explore the role of faith in this movement. As NPR's Frank Langfitt reports, many of the organizers are Christians and some cite their faith as an inspiration.
FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: When Hong Kong's Occupy Central group first announced it was planning pro-democracy demonstrations, it did so in a church. The group's full name is Occupy Central With Love And Peace, in the Christian spirit and its top leaders include a minister and a law professor who's also a Christian.
JOSEPH CHENG: There are many Christians and Catholics among the pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong, the older generation.
LANGFITT: Joseph Cheng teaches political science at City University of Hong Kong. He's also a pro-democracy activist and a Christian himself. Cheng says many of the movement's leaders were educated in Hong Kong's Christian missionary schools, which helped shape their beliefs.
CHENG: There is this Christian spirit. You're more willing to suffer. Social justice means more to you. Willingness to sacrifice for a just cause means more to you.
LANGFITT: And those same leaders have also shown a greater willingness to take on China's Communist Party, demand genuine democratic elections here for the next chief executive.
CHENG: Christians all over the world tend to be distrustful of the Communist parties (laughter), naturally. I mean, if you are a Christian in China, if you're a Christian in Hong Kong, you know that the Chinese Communist regime has been suppressing Christianity.
LANGFITT: David Zweig, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, is a long-time political observer. He says the Communist Party must be eying the Christian connection warily.
DAVID ZWEIG: Well, they see any religion that has an alternative explanation for the future, that has an organizational capacity, as a threat.
LANGFITT: Sing Ming is a pro-democracy activist, a Christian and a scholar. He emphasizes that the pro-democracy movement is not faith-based and that some Protestant churches oppose it.
SING MING: A number of pastors, they come out in a very high-profile manner, attacking our ability of this entire movement. And they have been politically extremely conservative in the past so actually, the local Protestant churches are quite divided.
LANGFITT: Christianity isn't the only belief system that's having some influence here in the protests.
Right now I'm out in the gritty neighborhood of Mong Kok. There's still a large occupation, a big tent in the middle of an intersection. And up here at the end of the street, there's a big barricade made of bamboo and someone has set up a shrine to an ancient Chinese general.
KEVIN TSANG: It's kind of a god of war, loyalty and brotherhood.
LANGFITT: Kevin Tsang is a nurse and one of the hundreds protesting today in the neighborhood.
TSANG: So the gangsters and the police both worshiped this God for - to get protection from it.
LANGFITT: The same gangsters that protesters say attacked them last week, they believe on behalf of the government. And the same police who fired tear gas at them. Tsang says protesters are trying to send a message - that general, he's on our side.
TSANG: We want this god to punish whoever tries to hurt the unarmed citizens.
LANGFITT: And if that doesn't work, they build another shrine and another barricade with a picture of Jesus and an open Bible.
Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Hong Kong. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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