Hilary Wong

Thursday, October 09, 2014

The former head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun has again called on students to retreat, saying they are "walking on the wrong way" and hijacking Occupy Central.

Zen said students should hand over the running of the campaign to the Occupy Central trio whose duty it was to force the government to rewrite a political report to Beijing.

"Retreat immediately, the faster the better. What do you want to get until you decide to retreat?" he asked. "The resignation of the CE? If the CE does not resign and Beijing continues to support him, how long do you want to wait?"

He said Occupy Central planned well from the start with meetings, forums and a walkathon kicked off earlier at the request of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, causing the present situation where there is no clear leader.

"How can a war be won without a leader? Is boldness the only key to winning? How long are you going to drag this?" he asked.

In a joint statement, the federation and Occupy Central said: "We understand the cardinal's kind reminder and intentions and wholly thank him for his concern for the students' personal safety. We agree with him when he says the Leung Chun-ying government is toying with the students, that it is crazy, barbaric and unreasonable.

"However, we believe the bulk of the responsibility for the current situation lies with the government."

Original post:
Zen warns students to retreat from wrong path