Hong Kong Citizens Call for Rational Voice

Heated debate is taking place in Hong Kong surrounding the ongoing "Occupy Central" movement, as some locals organize a mass protest to block the city's financial hub to press for a direct election of the region's next chief executive in 2017.

But there're other voices and they say they are not given a fair say.

In 2007, China's National People's Congress decided that starting in 2017, Hong Kong will elect its leader "by universal suffrage", upon nomination by a broadly representative committee."

But some local organizations demand that the public be allowed to put forward candidates directly.

To back that demand, a group of scholars organize the so-called "Occupy Central" movement to paralyze the city's financial district.

Francis Lui, Deputy Dean of the Business School with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, says the movement is creating a strong division in Hong Kong.

"Opponents of the movement far outnumber the supporters. If the two groups continue to confront each other, the society will become more splitted."

At the same time, many in Hong Kong are complaining the local media is giving too much say to those who support the Occupy-Central movement.

"We've heard too much from the demonstrators in the media. This makes people feel the society is negative and in a mess. Central is the financial center in Hong Kong. Many locals buy stocks and make investments there, so if large shareholders leave Hong Kong because of the protest, we investors will lose a lot of money."

"Of course there are different opinions, but I hope they can settle the dispute peacefully. China is a country with courtesy and etiquette, so why should we have to resort to violence?"

In earlier June, China's State Council released a white paper, stressing that One Country and Two Systems are integral parts of the policy on Hong Kong. They should be treated as a whole as it's clearly explained in the Basic Law on Hong Kong.

This angered "Occupy Central" organizers, as they press for absolute self-rule. So they urged more people to join the protest.

Basic Law Committee vice-chair Elsie Leung says misunderstanding need to be cleared up about the white paper.

"Some people think the white paper indicates the central government is tightening control over Hong Kong. In fact, it is a way to review the system and see how we can move forward."

Leung also notes public nominations for the election goes against the Basic Law, which is the city's mini-constitution.

Meanwhile, a coalition of companies and business groups are also opposing the threatened sit-in.