ConflictBarometer_2015

ASIA AND OCEANIA
CHINA (HONG KONG PRO-DEMOCRACY
GROUPS)
Intensity: 2 | Change: | Start: 1997
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
HKFS, Umbrella Movement vs. government,
SAR government
autonomy, system/ideology
The conflict over autonomy and the orientation of the political
system between Hong Kong pro-democracy groups, on
the one hand, and the governments of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (SAR) and the People's Republic of
China (PRC), on the other, de-escalated to a non-violent crisis.
In January, the police arrested several leaders of the socalled
Umbrella Movement for illegal protests. In 2014,
the movement had involved tens of thousands of people
protesting for democracy and the direct election of the Hong
Kong Chief Executive. On January 7, the SAR government
released the Consultation Document on the Method for Selecting
the Chief Executive by Universal Suffrage advocating
the pre-screening of candidate nominees. On January 14,
SAR Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying affirmed his loyalty to
the PRC and his support of the Consultation Document. On
February 1, a total of 2,000 police officers were deployed
to meet thousands of protesters who took to the streets for
a democratically and a directly elected leader. On April 22,
the SAR government published its proposed 2017 election
rules which would allow Beijing to pre-select candidates for
the 2017 Chief Executive election. In ensuing clashes with
protesters, the Hong Kong police used pepper spray and batons,
and arrested eight people.
On June 18, pro-democratic MPs unanimously rejected the
reform bill regarding the election of the Chief Executive by
blocking its passage. On June 19, the Hong Kong and Macao
Affairs Office of the PRC State Council stated that the rejection
of the bill hindered the realization of universal suffrage
and did not represent the opinion of Hong Kong's general
public. On June 24, the Hong Kong police peacefully dismantled
the remaining camps set up during the 2014 Umbrella
protests. On July 1, marking the 18th anniversary of Hong
Kong's return to PRC, thousands of protesters called on Leung
to resign while being opposed by pro-Beijing protesters.
On July 15, SAR authorities charged the leader of the student
organization Scholarism, Joshua Wong, with unlawful
assembly during last year's protest. One day later, the Hong
Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) and the Hong Kong University
Student Union organized a protest against Leung's
attempts to influence university councils. On August 27,
pro-democracy activists supported Joshua Wong by protesting
outside the court building. On September 28, approx.
1,000 pro-democratic protesters rallied to commemorate last
year's protests. On October 15, the seven policemen who had
beaten an activist during last year's protests were charged
with grievous bodily harm. On November 22, pro-democratic
candidates won 112 seats out of a total of 431 seats in the
district council elections. kol
CHINA (INNER MONGOLIA)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1981
Conflict parties: Mongolian ethnic minorities vs. government,
Han Chinese
Conflict items: autonomy, subnational predominance,
resources
The conflict in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR)
over land use, subnational predominance, and autonomy
between Mongolian ethnic minorities, on the one side, and
Han Chinese and the government, on the other, remained
violent. Mongolian herders staged numerous protests over
detentions of fellow herders and land use.
From January 11 to January 13, dozens of herders from
IMAR's Durbed Banner/Siziwang Qi and Sunid Banner/ Sunite
Qi staged a protest in Beijing complaining about their forced
relocation. On January 19, a Mongolian herder from Zargalant
Sum, Abag Banner/Abaga Qi hanged himself in front of the
local government building to protest against the occupation
of his grazing lands. One day later, several protests
took place in IMAR. A protest by more than 60 herders who
took to the streets in Shilinhot/Xilinguole City demanding
the return of their grazing lands from government authorities
was dispersed by the police. Furthermore, protests by
Mongolian herders also took place in front of various government
branches in the capital Beijing. On January 26,
a total of 200 police officers cracked down on a protest
by about 300 Mongolian herders from Durbed Banner and
Urad Middle Banner/Ulade Zhongqi against the occupation
of their grazing lands and arrested around 30 of them in
Hohhot/Huhehaote City. One day later, when more than 200
herders from Sunid Right Banner/Sunite Youqi protested in
Saihantal Township, the police used violence and arrested
five. On February 6, eight Mongolians were detained by the
police after protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in
Outer Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar demanding the release
of Inner Mongolian herders and the protection of their traditional
way of life. In demonstrations lasting from March 20 to
April 6, more than a thousand Mongolians protested against
the pollution of their grazing lands in Daachin-tal village,
Naiman Banner/Naiman Qi. About 2,000 policemen ended
the protest with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons,
killing one herder, injuring more than 100, and arresting
approx. 50. On May 28, more than 100 herders from Gegeenengger
village in Bairin Right Banner/Balin Youqi blocked
a construction site on a national highway that was running
through their grazing lands and were dispersed by around
40 police officers with pepper spray and electric batons. On
September 6 and 7, more than 200 herders protested against
a cut of subsidies in front of the government building in
Xilingol League/Xilinguole Meng, with many of them being
beaten and eight of them being arrested by the police later.
On September 8, more than 400 herders marched down a
highway in order to block a visit by officials to the Banner
capital Mingant Township. On October 15, police beat up and
arrested the son of a known Inner Mongolian dissident, Hada,
who had been imprisoned for 19 years. asc
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