香港学民思潮召集人黄之锋《纽约时报》撰文称要夺回香港未来

2014-10-30

美国当地时间10月29日，《纽约时报》网站刊登香港“学民思潮”召集人黄之峰的文章《重夺香港未来》，该文还将于明天刊登在《国际纽约时报》印刷版（原名《国际先驱论坛报》，《纽约时报》旗下报纸，观察者网注）。10月份刚满18周岁的黄之锋在文章中解释青年人参与占领运动的前因后果，称不论占领运动结果如何，他们也会夺回属于他们的民主，因为时间站在年轻人的一方。

据观察者网此前报道，黄之锋被曝是美国一手栽培的“政治新星”，与美国驻港官方机构的关系密切。“占中”集会中，黄之锋一直在鼓动中学生罢课，并极力支持香港“学联”的“升级行动”，曾因袭警被捕。

黄之锋（资料图）

黄之锋声称，香港市民走上街头，是为了有自由选择自己领袖的权利。他表示，当自己被拘留46小时后，他被香港市民自发占领感动，亦意识到这个城市已经永不一样，不再是一个金钱城市。

文章说，人大的831决定，意味着北京决定让香港的富人及其关系网继续寡头垄断，普选成为了港人破碎的梦想。然而，香港的青年人不甘于就此认命，所以从来没有放弃占领的打算。倘若香港变成一个没有资讯自由、法治的地方，无异于任何一座中国城市，90后将会损失最深，而他认为北京与梁振英政府，正试图偷取香港青年人的未来。

部分年纪较长的香港人，认为稳定的工作、生活比政治更加重要；他们营营役役、努力工作，为的只是安逸及稳定的生活。然而，90后追求更多，他们认为活在一个先进都市，应该有决定自己未来的权利。然而，部分香港年轻人现在连生活稳定也难以做到。因为香港的租金楼价高踞不下，贫富悬殊更日益严重。黄之锋表示，他们这一代，随时是首代香港人将生活得比上一代差。

该文于《纽约时报》的页面截图

他表示，父母在遭到“有心人士”的骚扰下，仍能尊重他的决定是他的幸运。然而，不少年轻人为了抗争，被逼欺骗自己的父母。青年人这种一往无前的抗争精神，在高铁事件萌芽，国教事件发展，终于来到今日被逼遍地开花。人大决定的唯一好处，是让香港人知道应该站在何方，由旁观者变成抗争者。

黄之锋最后指出，有人认为要求真普选不可能成功，但抗争就是为了将不可能变成可能。香港的管治团队最终会尽失民心，失去管治能力，因为年轻人都不在他们的一方。他表示，自己已经做好入狱的心理准备，但只要香港能成为更好、更公平的地方，他愿意付出这个代价。

黄之锋最后向管治者发出呼吁，今天他们可以剥夺青年人的未来，但总有一天未来会由他们掌握。不论占领运动结果如何，他们也会夺回属于他们的民主，因为时间站在年轻人的一方。

黄之锋也曾登上过《时代》封面

下页附英文原文

Taking Back Hong Kong’s Future

By JOSHUA WONG CHI-FUNGOCT. 29, 2014

HONG KONG — Tuesday night marked one month since the day Hong Kong’s police attacked peaceful pro-democracy protesters with tear gas and pepper spray, inadvertently inspiring thousands more people to occupy the streets for the right to freely elect Hong Kong’s leaders.

I was being detained by the police on that day, Sept. 28, for having participated in a student-led act of civil disobedience in front of the government’s headquarters. I was held for 46 hours, cut off from the outside world. When I was released, I was deeply touched to see thousands of people in the streets, rallying for democracy. I knew then that the city had changed forever.

Since the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, less than a year after I was born, the people of this city have muddled through with a political system that leaves power in the hands of the wealthy and the well-connected. Many of us, especially people of my generation, had hoped democratic change was finally coming after years of promises from Beijing that we would eventually have free elections. Instead, in late August, Beijing ruled that Hong Kong’s oligarchy will remain in charge. Universal suffrage became a shattered dream.

But not for long. The thousands of protesters, most of them young, who continue to occupy main areas of the city are showing every day how political change will eventually come: through perseverance. Our peaceful democracy demonstration has demolished the myth that this is a city of people who care only about money. Hong Kongers want political reform. Hong Kongers want change.

My generation, the so-called post-90s generation that came of age after the territory was returned to China, would have the most to lose if Hong Kong were to become like just another mainland Chinese city, where information is not freely shared and the rule of law is ignored. We are angry and disappointed that Beijing and the local administration of Leung Chun-ying are trying to steal our future.

The post-90s generation is growing up in a vastly changed city from that of our parents and grandparents. Earlier generations, many of whom came here from mainland China, wanted one thing: a stable life. A secure job was always more important than politics. They worked hard and didn’t ask for much more than some comfort and stability.

The people of my generation want more. In a world where ideas and ideals flow freely, we want what everybody else in an advanced society seems to have: a say in our future.

Our bleak economic situation contributes to our frustrations. Job prospects are depressing; rents and real estate are beyond most young people’s means. The city’s wealth gap is cavernous. My generation could be the first in Hong Kong to be worse off than our parents.

My parents are not political activists. But over the past few months, because of my prominent role in the protest movement, my family’s home address has been disclosed online, and my parents have been harassed. Despite the aggravation, my parents respect my choice to participate in the demonstrations. They give me freedom to do what I believe is important.

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Other young people are not so lucky. Many teenagers attend our protests without their parents’ blessing. They return home to criticism for fighting for democracy, and many end up having to lie to their parents about how they are spending their evenings. I’ve heard stories of parents deleting contacts and social media exchanges from their teenage children’s mobile phones to prevent them from joining activist groups.

My generation’s political awakening has been simmering for years. Nearly five years ago, young people led protests against the wasteful construction of a new rail line connecting Hong Kong to mainland China. In 2011, many young people, myself included, organized to oppose a national education program of Chinese propaganda that Beijing tried to force on us. I was 14 at the time, and all I could think was that the leaders in Beijing have no right to brainwash us with their warped view of the world.

If there is anything positive about the central government’s recent decision on universal suffrage, it’s that we now know where we stand. Beijing claims to be giving us one person, one vote, but a plan in which only government-approved candidates can run for election does not equal universal suffrage. In choosing this route, Beijing has showed how it views the “one country, two systems” formula that has governed the city since 1997. To Beijing, “one country” comes first.

I believe the August decision and the Hong Kong police’s strong reaction to the protesters — firing more than 80 canisters of tear gas into the crowds and using pepper spray and batons — was a turning point. The result is a whole generation has been turned from bystanders into activists. People have been forced to stand up and fight.

Today, there are many middle school students active in the pro-democracy movement: Students as young as 13 have boycotted classes, while teenagers of all ages have been staying overnight at the protest sites. They protest gracefully, despite being attacked by police and hired thugs.

Some people say that given the government’s firm stance against genuine universal suffrage, our demands are impossible to achieve. But I believe activism is about making the impossible possible. Hong Kong’s ruling class will eventually lose the hearts and minds of the people, and even the ability to govern, because they have lost a generation of youth.

In the future I may be arrested again and even sent to jail for my role in this movement. But I am prepared to pay that price if it will make Hong Kong a better and fairer place.

The protest movement may not ultimately bear fruit. But, if nothing else, it has delivered hope.

I would like to remind every member of the ruling class in Hong Kong: Today you are depriving us of our future, but the day will come when we decide your future. No matter what happens to the protest movement, we will reclaim the democracy that belongs to us, because time is on our side.

Joshua Wong Chi-fung is a co-founder of the student activist group Scholarism. This article was translated from the Chinese for The New York Times.