How mild mannered protest in Hong Kong is rocking China

The Chinese press is branding the protesters extremists and agents of chaos and disruption – but I have rarely seen such a mild mannered mass protest.

“@mattfrei: The Molotov Cocktails of the umbrella revolution pic.twitter.com/mC5xHQaUQ8” #HongKong

— Steven Wilson (@DrStevenWilson) October 1, 2014

You can’t move on the streets of Central Hong without rubbish collection or recycling units. This is what terrifies Beijing: the orderly, patient, civic protest that won’t go away.

I met Ken, a forty something businessman who told me he had never done this sort of thing before. He was helping students move a barricade.

Read more: Hong Kong’s protesters are digging in for the long haul

The very fact that students and protesters are allowed to control public order on the streets of a major Chinese city will send shivers down Beijing spines.

Another thing that will vex them us the Sing family from mainland China taking their kids to see the demo. “It’s about their future,” the dad told me.

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