Petitioning to Beijing a show for sympathy

Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) leader Alex Chow and two fellow Occupy Central activists declared on Thursday that they planned to travel to Beijing on Saturday, hoping to meet Premier Li Keqiang and officials of the National People's Congress and tell them the "real public opinions" in Hong Kong.

The new move, after more than six weeks of protests to demand "free elections" of the next Hong Kong chief executive in 2017, is widely seen as the HKFS' tactics to win more attention with a fresh stimulation.

Two weeks ago, the HKFS vowed to send people to Beijing during the APEC summit to express their ideas, though they changed their mind later.

As for the latest plan, many observers in Hong Kong said the central government is unlikely to meet the three student activists, they may probably not be able to cross customs at Beijing airport. This prediction makes sense, and we will support the authorities dealing with such "petition" attempts this way.

The central government has made it clear that the HKFS occupation of Hong Kong's central business area is illegal. It has ample reasons to reject the activists' petitioning.

The HKFS activists are clear that their plan is just a show. They know they might not be able to enter Beijing, or if they do enter, they are unlikely to meet the State leaders. But they continue the show just to create an atmosphere of martyrdom. If the three activists were arrested by authorities in Beijing, it could be a successful climax to the show - there might be a sympathetic outpour in Hong Kong if that would happen.

These activists may be too naïve. Do they really know who they are and whom they can represent? How can they meet whomever they want in Beijing?

The Occupy Central movement has failed. The HKFS has no way to attract attention but to put out alternative or shocking new "creations."

As long as the mainland does not provide a stage for the HKFS' show, their sobbing cries to the Hong Kong media will be useless.

The Occupy movement is a good lesson to Hong Kong society and all Chinese people. In the beginning it appeared to be an inflated balloon believing itself able to fly high. But the moment it bursts, it is merely a piece of plastic on the ground, with no one interested in paying attention or picking it up.

It is time for Occupy Central to end. The young people who were involved in it should take a second look at the rise and fall of the whole movement, realizing how they have become puppets and fallen into the turmoil of other people's political games.