TOW #5 Hong Kong Protests Article analysis

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hong-kong-protests-shrink-leader-oks-talks-25935866?page=2

This article is reporting on the pro-democracy protests going on in Hong Kong China. The protesting youths hope to reverse the government’s decision to have all of the candidates, for the upcoming election in 2017, be approved by an appointed committee. Many other, visibly older, Hong Kong citizens have been trying to force the protesters off the streets, often using force, with little or no police retaliation or intervention. This article is structured to demonstrate the drastic differences between the two groups, pro-democracy and anti-democracy, and present some valid arguments and criticisms about both sides to give the reader a sense of how difficult the situation is. After the writer’s synopsis of the issue, they introduce both sides and what they are fighting for, and throughout the body of the article they alternate what side of the situation they present. The authors use any testimonies from residents of Hong Kong to give the readers an idea of how this event impacted the locals and their daily lives. The contrast in this article speaks to many of the areas of contrast in the actual event. The first is the obvious difference in opinion and political view point; the democrats want an election where they have a voice and they shape the government, and the anti-democrats want the order that the old system has provided. It also highlights the difference in age; the democrats are primarily younger voting age adults whereas the anti-democrats are mostly older. There is also a difference in tactics, the anti-democrats are very violent towards the peaceful protests of the democrats, often dragging the protesters and then beating them. This article brings in the ideas that the public is different from the protesters; while some of the public may support what the protesters stand for, the protests themselves interfere with their daily lives.