Whereas, the Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine (ASUCI) is a student body that promotes and supports democracy, equality, and transparency; and,

Whereas, ASUCI represents students’ voices and addresses students’ concerns on behalf of the student body; and,

Whereas, there is a currently a large number of University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) students that possess Hong Kong citizenship; and,

Whereas, Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom that started in 1945 until July 1st, 1997; and,

Whereas, the United Kingdom agreed to transfer Hong Kong’s sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on July 1st, 1997; and,

Whereas, Hong Kong implemented a “one country, two systems” government starting on July 1st, 1997 and was renamed the “Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China” (HKSAR, PRC); and,

Whereas, a “one country, two systems”  policy allows HKSAR to retain its own capitalist economic and political systems while the rest of PRC uses the socialist system; and,

Whereas, a “one country, two systems” policy allows HKSAR to continue to have its own political system, legal, economic, and financial affairs, including external relations with foreign countries, while being protected by PRC’s militarized force, known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA); and,

Whereas, HKSAR operates on a governing system that is led by the Chief Executive, which is elected by a 1200-member Election Committee that consists of an electoral college that includes individuals that are selected and elected within 28 functional constituencies; and,

Whereas, democratic development in HKSAR has always been a major topic ever since the transfer of sovereignty to PRC in 1997; and,

Whereas, the electoral methods of HKSAR’s Chief Executive is decided by PRC’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC); and,

Whereas, NPCSC has resolved the timetable for universal suffrage for the 2017 Chief Executive Election, which allows NPCSC to choose the candidates for the HKSAR’s Chief Executive position; and,

Whereas, a large number of HKSAR citizens were outraged and angered by the fact that this is not universal suffrage, since HKSAR citizens can only vote for candidates that are chosen by PRC’s NPCSC prior to the election; and,

Whereas, citizens staged a peaceful protest known as Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP), originally scheduled for October 1st, 2014, to express their concerns through peaceful and legal actions by occupying the Central District of Hong Kong Island in HKSAR; and,

Whereas, HKSAR student associations, such as Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) and Scholarism, decided to launch a campaign to express their concerns for universal suffrage in the 2017 HKSAR Chief Executive Election; and,

Whereas, these HKSAR student associations launched a campaign called “922 Hong Kong Class Boycott” and encouraged high school and college students to not attend classes or school on September 22nd, 2014, which was days prior to the OCLP movement; and,

Whereas, the 922 Hong Kong Class Boycott was the first student movement in opposition towards PRC’s NPCSC’s political reform policy on universal suffrage; and,

Whereas, the 922 Hong Kong Class Boycott was extended to September 25th, 2014 and was moved to Tamar Park of the Admiralty District of HKSAR, where over 5,000 students attended; and,

Whereas, HKSAR students that participated in the boycott were unsatisfied with the current HKSAR Chief Executive CY Leung for not meeting their demands in advocating for universal suffrage to the PRC; and,

Whereas, HKSAR students decided to extend the boycott on a much larger scale on September 26th, 2014 and the boycott was moved to the plaza outside of Legislative Council Complex; and,

Whereas, an assembly was held at the square outside of the Legislative Council Complex to rally up support on September 26th, 2014; and,

Whereas, Joshua Wong, a HKSAR student, called for a strike towards the “Civic Square” and urged the students to occupy the Legislative Council Complex at 10:00pm on September 26th, 2014; and,

Whereas, emergency police was called to arrive at the scene and began to pepper spray the protesters immediately after the strike call by Joshua Wong; and,

Whereas, police brutality on students during that night shocked the HKSAR citizens and student associations; and,

Whereas, HKSAR citizens began to rally up support to show assistance and encouragements to the students that are protesting by joining the movement starting September 27th, 2014; and,

Whereas, HKSAR protesters continued to occupy the area around the Legislative Council Complex after September 26th, 2014; and,

Whereas, HKSAR citizens decided to move up the timeline and launch the OCLP movement on September 26th, 2014 after observing the police brutality on students; and,

Whereas, more than 100,000 citizens and students joined the movement to protest in support of the students by occupying areas all around HKSAR; and,

Whereas, HKSAR police began to use force in addition to pepper spraying and throwing tear gas at peaceful protesters to force the crowd to disperse; and,

Whereas, footages of HKSAR police firing on peaceful protesters are broadcasted all over the world; and,

Whereas, HKSAR police fired tear gas on first-aid stations inside the protest zones and further injuring the wounded that were being treated at these stations; and,

Whereas, HKSAR police injured hundreds of peaceful protesters by using pepper spray, tear gas, water cannons, batons, and nightsticks to disperse the crowd; and,

Whereas, the protests all around HKSAR, now known as the Umbrella Revolution, escalated to a campaign of citywide class boycotts, work boycotts, and occupying districts and areas all around HKSAR as of September 30th, 2014; and,

Whereas, supports are shown all over the world to support the students and citizens in the protest (including and not limited to: Republic of China (Taiwan), South Korea, Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia); and,

Whereas, the United States supports "universal suffrage in Hong Kong," after thousands take to the streets to protest for voting rights and democracy; and,

Whereas, at least one student from UC Irvine was injured due to the cause of police brutality in the protests; and,

Let it be resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council acknowledges the protests in HKSAR and supports universal suffrage for the 2017 Chief Executive Election in HKSAR; and,

Let it be further resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council acknowledges the damages of HKSAR police brutality in the Umbrella Revolution; and,

Let it be further resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council supports the Umbrella Revolution in HKSAR; and,

Let it be further resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council condemns HKSAR police for injuring peaceful protesters and students; and,

Let it be further resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council sends its deepest condolences to those who are affected and injured by the police in the Umbrella Revolution; and,

Let it be further resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council would work with the ASUCI Office of the Executive Vice President to raise awareness to support Hong Kong Democracy on the UC Irvine campus; and,

Let it be further resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council supports the students of Scholarism and Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) in the Umbrella Revolution; and,

Let it be finally resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council sends copies of this resolution to representatives of students in Hong Kong to demonstrate international solidarity.

Legislation passes 12-0-1. YEAS: Cody Carlson, Jennifer Lima, James Louie, Lauren Kerner, Khaalidah Sidney, TIn Hong, Cyrus Lin, Jordan Edmunds, Nick Harris, Alvin Phan, Naty Rico, John Salazar

ABSTAINS: Matthew Guevara