Students indignant over video that shows them supporting political reform

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A video showing students supporting the government's plans for political reform has been made public online, without their consent

By staff reporter |
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The students are shown in the Facebook clip in which they appear to promote the proposal for electoral reform.

Students are outraged that the Federation of Hong Kong Guangxi Community Organisations published a video of them supporting the political reform online.

Ming Pao Daily reported a teacher saying their student felt "tricked" and their remarks had been distorted in the video. The student didn't want to go to school after learning the video was made public.

The video has been taken down from the Federation's YouTube channel after three of the seven students, aged 14-17, asked that it be deleted. But the video can still be seen on the Facebook page of Occupy Central Does Not Represent Me. It has been shared more than 800 times from the page to mixed comments. Some accuse the students of "betraying their integrity", saying they "make me want to vomit", while others praised them for their "bravery".

The video was taken on April 25 during an interview for a free exchange trip to the United States. The students, some of whom were in uniform, argued in the video that "it's a big step forward to have universal suffrage" and "if we reject this proposal we'll have to wait a long time for the next chance", with some saying "the government will be professional in choosing a candidate".

Ming Pao reported that a student had called in after the interview and was assured that the video would not go public. Federation chairman Tang Ching-ho said videotaping the students was an effort to collect opinions on political reform. They decided to put the video online because of its "reference value". Of the 31 students interviewed, Tang said eight supported the political reform package.

The federation has selected six students to participate in their exchange programme, but has declined to reveal if any of them were in the video.

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