| Updated:
Occupy Central: Disgruntled banker crashes video interview with Hong Kong protesters
Protesters striving for a more democratic Hong Kong continue to occupy the city’s streets in their droves, yet not everyone in town is behind the movement known as “Occupy Central”.
A senior J.P. Morgan Chase banker crashed a live interview with Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters to express his frustration with the occupation of parts of the region’s financial district.
A webcast interview with protesters from local tabloid Apple Daily was interrupted by David Lau, head of J.P Morgan’s China corporate finance division, who was on his way to lunch.
Lau accused the protesters of being "the most undemocratic of all".
He is quoted in reports as saying:
Hong Kong has many people who are against Occupy Central…a majority of people are against occupy. You guys continue to occupy the sites, that’s most undemocratic of all.Of course, there are those who support and those against Occupy. I just want to express the views of the silent majority.
One of the guests of the webcasts also featured founding chairman of the Democratic Party Martin Lee.
The J.P. Morgan exec may be frustrated about missing out on his lunch, but a poll from the Chinese University of Hong Kong suggest his comments about being in the majority are wide of the mark. Some 37.8 per cent of respondents to the poll said they supported the protests, while 35.5 per cent said they did not.
However, Lau’s contemporaries are more likely to be against the movement according the study. Just 28.4 per cent of people aged 40 to 59 said they supported the movement, while 62.1 per cent of 15 to 24 year olds said they were in favour of the protests.
Protesters are calling for the public nomination of candidates for the region’s chief executive in 2017 elections, in place of those hand-picked by a pro-Beijing committee.