Stand with Hong Kong (Part 2)

#不割席 #不分化 #不篤灰 #不受傷 #不被捕 #齊上齊落 #一個都不能少

STAND WITH HONG KONG

Hong Kong G20 Open Letter 6.26.2019 Dear Readers, We were among the two million Hongkongers that took to the streets. We now ask you to join our fight in defending our freedoms and autonomy.

Reneging on its promise of “One Country, Two Systems”, Beijing has been relentlessly imposing its authoritarian rule on Hong Kong. Most recently, the Hong Kong government proposed a bill that would allow anyone to be extradited to China, a country infamous for its disrespect for the rule of law. This would threaten our fundamental freedoms and affect international businesses in Hong Kong.

We took to the streets after the police used excessive violence against peaceful protesters whom the government denounced as “rioters”.

Violating international law, the police attacked journalists, shot unmasked protesters in the face with rubber bullets and tear-gassed authorised protest areas.

We will NOT succumb to any violence used against us by our government and we will NOT accept a mere suspension of the bill. We urge our government to immediately agree to: 1) Withdraw the bill; 2) Release all arrested protesters unconditionally without the threat of future prosecution; 3) Renounce the characterisation of the 12 June protests as “riots”; 4) Appoint an independent commission to inquire into the excessive violence used by the police in the protests; and 5) Most importantly, realise our rights to elect a truly democratic government by universal suffrage.

We implore you to deliver our concerns to your governments. Please stand with us in safeguarding Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy against China’s oppression.

Yours Truly, Hong Kongers

7.1.2019 Monday

“The July 1 march is an annual event in the city, but this year’s event is expected to dwarf previous rallies as the city goes through one of the most tumultuous political periods in its recent history.

Thousands of people made their way to the city’s Victoria Park from where they marched to the Central Government Complex.”

Euan McKirdy / Aljazeera

Organizers announced 550,000 people attended.

“This a moment of desperate hope. One-quarter of Hong Kong’s population has marched against Mr. Xi’s attempt to extend the Chinese Communist Party’s absolute rule to the city. After that, how could things go back to normal? China is likely to seek revenge for our recent audacity. But punishing Hong Kongers would only unite us further.”

Lewis Lau / The New York Times

“The images of July 1, 2019, left an indelible mark on Hong Kong.

After hundreds of thousands of protesters peacefully marched on the anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China, a small group broke into the Legislative Council, ransacking the chamber before police chased them off with tear gas.

They left behind messages.”

Jodi Schneider & Elaine To / Bloomberg

“There are no rioters, only tyranny”

“Someone had blacked out Hong Kong’s emblem—a white bauhinia flower on a red background. They had torn up the Basic Law, effectively Hong Kong’s constitution, on the rostrum. Above it, someone had spray-painted over the words “The People’s Republic of China” in black. There were other graffiti messages on the walls, including, “There are no rioters, only tyranny,” a reference to the government’s announcement that an earlier demonstration, broken up by police firing rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets, constituted a riot.”s

“You taught us that peaceful protests are useless”

“But certain parts of the building, like the library, were left untouched. Notes reminded protesters not to damage fragile items such as vases on display. Protesters even left money in the fridge to pay for the soda they drank.”

Louisa Lim / The New York Times

7.1.2019 Monday pm 7.2.2019 Tuesday am

“As midnight approached on Monday, four protesters stood their ground inside legislative council building. They insisted on waiting until the police came to arrest them.

Dozens of other protesters rushed into the chamber, shouting: “Let’s leave together!”, grabbed the four they had named “the death fighters” and frogmarched them away.

Verna Yu / The Guardian

“If they don’t go, we don’t go. We’re all afraid, but we are more afraid that we won’t see those four again.”

“The extreme use of violence and vandalism by prote building over a period of time is something that we sh important than the rule of law in Hong Kong. I hope these violent acts that we have seen, it is right for us t as soon as possible.�

esters who stormed into the Legislative Council hould seriously condemn, because nothing is more the community at large will agree with us that with to condemn it and hope society will return to normal Carrie Lam / Chief Executive of Hong Kong 7.2.2019 Tuesday 4 am

“The violent storming of the Legislative Council on Ju rule of law and undermines social order...I shall stress region. Its affairs are purely China’s internal affairs. Th organization or individual in any form. We hope that Such attempts are doomed to fail.”

Gen

uly 1 is a grave illegal activity. It tramples on the s that Hong Kong is China’s special administrative They brook no interference from any country, t the UK side will cease to overreach and interfere.

ng Shuang / Foreign Ministry Spokesperson of China 7.3.2019

6.15.2019 6.29.2019 6.30.2019 7.3.2019 Rest in Power.

“Twenty minutes from the Chinese mainland, a Hong Kong community is grieving. A young life has been lost; a 21-year-old woman fell to her death last Saturday. Her suicide is one of four in the last three weeks where a note or reference has been found to the ongoing political crisis.�

Siobhan Robbins / Sky News

“How much more they have to lose than us. They have no army, no embassies, no seat at the United Nations. But for all their vulnerability, they have demonstrated the power of principled dissent. The vandalism perpetrated by a few activists during Monday’s invasion of parliament will be used by Ms. Lam and the authorities in Beijing in an effort to portray the whole movement as one of thugs and hooligans.

It will not succeed.”

Richard Lloyd Parry / The Times

7.5.2019 Friday

“Estimated 8,000 mothers attended rally in Chater Garden in Central, calling on government to listen. Dressed mostly in black, the mothers held up signs that read “withdraw the Bill”, “stop the White Terror” and “we go forward together”, in what was seen as a clear message of encouragement for the youth who say they have lost hope about the future.”

The Straits Times

7.7.2019 Sunday

“230,000 protesters took to the streets of Kowloon—the first time a rally has taken place off the main Hong Kong island—and made its way to West Kowloon, a recently opened multibillion-dollar station that links to China’s high-speed rail network.”

The Japan Times

朋友 ‚ 別離

港人 ‚ 別棄

“When the protests eventually and inevitably die down, they’re left with a gaping hole in both coverage and support, wondering what to do.

There is still a 30-year battle ahead of the city, and not every protest can be beautiful and huge: The encroaching tyranny behind these scenes can be easily forgotten. Only when oppression is fought on a day-to-day basis—with Hong Kongers exercising the few voting rights they are given, and teachers, lawyers, parents, journalists, and others all playing their part in educating the next generation—can the movement sustain itself.

If there is one scene from last month that will remain with me, it is this: how, when younger protesters told a grandmother in the rally to “add oil”, she simply replied, “大家加油”: “Everyone add oil.”

And with that, in an anxiety-ridden month that’s left so many people sleepless, other marchers and I were able to find the strength to carry on. For as long as it’ll take, even when the world stops watching.”

Karen Cheung / Foreign Policy

The hashtags on the front cover are principles that protestors upheld to unify each other during this leaderless protest.

No breaking off No blaming No snitching Don’t get hurt Don’t get arrested Stay together No one gets left behind

#不撤不散

#FreedomHK

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