2016-07-01
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Protesters call for resignation of Hong Kong’s chief executive, July 1, 2016.
Photo courtesy of Ling Guo Li
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong on Friday to call for the resignation of the city’s chief executive Leung Chun-ying, as a bookseller recently detained by China for selling ‘banned books’ to mainland Chinese customers withdrew from the demonstration, citing fears for his personal safety.
Police later fired pepper spray at a group of demonstrators who they said had tried to shove through a security cordon outside government headquarters late on Friday, after the majority of marchers had left the scene, government broadcaster RTHK reported.
“Police have defended their decision to use pepper spray against protesters at an unauthorized demonstration late on Friday,” the station said, quoting senior police officers as saying that verbal and written warnings were issued to protesters earlier.
But RTHK reporters at the scene said protesters were trying to leave the area when they encountered a heavy police presence, and were sprayed without warning as a handful tried to push through the cordon.
“They also said no verbal warning was issued immediately before the spraying,” the station reported, adding that several journalists were also sprayed in the scuffle.
Earlier, the main crowd had gathered at Victoria Park before marching to Beijing’s representative office in the city, carrying banners and chanting slogans calling on Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying to resign.
Others marched with yellow umbrellas, a symbolic reference to a 79-day “Umbrella Revolution” in late 2014 demanding fully democratic elections.
Many of the slogans also protested the detention by Chinese police of five booksellers from the now-shuttered Causeway Bay Books store over the sale of politically sensitive titles to customers across the immigration border in mainland China.
One of the five, Lam Wing-kei, who last month led thousands in a street protest at cross-border abductions and political kidnappings, said he was being followed by unidentified individuals, and backed out of the protest after promising to play a leading role.
“He feels increasingly concerned about his own personal safety, so he made up his mind and decided not to attend,” pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Ho said. adding police had been notified.
‘A grave threat’
Many are outraged that Lam and his colleagues had been detained for breaking mainland Chinese law in Hong Kong, which was promised the continuation of its status as a separate legal jurisdiction under the terms of the city’s 1997 return to Chinese rule.
“This is a very grave threat to the safety of Hong Kong residents that an unknown force is spying on people,” pro-democracy lawmaker Cyd Ho told the rally.
“The Hong Kong government has to follow up with the central government on what’s really happening behind the scenes.”
A protester also surnamed Leung said the chief executive had to go.
“He has made a total mess of things in Hong Kong, and he should definitely step down,” she said. “If he doesn’t, then things will go from bad to worse.”
A protester who gave only a first name, Philip, agreed.
“Of course he should go. We’re not blind; we can see what’s going on here,” he said. “But I don’t think we should only focus on him; we should also focus on debating our political system.”
Departs from script
Lam, who went missing last October around the same time as four of his colleagues at Causeway Bay Books, was the fourth bookseller to return to the former British colony last month, but the first to depart from an official script dictated by Chinese police.
Lam reported being blindfolded and whisked away to an interrogation room in Ningbo as he crossed the internal immigration border into mainland China, and questioned for months, mostly about which Chinese citizens were buying books from the Causeway Bay store and its sister imprint Mighty Current.
He has criticized Beijing for “violating Hong Kong’s rights” through illegal cross-border enforcement operations, and has slammed the city’s government for failing to protect its residents.
Store manager and British passport-holder Lee Bo, 65, went missing from his workplace in Hong Kong on Dec. 30, while general manager Lui Bo (also spelled Lui Por), and colleagues Cheung Chi-ping are believed to have been detained during trips to China from their usual base in Hong Kong.
But President Xi Jinping told ruling Chinese Communist Party members in Beijing on Friday that China will continue to respect its pledge to respect the “one country, two systems” policy introduced after the city’s handover from British colonial rule
Senior Chinese official Wang Guangya, who heads the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, said the booksellers had themselves “destroyed” the one country, two systems formula by publishing banned books in mainland China.
Back in Hong Kong, a group of activists who advocate the city’s independence from China were planning an evening “black mask” protest outside China’s main representative office, Reuters reported.
But later media reports showed only dozens of journalists and police at the scene.
Eroding freedoms
Hong Kong barrister Tanya Chan said the city’s traditional freedoms have been eroded in the four years since Leung took office.
But she rejected calls by a minority of activists for independence for the city.
“Hong Kong doesn’t have the right legal, economic, or political conditions in place for independence,” Chan said. “Our autonomy is protected under an international treaty.”
The Hong Kong government said on Friday that it has written to Beijing officials to “reflect its concern” over the Causeway Bay booksellers, and that the officials had agreed to discuss future “cross-border notifications.”
It added: “The Hong Kong Police Force has met with Lam Wing-kei and recorded a statement. The Police will study the information provided by Mr. Lam and take appropriate follow-up action.”
Meanwhile, in Beijing, Xi told a gathering of Communist Party members on the party’s 95th anniversary that Hong Kong will continue to enjoy a high degree of autonomy and that Beijing will strictly follow the law.
Friday’s protests have been a long-running tradition in Hong Kong, marking as they do the anniversary of the 1997 handover, and some reports said the crowds were slightly smaller than in previous years.
Organizers said 110,000 took part in total, while police gave a typically lower estimate of 19,000 people on the march.
