2014-12-19
China's president Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan are greeted by officials upon arrival at Macau International Airport, Dec. 19, 2014.
EyePress News
Umbrellas and pro-democracy activists were unwelcome in Macau on Friday as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the former Portuguese enclave to mark the 15th anniversary of its return to rule by Beijing.
Journalists and visitors waiting at the Macau International Airport were provided with raincoats and asked not to hold umbrellas as Xi landed, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong, where more than 10 weeks of pro-democracy protests have recently ended.
Umbrellas, yellow ones in particular, became the symbol of the Occupy Central movement for fully democratic elections in 2017 after protesters used them to ward off tear gas and pepper spray attacks from riot police on Sept. 28, bringing hundreds of thousands of citizens out onto the streets in the days that followed.
Activists colored in yellow a publicity photo of Xi holding an umbrella on an official visit last year, and the resulting cardboard cut-out became a key feature of the democracy movement's "Umbrella Square" on a main highway near government offices in Admiralty district.
A handful of activists, including some of those involved in launching the Occupy Central movement, tried to approach Xi's accommodation in Macau holding yellow umbrellas, while 14 others were turned away at the city's border with umbrellas and banners calling for universal suffrage.
The group, led by League of Social Democrats chairman and lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, known by his nickname "Long Hair," raised their yellow umbrellas on arrival at the Macau ferry terminal, but were denied entry on the basis of "strong evidence" that they would affect public safety in the city.
"Of course we wanted to take our protest to Macau; it's up to them whether or not they let us in," Leung told RFA. "But we have the right to express our opinions."
Leung said it wasn't the first time that Occupy activists had been denied entry to the city, however.
"During the Umbrella Movement of the past two months, a lot of people have been denied entry by Macau police," he said. "But it seems as if Macau's blacklist is having its greatest effect now that such a powerful personage as Xi Jinping is visiting."
Officials 'nervous'
Democratic lawmaker Au Kam San, one of just three pro-democracy legislators in the city, said the Macau government is clearly nervous.
