to Beijing making their thoughts known at Pacific Place mall
Participants at this afternoon's protest marching past
a poster advertising this evening's protest!
By the reckoning of many (including the folks at TIME magazine), yesterday marked the 79th day since the June 9th anti-extradition bill protest march that had an estimated 1 million participants. According to the calculations of the blogger behind The Fragrant Harbour, however, this past Monday was actually the 79th day since that mega protest.
What's not in dispute though is that the anti-extradition bill protests (which have morphed into quite a bit more seemingly with each passing week) have now lasted longer than the Occupy phase of the Umbrella Movement; this particularly so when it's remembered that there were protest marches against the extradition bill back in March and April. Also, there really should be little doubt that this summer's protests are continuing to go strong; with today's goings-on providing positive proof of this.
Firstly, this afternoon saw a rally organized by trade unions to protest against the termination of civil aviation staffers for political reasons and to support their freedom of speech, particularly those working for Cathay Pacific (and its subsidiaries) that culminated in a march from Edinburgh Place in Central to the Pacific Place mall in Admiralty that is owned and operated by Swire (which also owns and operates Cathay Pacific), where people proceeded to stick post-it notes with handwritten messages along with posters made for the event.
Many, if not all, of those who took part in this particularly protest -- which is the result of Cathay Pacific heads bowing to pressure from Beijing to curb its staff from taking part in the Hong Kong protests, including by firing those who do so -- then went on to take part in another protest taking place this evening in another Central location.
Like the earlier rally, this one held in Chater Garden tonight stemmed from actions which have occured over the course of this Hong Kong summer of protests: in this case, sexual assaults by police against protesters (male as well as female). Attracting even more people to the same venue than the Stand with Hong Kong rally on August 14th, which saw participants spill into nearby streets and neighboring spaces, this one can be seen as part of the worldwide #MeToo movement -- but also is quite distinct in, among other things, this evening protesters including a good amount of men as well as women.
Still, even while these two different protest rallies had different main foci, many of the same, familiar chants could be heard at both these events. "Hong Kong yan, ga yau" (Hong Kongers, add oil.) "Gwong fuk heung gong, si doi gak ming" (Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times). "Stand for Hong Kong; fight for democracy" (this in English). And -- to affirm that they are indeed part of the protest movement that first came to the attention of many people on June 9th -- "five demands; not one less."
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