Chater Garden was packed with protesters once more tonight
So too was the adjacent Chater Road...
So was Jackson Road and the area around the Cenotaph (though
most people did make a point to stay off the surrounding green)
I went once more to Chater Garden for a protest rally this evening. The Stand With Hong Kong; Power to the People was co-organized by university students and "Stand with Hong Kong Task Force" as the Hong Kong leg of a series of 28 events scheduled to take place over this weekend in different parts of the world (including Melbourne and Adelaide, where pro-China counter-protesters turned up and made themselves look pretty ugly).
I have to be honest: I actually wasn't planning to attend the rally until I read that it didn't appear to be attracting the crowds that previous protest rallies at Chater Garden had done. (One reason is that it's not the only anti-extradition bill protest event taking place over the next few days by a long chalk.) But after making a last minute decision to lend a body to the cause this evening, I actually found not only Chater Garden packed to the brim when I got there but a good part of the surrounding area too, with the protest crowd having spilled onto nearby Chater Road, Jackson Road and more!
After this past Tuesday's airport mishaps, there was talk that the current protest movement had lost steam. Judging from the attendance at tonight's rally (which the organizers estimated to have topped up at 60,000), I'm thinking not. Also, it really does seem to be the case that whenever protester fatigue threatens, something or other will happen that gets people angry and/or reminds them of the current, imperative need to stand up for Hong Kong once more!
Today, one big trigger event was the news of the shock resignation of Hong Kong flagship carrier Cathay Pacific's CEO, Rupert Hogg -- which, seeing as it was announced by China's state-controlled media before Cathay Pacific officially came out with it, points to it having been ordered by Beijing. Also causing quite the stir has been the large ads put in local newspapers by Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing; this all the more so as one of them appears to contain within it the following hidden message: 因果由國，容港治己 -- a loose English translation of which is: "The country decides the consequences, let Hong Kong rule itself"!
3 comments:
So, without being explicit, businessman Li Ka-shing is sympathetic to the protesters, and he wants the fight for local control to continue, but he doesn't want the violence to escalate? I'm a bit confused....
Good you turned out in the streets again, YTSL! L
P.S. In general, how do you think the businesses of Hong Kong, many of which are conducting business in the Mainland, should handle PR around the cause? L again.
Hi L --
There are many interpretations as to what Li Ka-shing wants. The official line is that he wants people to love one another and be peaceful. The unofficial/coded message line is that he wants that but also self-determination for Hong Kong. Then there are those who think he's being two-faced/wanting to appear to be on everybody's side -- though searches for "Li Ka Shing" currently not being allowed on Weibo should make clear what pro-Beijingers think of him!
As for your question re those Hong Kong businesses conducting business in the Mainland: I know they have to tread softly but they should realize that they are among those that stand to benefit from the extradition bill being withdrawn (or, at the very least, not being allowed to become law). So you'd think they'd display more backbone -- publically as well as privately...
Post a Comment