Smaller crowd turns out for protest over China’s stance

Protesters marched in Hong Kong on Monday against suppression by Beijing amid mounting fear that freedom in the partially autonomous city is under threat.

Official numbers were way down on last year’s event with organisers estimating 1,500 had turned out, compared with tens of thousands in 2017.

But an AFP journalist at the scene estimated slightly higher, although crowds on Monday looked smaller than the previous year’s.

The pro-democracy protest came a week after Hong Kong banned a pro-independence party on the grounds that it was a threat to national security, the first time a political party has been prohibited since the city was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

The emergence of an independence movement calling for Hong Kong to split from China has incensed Beijing as it emphasises the importance of territorial integrity and has led to a crackdown on political expression.

Leading pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong said he feared his party, Demosisto, could be next because it promoted self-determination for Hong Kong.

“We need to protect and defend the freedom of association in Hong Kong,” Wong, 21, said at the rally.

Police initially blocked independence supporters from entering the square at the end point of the march, but the crowd pushed through.

The pro-democracy protest is held every October 1, China’s National Day, which marks the communist party’s establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

But despite the dissatisfaction of many residents’ with China’s growing influence, the numbers attending Hong Kong’s traditional street protests have shrunk since massive 2014 prodemocracy rallies failed to secure any reform from Beijing.

Yuet Wong, a 21-year-old student, said that there was a sense of powerlessness among young people, particularly after the disqualification of elected pro-democracy legislators, but she also that she was still motivated to come out.

“Even if we can’t achieve anything immediately, we want to show the government we won’t be compromised and won’t be silent,” she said.

Hong Kong enjoys rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of speech, but there is mounting fear that those are being eroded.

THE EMERGENCE OF A MOVEMENT CALLING FOR HONG KONG TO SPLIT FROM CHINA HAS INCENSED BEIJING