Democracy protesters disrupted a key Chinese anniversary
Resignation of leader demanded
Charles Choi stood in the middle of another teeming protest rally Wednesday and asked what many in this restless Chinese city are thinking, yet seldom express in crowds: “Is this all we can do, walk around and ask nicely for our demands to be met?”
Then he screamed. “This isn’t enough,” he shouted, as a group of young men and women pressed closer toward him. “Everyone should be speaking for what we want, but so many are afraid of the Chinese government. This movement isn’t pushing hard enough. What do you think we can accomplish with this?”
Choi marched with thousands of Hong Kong residents, most of them students, on to a cordoned square on the central waterfront area to disrupt an official ceremony marking the People’s Republic of China’s 65th anniversary, an event that saw military helicopters fly a huge Hong Kong flag — and an even bigger Chinese flag — over jeering protesters.
People who gathered at Golden Bauhinia Square shouted epithets and raised middle fingers as the aircraft flew over them, while dozens of police officers stood behind barriers and watched.
Wednesday marked the fourth day of mass protests in Hong Kong. Parts of the city remained at a standstill as pro-democracy demonstrators stepped up their efforts and bolstered their street blockades, while increasing numbers of onlookers gathered to watch and offer support.
Raising the stakes in their standoff with the authorities, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters threatened to occupy government buildings unless the territory’s top official resigns by the end of the day Thursday.
Entire families — mothers and fathers with young children in tow — came out Wednesday, an official holiday in Hong Kong and the rest of China.
Unlike events Sunday — when police deployed tear gas and pepper spray in their unsuccessful attempts to clear the protests — peace was maintained. Demonstrators are digging in, setting up command centres well-stocked with food, water and first-aid supplies. Professional sound equipment — speakers and amplifiers — are replacing hand-held megaphones.
But tempers are fraying, as businesses caught inside protest zones start to suffer and some residents push back at the crowds.
On Tuesday night, a man drove his car straight into a protest rally in Mong Kok, a shopping district in Kowloon across the harbour from Hong Kong island. A similar incident happened Wednesday in Tsim Sha Shui, another shopping area near Mong Kok, where a small protest zone had been established. The demonstrators were “disturbing my work,” the man driving the car said.
A student protest leader apologized for any inconvenience to shoppers and business owners but said there was no turning back. Another demonstrator said the Tsim Sha Shui blockade was put up to protest mainland Chinese shoppers, who, he suggested, have taken over the neighbourhood.
Strain is also showing on people such as Choi, for whom polite resistance to Chinese authority seems futile. “The students aren’t pushing hard enough,” he yelled at the Golden Bauhinia Square rally.
An argument broke out and Choi pushed at a pair of men who tried to shout him down. Four students approached a reporter who witnessed the mild altercation and asked that he not report it. “We don’t want people to think that this represents what is happening,” one said.
Nearby, in a scene more in keeping with Chinese National Day, Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying stepped and delivered a defiant speech to impassive-looking civic leaders and Communist Party of China loyalists.
Anyone who expected Leung to make concessions to pro-democracy groups who have demanded he step down immediately from his role as Hong Kong’s political boss, a position he has held since 2012, would have been disappointed.