This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/01/hong-kong-xi-jinping-china-power-protests

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Xi Jinping: any challenge to China's power in Hong Kong 'crosses a red line' Thousands march in Hong Kong to show dissent for Chinese rule
(about 7 hours later)
Hong Kong must not be used as a launchpad to challenge Beijing’s authority and any questioning of China’s sovereignty in the territory “crosses a red line”, Chinese president Xi Jinping has said during a visit marking 20 years since the handover of the former colony. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters have marched across Hong Kong to mark the 20th anniversary of its return to Chinese control with a high-profile show of dissent.
Little more than an hour before his speech, democracy protesters were attacked by pro-China demonstrators and hauled away by police as they attempted to march on the daily flag-raising ceremony. China’s president Xi Jinping, who had been in the former British colony on a three-day tour, flew out of Hong Kong just hours before the annual protest kicked off in Victoria Park on Saturday afternoon.
“Any attempt to endanger China’s sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government and Hong Kong’s Basic Law, or use Hong Kong to carry out infiltration and sabotage activities against the mainland is an act that crosses a red line,” Xi said. “It is absolutely impermissible.” But organisers said they remained determined to let Hong Kong’s political masters in Beijing know how they felt after two decades of Chinese rule.
“We know he has gone back to Beijing but we still want to show that they cannot ignore our voice,” said Howard Cheng, 28, one of the leaders of the group that organises the rally, the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF). “He came to Hong Kong but he didn’t want to hear the real voice of the Hong Kong people.”
Cheng accused Beijing of offering “fake democracy” to Hong Kong’s 7.3 million residents. “We are here to fight for democracy and universal suffrage.”
Organisers said more than 60,000 people joined the 3km march, which has been held nearly every year since Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 .
Saturday’s rally, which will be followed by a massive pro-Beijing firework display celebrating the anniversary, kicked off at about 3.30pm local time.
A column of protestors surged eastwards from the park towards Hong Kong’s financial centre, carrying flags, banners and yellow umbrellas – the symbol of 2014’s mass protests – stamped with the words: “Power to the people”.
Many demonstrators carried messages of dissent on black and white T-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as: “Never back down”, “fight for Hong Kong,” and, more poetically, “being born in uncertain times carries certain responsibilities.”
The protesters and their leaders said they hoped to use the anniversary of Britain’s departure to voice their disgust at Beijing’s refusal to grant them genuine democracy and its alleged erosion of their autonomy and freedoms.
A series of political scandals - including the abduction of a group of local booksellers by mainland agents – have left many convinced that Beijing is preparing to take a harder line with those who question its rule over the former colony.
“We are here to tell the truth that the 20th anniversary of handover is nothing to celebrate. We still don’t have democracy. We are here to tell the world that,” Nathan Law, a local pro-democracy legislator who was among those leading the rally, told the Guardian.
Eddie Chu, a 39-year-old environmentalist and pro-democracy politician, said the rally was “the most important chance to show the power of the people”. “My message is: give us the power that we deserve,” he said.
Michelle Wang, a 58-year-old protester, had come armed with a homemade placard that read: “July 1 is no celebration”.
“One country, two systems: what a lie!” she fumed, referring to the system under which Hong Kong returned to China’s control, but with far greater freedoms than the authoritarian mainland.
“I was born in Hong Kong. I see everything changing,” Wang went on. “Year after year things are happening. We don’t want to see so much influence from mainland China. We do not have universal suffrage. Maybe we will never have it. That’s why we are so angry.”
Jaco Chow, an activist from the New School for Democracy group, said that unlike many of the marchers, the Communist party was not his main focus.
“The biggest problem is always the capitalists,” the 33-year-old said. “The Chinese Communist party is another serious problem of course. But capitalists are the real problem.”
As the crowds surged past, through Hong Kong’s Wan Chai neighbourhood, Chow declared himself a proud Corbynista. “He’s cool. I hope Hong Kong can have a political icon like Jeremy Corbyn one day. [He’s] hardcore. An old school leftist. This is what we need.”
Jason Leung a 16-year-old protestor, was marching with a poster carrying a rather different message. “Don’t walk and smoke at the same time,” it read.
“I think it is very selfish,” explained the teenager, who was at his first rally and said he had come because he wanted to experience first-hand Hong Kong’s vibrant democracy movement.
“I have no bad feelings [about China],” Leung said when asked to describe his politics. “But sometimes I hate to see the China flag on buildings. Hong Kong is not China.”
Xi Jinping was hundreds of kilometres away by the time Saturday’s protest began but he left demonstrators a clear message before his departure.
He said in an address before the protests began that Hong Kong must not be used as a launchpad to challenge Beijing’s authority and any questioning of China’s sovereignty in the territory “crosses a red line”.
Xi also said Hong Kong needed to do more to protect China’s national security and implement patriotic education programmes. Both of these issues remain deeply unpopular among city residents and previous government attempts to enact security legislation and national education sparked mass protests.Xi also said Hong Kong needed to do more to protect China’s national security and implement patriotic education programmes. Both of these issues remain deeply unpopular among city residents and previous government attempts to enact security legislation and national education sparked mass protests.
His remarks were a clear warning to increasingly vocal political factions calling for greater autonomy from China or even outright independence.His remarks were a clear warning to increasingly vocal political factions calling for greater autonomy from China or even outright independence.
Xi travelled to Hong Kong for a rare three-day visit to mark 20 years since the city was handed back to China by the UK after 156 years of colonial rule, and inaugurate the city’s new government. Xi previously inspected more than 3,100 troops in the largest show of military might since the handover in 1997 and toured the planned site of a controversial extension of a Beijing museum. “Any attempt to endanger China’s sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government and Hong Kong’s Basic Law, or use Hong Kong to carry out infiltration and sabotage activities against the mainland is an act that crosses a red line,” he said. “It is absolutely impermissible.”
Avery Ng, the chairman of the League of Social Democrats, said activists had suffered “a whole new level of intimidation and direct violence” during Xi Jinping’s visit, designed to shield the Communist party leader from dissenting voices. He said: “I urge the people of Hong Kong: do not give up... Once we give up then we will for certain slowly deteriorate into what is becoming of China today.” Little more than an hour before Xi’s speech, democracy protesters were attacked by pro-China demonstrators and hauled away by police as they attempted to march on the daily flag-raising ceremony.
In the scuffles before Xi’s speech, throngs of police quickly surrounded the pro-democracy group. Several high-profile leaders, including Joshua Wong and veteran lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, were handcuffed and taken away. Avery Ng, the chairman of the League of Social Democrats, said activists had suffered “a whole new level of intimidation and direct violence” during Xi’s visit, designed to shield the Communist party leader from dissenting voices. “I urge the people of Hong Kong: do not give up... Once we give up then we will for certain slowly deteriorate into what is becoming of China today,” he said.
The protest leaders were later released. They accused police of assaulting them while in custody. None of the attackers were detained by police. Wong, 20, said he was in a group attacked by “pro-China gangsters” and “triads” and that the police had done nothing to protect them.
He called on Hong Kong’s population to take to the streets on Saturday afternoon. “It is time for Hong Kong people to come out onto the streets to demand democracy,” he said, adding: We are just hoping to protect our basic human right to have a peaceful demonstration.”
Eddie Chu, another democracy leader, called on citizens to support those on the frontline of this week’s protests by joining today’s march. “It is very important to let these actions not be forgotten by society. The Communist party tries very hard ... to marginalise activists. If these protests are silenced then we cannot expect in the future that there will still be freedom of speech and freedom of action.”
“If Hong Kong people don’t want Hong Kong to become a police/thug state then please come out this afternoon. If we do not seize the chance to show our civic power to the world, to the Communist party and to the thugs the Hong Kong situation will definitely become even worse in the future.”
Leung called for action against what he dubbed “the pollution of thugs, police, authority and the rich”.
“I urge the Hong Kong people to come out, to gather themselves in Victoria park. We shall overcome. We will not be undermined. Let those who need to be undermined, be undermined,” he told reporters.
Xi was also in Hong Kong to swear in the city’s new leader, Carrie Lam, who was elected in a tightly controlled contest by a committee packed with Beijing loyalists. Lam echoed Xi’s sentiments, delivering her speech in Mandarin, widely spoken in mainland China but a minority language in Hong Kong.
“I will firmly take actions, in accordance with the law, against any acts that will undermine the country’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” Lam said, echoing many of the same themes as the Chinese president.
Hong Kong was allowed to maintain freedom of speech and the right to assembly after its return to China under a framework known as “one country, two systems”. The city has long been a haven for those who wish to challenge the orthodoxy on the mainland, stretching back more than 100 years to the Qing dynasty.
Sun Yat-sen, widely regarded as the father of modern China, began his political awakening as a student in Hong Kong, and eventually led the first government after the fall of the imperial system.
But Hong Kong’s freedom of expression has been under attack in recent years. Five publishers of books critical of China’s leadership disappeared in 2015 and later resurfaced in Chinese police custody in televised confessions.
Hong Kong police banned a pro-independence rally scheduled for Friday, saying it would violate the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.