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Hong Kong businesses vow to strike as anger over extradition bill grows Hong Kong leader warns against 'radical action' as businesses vow to strike
(about 7 hours later)
Scores of Hong Kong businesses have vowed to shut down as anger builds over government plans to push through a law allowing extraditions to China despite a huge weekend protest. Hong Kong’s top political leader has urged people to refrain from “radical actions” as small businesses geared up for a one-day shutdown and groups call for a boycott of work and classes to protest against a proposed extradition law.
The financial hub was rocked by a huge rally on Sunday – the largest since the city’s 1997 return to China – as vast crowds called on the city’s leaders to scrap the Beijing-backed plan. The bill, which will allow mainland China to pursue fugitives as well as government critics in the former British colony, is due for a second round of debate on Wednesday in the 70-seat Legislative Council, which is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers.
Many are fearful that the proposal will tangle people up in the mainland’s opaque courts and hammer Hong Kong’s reputation as an international business hub. Despite a huge protest march on Sunday that drew hundreds of thousands of people, the chief executive, Carrie Lam, said she remained determined to pass the controversial law.
What are the Hong Kong protests about?What are the Hong Kong protests about?
Organisers said more than a million hit the streets but the record crowds have failed to sway chief executive Carrie Lam who has rejected calls to withdraw or delay the bill. Many at the protest on Sunday, from young parents pushing prams to retirees on walking sticks, express worries that the civil rights and freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kong under the “one country two systems” arrangement will be quickly eroded under the new law as China often uses non-political crimes to prosecute its critics.
On Wednesday the proposed law will have its second and third readings in the city’s parliament, which is dominated by Beijing loyalists, making its passing all but assured. “To oppose this bill, some have called for radical actions,” Lam said in a media briefing, referring to the clashes between protesters and police outside the legislature shortly after midnight on Monday, after a largely peaceful, nine-hour protest.
Protest groups have vowed to stage a fresh rally outside parliament that day and have urged people to join or to go on strike. “No civilised society would want to see youngsters being pushed to the frontline to take radical actions,” she said. “I urge schools, parents, organisations, corporations and unions to think about this carefully – if they call for radical acts, what good would it do for Hong Kong society and our youth?”
Business owners have taken to social media using a hashtag that translates as “612strike” – referring to 12 June, the date of Wednesday’s bill readings – to announce solidarity closures, allowing staff to join the protest. Lam’s admonishment underscored the government’s anxiety about the unpopular bill, as hundreds of small businesses across Hong Kong pledged to close on Wednesday while unions as well as parents and teachers’ groups called for a boycott of work and classes so that people could join a protest outside the legislature.
A large chunk are small businesses that are a key part of the city’s economy, but which often eschew the city’s raucous street politics. The businesses are mostly small retailers such as cafes, book and grocery shops, travel agencies, florists, small hotels, but also include tutorial schools, publishers, interior design and IT shops, opticians, and dental and medical clinics.
By Tuesday morning, more than 100 businesses had declared plans to strike, ranging from coffee shops and restaurants to camera stores, toy shops, nail salons, yoga studios and even an adult entertainment store. The pro-democracy Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union called on members to join the protest on Wednesday and urged schools to allow teachers time off. Student unions of seven universities and colleges also said they would boycott classes and join the protest.
“Hong Kong was built by our various generations with hard work,” wrote Meet Yoga studio on its Instagram account. “A Hong Kong without freedom – how about we just wipe it off the map entirely and call it China?” The Hong Kong aviation industry gathered 1,700 employees’ signatures in an online petition to demand its union initiate a strike to urge the retraction of the “evil” law amendment, while the union of the New World First Bus Company condemned the government for ignoring citizens’ voices and urged its drivers to drive slowly on Wednesday. The pro-democracy Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, which has 190,000 members, also urged its members to stay off work for the day.
In anticipation of large protests, the secretariat of the Legislative Council told lawmakers in a memo on Tuesday that it has closed the designated protest area outside its building due to “high risk” that it will be stormed by protesters during upcoming meetings on the extradition bill.
Several churches will hold meetings to pray for the city’s leadership and peace for Hong Kong.
An online petition called for 50,000 people to surround the legislature at 10pm (1400 GMT) Tuesday and stay until Wednesday morning, when the debate over the law is scheduled to resume.
The legislature’s chairman, president Andrew Leung, told a media briefing on Tuesday that he would limit lawmakers’ debate on the extradition bill to 66 hours, meaning that the bill could be put to a vote on 20 June, reported Radio Television Hong Kong.
'The last fight for Hong Kong': activists gear up over extradition law'The last fight for Hong Kong': activists gear up over extradition law
One owner of a floral accessories store added: “I’m a Hong Kong girl who doesn’t know politics and finds pleasure in the small things of life. But even I know politics actually affects all aspects of our lives.”
Lawyer Michael Vidler said he would allow his 12 employees to “act in accordance with their conscience” and go on strike.
The proposed law would allow extraditions to any jurisdiction with which it does not already have a treaty – including mainland China.
Hong Kong’s leaders say it is needed to plug loopholes and to stop the city being a sanctuary for fugitives.
They say safeguards are in place to ensure human rights standards are upheld and that political critics of Beijing will not be targeted.
But many Hong Kongers have little faith in those assurances after years of political unrest caused by heightened fears a resurgent Beijing is trying to quash the city’s unique freedoms and culture.
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