HKU students raised US flags in campus and sang the country’s anthem to appeal for American support for the HK democracy act at HKU. 20SEP19 / Winson Wong
University of Hong Kong students wave American flags and march in appeal for US to pass Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act
In a bid to urge Washington to support a bill that could pave the way for diplomatic action and economic sanctions against the city’s government.
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The bill, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, is currently under review by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Beijing, meanwhile, has warned against efforts to “disrupt Hong Kong with foreign support”.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday threw her support behind the bill and said she would bring it to a vote “as soon as possible”.
During the HKU march on Friday, a group of around 50 students held pro-American banners and chanted “Resist Beijing! Liberate Hong Kong!”.
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Some protesters appealed directly to President Donald Trump. One placard read “make Hong Kong great again” – a reference to Trump’s campaign slogan – and others called for the US president to immediately sign the bill into law if it should pass through the House.
“We are extremely grateful for the bipartisan support for the democracy act. We are forever in debt to you all, ” said a student who gave his name as Martin in a prepared statement. Martin said the crowd used the American flag and national anthem because they are “freedoms and human rights that surpass country borders”.
Anti-Beijing banners were also present at the rally, including one that said “God kill the Chinese Community Party”. An event organiser who gave his name as Derek said the anti-Communist Party sentiment was because many in the crowd believed the “authoritarian” party had put the city “in a humanitarian crisis”.
American School Hong Kong
“What we are pursuing is merely the five demands, with the universal suffrage being a root cause of the crisis, ” he said. “The US flag and anthem are symbols of freedoms and human rights.”
He was referring to four requests that remain unmet since Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor acceded to one by withdrawing the extradition bill. The others include launching an independent inquiry into police conduct during the protests and the implementation of universal suffrage.
Li believed the US bill might have put pressure on Beijing because it would permit the US to sanction Chinese officials deemed responsible for “undermining basic freedoms in Hong Kong”.
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Posters on University of Hong Kong campus denounce the alleged treatment of protesters at San Uk Ling Holding Centre. Photo: Winson Wong
An American named Rob, who has been in the city for a month following the protests, said he found it ironic for students to appeal to Trump, whom he called “a mentally ill person” and “a very, very sick human being”.
“The US society is also being serious threatened in a fundamental way because of the political division taking place in the America, ” said Rob, who travelled to HKU to attend the rally.
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Even so, he said he understood the fears among Hong Kong protesters over Beijing’s alleged encroachment on civil liberties in Hong Kong.
Separately, posters claiming that protesters had been raped and tortured in San Uk Ling Holding Centre were plastered all over the HKU campus.
The holding centre in Sheung Shui has been the subject of controversy after 31 of 54 protesters arrested on August 11 and detained there were later hospitalised, six with fractured bones.Protesters wave American flags as they march from Chater Garden to the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong, Sept. 8, 2019, to call on the U.S. to pressure Beijing to meet their demands.
Video Thousands Of Protesters Wave American Flags In Hong Kong
Thousands of students formed human chains outside schools across Hong Kong on Monday to show solidarity after violent weekend clashes between police and activists pushing for democratic reforms in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
The silent protest came as the Hong Kong government condemned the illegal behavior of radical protesters” and warned the U.S. to stay out of its affairs.
Thousands of demonstrators held a peaceful march Sunday to the U.S. Consulate to seek Washington's support, but violence erupted hours later in a business and retail district as protesters vandalized subway stations, set fires and blocked traffic, prompting police to fire tear gas.
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Hong Kong's government agreed last week to withdraw an extradition bill that sparked a summer of protests, but demonstrators want other demands to be met, including direct elections of city leaders and an independent inquiry into police actions.
Protesters in their Sunday march appealed to President Donald Trump to “stand with Hong Kong” and ensure Congress passes a bill that would impose economic sanctions and penalties on Hong Kong and mainland China officials found to suppress democracy and human rights in the city.
Hong Kong's government expressed regret over the U.S. bill, known as the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. It said in a statement Monday that “foreign legislatures should not interfere in any form in the internal affairs” of Hong Kong.
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The government said it was “very much in Hong Kong's own interest to maintain our autonomy to safeguard our interests and advantages under the `one country, two systems' principle” introduced when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week said Congress looks forward to “swiftly advancing” the Hong Kong bill because the city deserves real autonomy and freedom from fear.
The unrest has become the biggest challenge to Beijing's rule since it took over Hong Kong, and is an embarrassment to its ruling Communist Party ahead of Oct. 1 celebrations of its 70th year in power. Beijing has slammed the protests as effort by criminals to split the territory from China, backed by what it said were hostile foreigners.
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Trump has suggested it's a matter for China to handle, though he also has said that no violence should be used. Political analysts suggest his response was muted to avoid disrupting talks with China over their tariff war.
High school and university students across Hong Kong held hands on Monday, following similar protests last week, forming long human chains that snaked into the streets outside their schools. They were joined by many graduates wearing the protesters' trademark black tops and masks.
Many also rallied against what they viewed as excessive use of force by police, with one student carrying a placard that read “Stop violence, we are not rioters.”
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Anger was fueled over the weekend after images of a youth being bloodily beaten up by riot police at a subway station were widely shared on social media. The boy, who didn't fight back, was pinned to the floor and appeared unconscious under a pool of blood.
Police public relations chief Tse Chun-chung said Monday that police have received complaints about the case and are investigating. He said police were doing their best to handle escalating violence, with “radical” protesters attacking police and trying to snatch their weapons. He said 157 people had been detained since Friday.
Hong Kong journalists, some wearing helmets and gas masks, complained at the police briefing Monday that riot police had used pepper spray and threatened media personnel covering the weekend clashes.
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Wong, a leader of Hong Kong's 2014 pro-democracy protest movement, was among several people held last month and charged with inciting people to join a protest in June. His prosecution comes after his release from prison in June for a two-month sentence related to the 2014 protests.
Wong, who visited Taiwan last week, told reporters before he flew off to Germany and then the U.S. that he would continue to raise global awareness about Hong Kong's fight for democratic reforms.
“We hope that the conflict there will be de-escalated bit by bit, but without that entailing the rights people are entitled to _ namely the right to express their opinion, including on the street _ in any way being limited, ” Maas told reporters in Berlin.Much of central Hong Kong was awash in American flags on Sunday, as tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters marched peacefully past the US consulate, imploring Congress and President Trump to support their struggle to keep Hong Kong free. Thousands of demonstrators sang the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Many held placards promoting the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a bipartisan measure on Capitol Hill to authorize sanctions on Chinese officials who suppress democracy and the rule of law in the city. Other signs directly addressed the US president: “Please liberate Hong Kong, ” they pleaded. “Defend our Constitution.”
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The Hong Kong protests have so far yielded few concessions from China, which has reneged on its 1997 vow to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years. Whether Washington is willing to get more directly involved is an open question. Trump himself has sent mixed signals. Last month, echoing the Beijing party line, he referred to the marches as “riots, ” and said it was up to China to deal with them. Yet he has also warned Chinese ruler Xi Jinping against quelling the protests with a violent crackdown.
In my view, the United States should be unambiguous in its support for democracy and
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