Hundreds of thousands of people in white shirts poured onto the streets of Hong Kong yesterday to vent their frustration at Chinese rule and challenge Beijing's refusal to allow them to elect their own leaders.
Waving green and black banners and carrying umbrellas to shield them from the blazing sun, protesters chanted "Return power to the people, fight for democracy" as they streamed through the urban canyons of the shopping district to government offices in the heart of the city kilometers away.
"I am here to tell Beijing that we want democracy, we want to elect our own chief executive," said construction worker Chan Sum-kee, 54, like many others protesting for the first time.
PHOTO: EPA
The main organizer, the Civil Human Rights Front, said two hours into the march some 350,000 people had taken part -- 50,000 above the expected turnout. The government provided no numbers.
A large turnout signaling dissatisfaction could embarrass Chinese leaders and heighten Communist Party fears about losing political control of Hong Kong.
Beijing also worries that demands for more democracy could spill over to China and undermine their one-party rule.
Pro-democracy politicians will try to wrest control of Hong Kong's top lawmaking body from pro-China supporters in legislative elections in September.
Comments yesterday suggested that many Hong Kong people were looking ahead to those polls.
A chambermaid at one of Hong Kong's top hotels along the route said she regretted not being able to join the march, and added: "Even though I can't be there today marching, I will certainly make my feelings known at the election."
Police said there were no disturbances but the intense heat took its toll, with at least one person believed to have suffered heat stroke as temperatures topped 34?C.
The demonstration, timed to coincide with the seventh anniversary of the former British colony's return to China, gave Beijing a taste of what they fear most, a mass show of public dissent.
But leading pro-democracy activists were quick to stress that what Hong Kong people wanted was more freedom under Chinese rule, not independence.
"We are here today to fight for democracy," veteran campaigner Martin Lee (李柱銘) said. "Not a single person here wants independence."
The white T-shirts symbolized hopes that China would one day offer the city greater democracy and freedoms. Other messages were more blunt.
"Hong Kong people's demands are being raped," one placard read.
Retirees and mothers carrying young children marched alongside protest veterans, highlighting the depth of feeling in favor of direct elections and dissatisfaction with China's hand-picked Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華).
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS