2 Million Hongkongers Hit the Streets in Black

Admiralty was completely clogged with protesters late last night

Hours before I boarded my plane to fly back to Vancouver, three of my friends asked me if I would be participating in the protest march on Sunday.

I was disappointed to again miss an historic march -- on June 9 when 1.03 million people came out onto the streets demanding the withdrawal of the extradition bill, and then this past Sunday, June 16, when an unprecedented 2 million marched from Causeway Bay to government headquarters in Tamar, Admiralty.

Although Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had announced the day before that the extradition bill was suspended indefinitely, two in seven Hongkongers demanded that she step down. They were also protesting the excessive force by the police in handling protesters on June 12.

Practically everyone was dressed in black for the march

At the airport gate just before embarking on the plane, I was constantly checking social media and was stunned by the images of so many people wearing black T-shirts and clogging up MTR stations to get to the starting point.

It was only after I landed over 12 hours later did I find out 2 million people had participated in the march, and that entire streets were flooded with people protesting. Some even stayed behind to occupy the thoroughfare in Admiralty overnight, though the numbers were quite sparse. The die-hard protesters were disappointed more people didn't show up, and eventually they had to give up the roads to traffic.

What's next? The ball is firmly in the government's court, though the pro-Beijing side isn't united in what Lam should do. Some think she should scrap the bill completely, while others are suggesting she should continue to push it through, with more explanation to the public.

However, it's too late to try to explain what the bill really is about. Lam missed her opportunity, and should have been more transparent about the reasons why the bill had to be passed.

Some people in the pro-Beijing camp feel Lam has completely lost her credibility from this most recent march, and her apologies hardly sound empathetic.

So if nothing drastic is done before Sunday (in other words Lam stepping down), people will probably be out protesting again this coming weekend, and the next weekend, and the weekend after....

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