As Expected, Protests Return Amid Pandemic

Hundreds, possibly thousands gathered at Cityplaza in Taikoo Shing

The 10pm shout outs are back.

This evening people in Kennedy Town were shouting slogans related to the anti-government protests and now they are back on again with the additional stress of the coronavirus pandemic.

They were shouting in solidarity to those protesters in Taikoo Shing who tried to gather in the Cityplaza shopping mall in response to the arrest of 15 prominent lawyers, activists and lawmakers for allegedly organizing illegal marches last year, as well as the liaison office's insistence that it has every right to have its say in Hong Kong affairs.

People shouted slogans from anti-government protests

 The liaison office declared it had "the authority to represent the central government to exercise oversight, be concerned about and express stern views on important matters involving the relationship between the centre and the special administrative region" among other things. It basically proclaimed that it was putting Hong Kong was put under Beijing's control.

Meanwhile there is no authority or body defending Hong Kong -- the government is complicit in allowing the liaison office to twist words and create new rules on how the city is governed. It is the Hongkongers who are the last line of defense for their own city. We pay our leader very well not to act in our best interests, but her master's.

We have no way of impeaching her for dereliction of duty to us.

The police quickly came into the mall to shut down the event

Up until last week we all believed that Hong Kong was ruled under the concept of "one country, two systems" and promised a "high degree of autonomy" until 2047, and in Article 22 it states: "No department of the Central People's Government and no province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government may interfere in the affairs which the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region administers on its own in accordance with this Law."

And so people are out tonight to voice their displeasure at Beijing, shouting slogans before police arrived on the scene. Officers were dressed in riot gear and armed with rubber bullets and pepper spray to clear crowds in the name of social distancing.

There was at least one nasty altercation -- Remember district councillor Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, who last November in the same mall was attacked by a man who bit off Chiu's ear?

District councillor Andrew Chiu's aide was injured by police

This time his assistant was wrestled to the ground head first by the police, and for 10 minutes he lay on the ground and appeared to be dazed and not moving. Volunteer medics tried to help him before the ambulance arrived.

RTHK reports Chiu says the medics told him his assistant could not talk, but could only communicate by blinking his eyes.

Chiu got emotional, apologizing to his assistant's parents, saying they were only there to protect the community.

If there was an independent inquiry into the police, tonight's altercations would not have happened.

Student Activists Reboot Independence Campaign

Last year students handed out fliers suggesting independence after 2047

Some Hong Kong students are showing their Lion Rock spirit by reviving a drive in 18 schools and universities to promote separatism from China.

The campaign was launched today, where the young activists distributed separatism-themed fliers and stickers at school entrances, and put them on message billboards known as "democracy walls" on university campuses. They also set up street booths in Wan Chai, Kwun Tong and Yuen Long.

This time the fliers say that independence for Hong Kong is the only option to protect its people, which is a more direct stance compared to last year's that encouraged students to think about the city's future after 2047 by proposing independence.

Tony Chung of Studentlocalism is stepping up activism efforts

The student leaders are also vowing the groups will be more vigorous in their activism, one year after their initial campaign fizzled out.

Studentlocalism convenor Tony Chung Hon-lam, a Form Five student at Buddhist Mau Fung Memorial College, said they would hand out 2,000 leaflets and 10,000 stickers. Meanwhile the 20-year-old convenor of the Hong Kong National Front, who wanted to remain anonymous, said 12 groups were expecting to hand out fliers at schools before classes and all would man street booths after classes.

Last September, a campaign to discuss independence emerged at several schools when localist groups handed out fliers on the first day of school. Members of at least two groups were summoned by school authorities to stop.

The government left it to school managers to handle such activities and monitor independence talk. And this time the Education Bureau reiterated that advocating independence went against the Basic Law.

Lau Siu-kai doesn't think the kids will go far again this time

Lau Siu-kai, deputy director of a top Beijing think tank on Hong Kong affairs, did not expect the campaign to go far, and warned advocates they would likely find themselves further isolated from mainstream society.

"From what I see, the independence movement has become something of a small circle within the student community that is unlikely to affect society on the whole," he said.

We agree with Lau that it is a very small group of students who believe in independence. What's interesting is their determination to start their campaign again with more organization and greater resolution.

They won't get far, but why not let them do their thing? They deserve to have their voices heard too. What they are advocating is illegal, but let them figure that out for themselves instead of telling them over and over. Give them room to explore and debate.

The more you clamp down, the more resolved they become... just saying...