The Word is Out

Protesters send an urgent message to the UK

The protesters against the extradition bill have raised over HK$6.7 million to spend on advertisements in national newspapers of countries participating in the G20 tomorrow and Saturday.

The ads began appearing today in The Guardian, The Globe and Mail and Süddeutsche Zeitung, a German paper.

This time the protesters are spreading the word internationally, and urging world leaders to say something about Hong Kong at the G20 in Osaka. The campaign, swiftly organized, is  unprecedented, and will be interesting to see how the advertisements are received.

Earlier today about 100 protesters descended on Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah's office, demanding she withdraw the extradition bill and not prosecute the protesters that have been arrested. They blocked the roads and entrances, so Cheng's staff had to leave early in the afternoon.

This weekend will be interesting. Apparently on Sunday there will be a march supporting the Hong Kong police force...

And Monday, the July 1 anniversary of the handover will surely be a tense one -- organizers of the annual flag raising ceremony next to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai will be scaled back significantly, while the march in the afternoon is expected to be a big one....

Never a dull moment in Hong Kong these days...

The Gatherings Continue

An Apple Daily image of tonight's rally at Edinburgh Place in Central

This evening there was a "G20 Free Hong Kong" rally at Edinburgh Place in Central, where the old Star Ferry used to be, but is now reclaimed land.

I went to check it out after work and even at 8.20pm there were hundreds of people wearing black still streaming from the MTR to go to Edinburgh Place. However they needed to cross Connaught Road Central, which doesn't allow pedestrians to cross because there is an underpass next to the Mandarin Oriental.

People just made their way across Connaught Road Central

However there was strength in numbers as a large group of them decided to stop rush hour traffic and cross the street en masse -- even nonchalantly crossing the barrier between the opposing traffic to get across. It was very impressive to watch but I didn't follow and instead went through the underpass.

It was getting crowded on the other side, and I could hear a voice speaking but couldn't hear what they were saying. It was also very hot and humid with hardly any breeze. But everyone still stood there, with friends, or some held signs, including an elderly woman with a sign demanding Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor step down.

Some people shouted slogans like "Democracy now!" "Hongkongers add oil!"... and then a Japanese man was given the microphone and no one knew what he was saying but politely listened...

Earlier this morning around 1,500 people gathered at Chater Garden and then split up into smaller groups to march to various consulates of countries that will be attending the G20 on Friday and Saturday, including the United States, Canada, Germany, UK, Japan, Mexico, Australia and South Korea.

Thousands gathered tonight to rally for Hong Kong

A crowd-funding initiative raised HK$6.7 million (US$858,000) in 11 hours to buy advertisements in foreign newspapers to take Hong Kong's cause to the international community. There are plans to buy ads in the Financial Times, The New York Times and other papers in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America in the next few days.

In the meantime Lam has not appeared publicly and intends to lay low before and during the G20. Perhaps she might say something on Sunday, on the eve of the July 1 march? Interestingly Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah has been invited to the Canada Day celebrations tomorrow at the JW Marriott in Admiralty...

The Same Mind-Numbing Refrain

Perhaps China can't explain why 2 million people came out to protest?

The G20 Summit will be held in Osaka, Japan later this week on June 28-29 and already the Chinese government has warned that the subject of Hong Kong is off-limits.

"I can tell you for sure that the G20 will not discuss the affairs of Hong Kong. We will not allow the G20 to talk about Hong Kong matters," said China's assistant minister of foreign affairs Zhang Jun today (Monday).

Zhang Jun warns not to talk about Hong Kong at the G20

"Hong Kong is China's special administrative region. Hong Kong matters are purely an internal affair to China. No foreign country has the right to interfere," Zhang said.

Why does China get to decide what can and cannot be talked about at the G20?

The proposed extradition law affects EVERYONE who passes through or lives or does business in Hong Kong. This is not an internal affair. It's EVERYONE'S affair.

This is why almost 2 million people marched on the streets and are prepared to clash with police because it is a serious issue that affects everyone's livelihoods.

But perhaps China is trying to prevent others from talking about it because if criticized about it, the government doesn't have any good reasons to explain why the extradition bill should be passed. But why should it worry anyway? It was initiated by the Hong Kong government anyway... right?

Protesters are prepared to clash wit police if necessary

For sure this will entice reporters covering the G20 Summit to be more daring and ask not only China but other countries about Hong Kong after Jun warned: "No matter at what venue, using any method, we will not permit any country or person to interfere in China's internal affairs."

How can China stop free speech in Japan at an international event? Everyone has a right to say whatever they want. They are not on Chinese soil.

We shall see which countries' leaders are courageous enough to speak out as well. How many will be squirming? We will be counting.

Hong Kong Votes and Obama's Apparent Snub

Taikoo Shing earlier this evening, where lots of people were waiting to vote

The polls for the Legislative Council election have technically closed as of two minutes ago (10.30pm), but there are still people out there queuing to vote. They will allow them to vote, but only those who were in line before 10.30pm.

It's pretty amazing to hear reports like this, that people have come out in droves and I hope this demonstrates to the Hong Kong government and to Beijing that we care about who we vote for and we don't want to lose this right to vote directly for people to represent us.

Last minute checks at the polling station on who to vote for

Apparently social workers were out in some elderly homes to make sure seniors weren't coerced into voting buses to cast their ballot for a certain candidate or party, though Apple Daily reported some elderly had numbers written on their hands of which candidates to vote for.

I voted this morning at 11am in Kennedy Town and there was no line-up. I gave them my poll card, but they didn't want it -- they just wanted my Hong Kong Identity card. Surely they should at least match the two together? And take the polling card to cross-check later just in case? I find this a very strange practice.

A friend, YTSL, had asked if there would only be names on the ballot or numbers. It turns out EVERYTHING is on the ballot -- the person's name in Chinese and English, their political party AND their picture. Surely you can't get your vote wrong so hopefully there won't be many spoiled ballots.

US President Barack Obama emerges from Air Force One

In the next several hours the votes will be counted at AsiaWorld Expo, and the results will be out in the wee hours of the morning.

It's pretty exciting to see so many people come out, though it's expected that those in their 60s and above probably voted pro-establishment, while those 50 and under voted pro-democratic, and probably those in their 20s for localists.

Another big story today was the arrival of American President Barack Obama in Hangzhou for the G20 summit and things didn't work out too well because he didn't come out onto the rolling staircase, but instead emerged from the belly of the plane, which is usually reserved for high security risk areas.

A White House aide and Chinese security official arguing

Then the New York Times reported a shouting match between a White House member of staff and a Chinese security official. When she pointed out this was not normal protocol, he could be heard clearly saying to her, "This is our country".

Also the media had trouble on the tarmac too. The Times reporter who said he had covered the White House for six years, and never had he seen a foreign host prevent media from watching a US president disembark.

Then at the West Lake State House, where Obama would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, White House aids, protocol officers and secret service got into another shouting match about how many Americans would be allowed into the building before Obama's arrival. The reporter said there were fears things could escalate to a physical confrontation.

"Calm down please," an American official said, according to the pool report. A Chinese foreign ministry official said, "Stop please... there are reporters there."

However, a Hong Kong media outlet claims the "staircase snub" was not that at all, but that it was Washington's decision.

"China provides a rolling staircase for every arriving state leader, but the US side complained that the driver doesn't speak English and can't understand security instructions from the United States; so China proposed that we could assign a translator to sit beside the driver, but the US side turned down the proposal and insisted that they didn't need the staircase provided by the airport," the official was quoted as saying.

That reasoning is hard to believe -- what happens in every other foreign country that the US President arrives in?

It still seems like a deliberate snub at Obama to show him who's boss. He didn't make much of a fuss about it in front of the media, advising them not to "overcrank the significance".

But one can't help but wonder, the arrival of every other state leader in Hangzhou was fine...