Hong Kong Residents March for Human Rights in China

"Hong Kong Residents March for Human Rights in China | AboutHK.Com - More Information About HK"

More than 200 Hong Kong residents marched through the city’s financial district on Thursday, October 1st. It coincided with the celebrations in Beijing marking the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party’s takeover of China. With Hong Kong’s semiautonomous status, residents are free to publicly memorialize those killed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and the CCP’s other violent campaigns. They’re calling October 1st a (quote) “national memorial day.” Denouncing the regime’s human rights record, they carry signs and shout slogans [“respect human rights”]. Among them is pro-democracy legislator Lee Cheuk-yan. [Lee Cheuk-yan, Legislative Council of Hong Kong]: "After 60 years of communist rule we see a regression in human rights and we can see that the Communist Party has stepped up the effort in squeezing and suppressing human rights in China. So this today, we come and protest. It's not a day for celebration but a day for protest." A scuffle broke out as police tried to stop a group of protesters from carrying a fake coffin—symbolizing victims of the Chinese regime’s persecution—to the Central Liaison Office. Another group of protesters began a 60-hour hunger strike to mark 60 years of oppression. Others called for the release of dissidents. The vice-chairperson of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party was there, too. [Emily Lau Wai-hing, HK Democratic Party Vice Chair]: "If China wants to emerge as a strong, big power it should respect the human rights of its people. Just having economic development is not enough." Having Western-style civil liberties, Hong Kong is a place where Chinese people frequently hold events that bring to light the CCP’s human rights abuses and other topics that cannot be discussed in other parts of China.