BackHong Kong protesters march as strong storm signal hoisted
Thousands march through heavy rain to demand China address a widening wealth gap and introduce broader democracy in Hong Kong
Premium(Reuters)
Hong Kong: Thousands of people began a rally in Hong Kong on the 16th anniversary of the city’s handover to China, marching through heavy rain to demand the government address a widening wealth gap and introduce broader democracy.
About 33,500 people had left Victoria Park in the city’s Causeway Bay area, the rally’s starting point, by 5:45 p.m. local time, a spokeswoman for the police, who asked not to be identified citing department policy, said by phone.
Organizers said last week they expect at least 50,000 people to take part in Monday’s demonstration, which is winding through the commercial and business district. Six soccer pitches at the park were filled with people before the march began and more were streaming in with umbrellas and raincoats as the city’s observatory raised a typhoon warning.
It’s an explosion of anger in the streets, the Oriental Daily wrote, one of the city’s two best-selling newspapers, which ran headlines calling for readers to join the march. The Hong Kong government is incapable and its policy record is so bad. Economic development lacks direction and has failed to improve citizens’ livelihoods, making Hong Kong a sad city.
People should march to defend the core values of the city, fight for universal suffrage and request that chief executive Leung Chun-ying step down, the Apple Daily said in an editorial. The paper has printed a banner saying I am Hong Konger. I want true universal suffrage for readers.
Home prices
Hong Kong, a former British colony that was returned to China in 1997, is a Special Administrative Region guaranteed its own freedoms and legal system for 50 years as part of the handover agreement. The city is due to elect its next leader, known as the chief executive, by popular vote in 2017.
The annual 1 July protest serves as an indicator of how the city’s 7.2 million people regard the leaders in Beijing. In 2003, more than 500,000 marched to demand the then-chief executive’s resignation over plans to introduce anti-subversion laws. The Oriental Daily estimated that a similar number will attend today’s rally as well.
The city’s home prices, the world’s highest according to Savills Plc, have fallen 2% from a historic high in March, while transactions have been near the lowest level since the global credit crisis in 2008. This came as Leung, who took over as chief executive in July 2012, intensified efforts started by his predecessor and levied extra taxes on non- resident home buyers, doubled the sales tax on transactions and made repeated pledges to increase land supply.
Universal suffrage
Housing remains the policy area of greatest public concern and the government will start consultations at an appropriate juncture on the implementation of universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive, Leung said at a reception today to mark the handover’s 16th anniversary.
The SAR government has managed to curb the upward trend of property prices, Leung said. The government will also alleviate and solve progressively other long-standing livelihood issues, including property, an aging society and the environment through promoting economic growth.
Leung’s support rating in mid-June was 46.2 on a scale of 0 to 100, according to a survey of 1,040 people conducted by the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Program. That’s down from this year’s high of 52.2 in mid-January and just above his record low of 46 in late September after protests against government plans to introduce Chinese identity lessons in schools.
Hunger strike
A group of people will start a 50-hour hunger strike at 10 p.m. on Monday to call for Leung to step down, according to the Oriental Daily.
HSBC Holdings Plc. has sealed off access to the plaza of its Asian headquarters in Central. Occupy Central protesters, the last major holdout of the global Occupy movement that started in New York in 2011, were evicted by court bailiffs from the bank’s headquarters in the Central district in September following an 11-month campaign.
The weather may affect the rally’s turnout, the South China Morning Post said. The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted its Strong Wind Signal No. 3 at 1:15 p.m., which means that winds with mean speeds as high as 62 kilometers per hour are expected. Severe Tropical Storm Rumbia was estimated to be about 390 kilometers southwest of Hong Kong at 7 p.m., the observatory said on its website.
Unsolved Attacks
Next Media, which owns the Apple Daily newspaper, offered a reward of HK$1 million ($128,931) for information on the attackers or their motives after three men burned about 26,000 copies of the Chinese papers on Sunday, according to a statement published on Monday. The attack was the fourth incident targeting the media group in the past 11 days and the attacks are a threat to press freedom, Next Media said.
Government supporters have made arrangements with shops to offer discounts during the hours of Monday’s march and Korean pop stars were flown in to perform with local singers in a concert, the South China Morning Post said. The 18,000 concert tickets were sold at HK$99, compared with what normally costs between HK$480 and HK$1,680, the paper wrote.
The tension this year appears to be exceptionally high, the English-language newspaper said. These goodies have unleashed a barrage of criticism from people supporting the march. This is a show of our pluralism, tolerance and maturity. This is what freedom of expression is about. Bloomberg
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