Voters In Hong Kong Turnout In Historic Numbers, Deliver Devastating Results
Posted: November 25, 2019 Filed under: Asia, Breaking News, China, Hong Kong | Tags: Carrie Lam, Edward Lau, Holden Chow, Hong Kong, Horace Cheung, Pro-Democracy Movement, Vincent Cheng Leave a comment
Ryan Saavedra reports: Voters in Hong Kong took the polls in record numbers on Sunday, giving pro-democracy parties stunning gains as numerous high-profile pro-Beijing officials lost their seats.
“Almost three million voters sent the Carrie Lam administration an unmistakable message on Sunday, flooding to the ballot box in record numbers to vote against pro-establishment candidates and usher in what by all indications should be a staggering victory for the pro-democracy camp,” Public broadcaster RTHK reported. “While official results are yet to be announced, partial counts suggest that opposition candidates should win an overwhelming majority of the 452 District Council seats up for grabs, and may have a winning ratio of as high as nine-to-one.”
RTHK added, “Most analysts had expected the opposition to make significant gains with the government’s popularity ratings at an all-time low, but no one was predicting that the pro-democracy camp would win a majority of seats – much less almost all of them.”
[Read the full story here at The Daily Wire]
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that pro-democracy candidates had won 395 of the 452 seats that were up for grabs and that pro-democracy parties were set to control all 18 district councils.
“Almost 3 million people in a city of 7 million queued to vote in the election held every four years, or 71.2 per cent of registered voters,” The Sydney Morning Herald added. “The voter turnout was almost double that seen in the previous election, and attributed to young people voting for the first time.” CNN reported that “outspoken pro-government legislators Michael Tien and Junius Ho both conceded defeat in their districts” and “Holden Chow, Horace Cheung, Vincent Cheng, and Edward Lau also appeared to be part of a string of upsets from the pro-Beijing DAB party.”
U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted support for Hong Kong, writing, “With their vote, the people of Hong Kong delivered a strong rebuke of the authoritarian policies of Beijing. They came out in record numbers, nearly double the last election, to support pro-democracy candidates. When people have a choice, they will always choose freedom.”
Read the rest of this entry »Hong Kong Protesters Object to Lack of Mob Attack Arrests
Posted: August 22, 2019 Filed under: China, Global, Hong Kong | Tags: Hong Kong, Pro-Democracy Movement, Yuen Long Leave a comment
Protesters face riot police inside the Yuen Long MTR station, the scene of an attack by suspected triad gang members a month ago, in Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong, China August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Reuters HONG KONG (Reuters) — Thousands of Hong Kong residents held a sometimes scrappy anti-government protest on Wednesday at a suburban subway station that was attacked by a mob last month, angry that nobody has yet been prosecuted for the violence.
Some masked protesters clashed with police, spraying fire extinguishers from the inside of Yuen Long station as others smeared the floor with cooking oil, beer and detergent to stop the police from advancing.
Some blocked station exits with bins, booths and other station furniture as others sealed roads outside the station, aiming green laser beams at the lines of shield-bearing officers. Others threw empty fire extinguishers at police lines.
Many inside the station sat quietly.
It was the latest in a series of demonstrations since June against a perceived erosion of freedoms in the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
It also marked a return to aggression after a brief lull in tensions following a huge peaceful march on Sunday.
China’s Great Firewall No Barrier to Ugly Online Battles Over Hong Kong Protests
Posted: August 20, 2019 Filed under: Asia, Censorship, China, Global, Hong Kong | Tags: Communist Party, Great Firewall, Hong Kong, Pro-Democracy Movement, Tear gas, Weibo Leave a comment
Sarah Zheng reports: Hong Kong’s summer of protests looks very different from inside and outside the Great Firewall that encircles the internet in mainland China.
On Monday morning, the top trending topic on Weibo, China’s highly regulated version of Twitter, featured a Shanghai tourist who was “harassed and beaten” during a massive pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong on Sunday evening. It racked up 520 million views. A prominent video on the topic from Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily showed the man, surnamed Ma, telling reporters about protesters accosting and accusing him of photographing their faces, under the tagline: “Is this the ‘safety’ that rioters are talking about?”
But in Hong Kong, where there is unfettered access to the internet, the focus was on the peaceful Sunday demonstrations, which organisers said drew 1.7 million people despite heavy rain. On LIHKG, the online forum where Hong Kong protesters discuss and organise their action, one hot topic celebrated Weibo posts on Ma that mentioned a taboo – Beijing’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The topic cheered the “first time China’s Weibo allowed public discussion of June 4th”, referencing posts about Photoshopped images of Ma in a shirt calling for justice over the crackdown.
Since the protests began in Hong Kong in early June, triggered by a now-shelved extradition bill, there has been a clear dichotomy between how the movement has been portrayed online, inside and outside China. Read the rest of this entry »
Riot Police Storm Hong Kong Airport as Protesters Force Second Day of Flight Cancellations
Posted: August 14, 2019 Filed under: Asia, Breaking News, Foreign Policy, Global, Hong Kong, Mediasphere | Tags: Hong Kong International Airport, Pro-Democracy Movement, travel Leave a comment
Hong Kong International Airport has canceled all remaining flight departures for the second straight day due to protests.
Riot police stormed the Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday as protests by thousands of anti-government demonstrators forced flights to be canceled for the second straight day.
Travelers at one of the world’s busiest airports were advised that check-in had been suspended and hundreds flights were cancelled, and that they should leave the terminals as quickly as possible and contact airlines for more information.
The clashes appeared to represent an escalation 10 weeks after the protest’s massive, peaceful beginnings in early June, when hundreds of thousands marched in the semi-autonomous city against a now-suspended extradition bill. A Chinese official said Tuesday that protesters “have begun to show signs of terrorism,” and China appeared to be weighing a crackdown on the democratic movement.
Bolstered by anger over the crackdown by Hong Kong police, the protests has grown more confrontational in recent weeks and reached new levels last Monday with a city-wide strike that disrupting traffic and hundreds of flights.
After weeks of issuing warnings, but deferring to Hong Kong authorities to quell protests, Beijing has hinted at a more assertive posture. Chinese paramilitary police were seen in video released by the state holding exercises in Shenzhen, China, which sits across the border from Hong Kong. Images circulated online showing a convoy of armored personnel carriers from the People’s Armed Police traveling to the site. Read the rest of this entry »
Hong Kong Protests Disrupt Flights and Subways as a Strike is Called
Posted: August 5, 2019 Filed under: China, Global, Hong Kong, Politics | Tags: Hong Kong Airliines, Pro-Democracy Movement, protests Leave a comment
At least 100 flights were canceled and subway service widely disrupted in Hong Kong on Monday as a pro-democracy movement called for a general strike.
Cathay Pacific and other domestic carriers such as Hong Kong Airlines were the most affected by the flight cancellations, public broadcaster RTHK said. Airport express train service was also suspended.
A citywide strike and demonstrations in seven districts in Hong Kong have been called for Monday afternoon. They follow a weekend of clashes with police on the streets. Read the rest of this entry »
[PHOTO] Hong Kong: Merry ‘I Want Genuine Universal Suffrage’ Christmas
Posted: December 24, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Asia, China, Global, Politics | Tags: Christmas, Hong Kong, Pro-Democracy Movement, Umbrella Revolution 1 Comment
“I Want Genuine Universal Suffrage” at times square, causeway bay.
(source; SocRec @ 25dec14)
79 Days That Shook Hong Kong
Posted: December 15, 2014 Filed under: China, Global, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Hong Kong, Pro-Democracy Movement, protests, Umbrella Revolution, Universal suffrage 5 Comments
Hong Kong’s Final Protest Site Has Been Cleared
Posted: December 15, 2014 Filed under: Asia, Breaking News, China, Global, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Hong Kong, Pro-Democracy Movement, Protest, Umbrella Revolution, Universal suffrage 1 Comment
pundit from another planet 