News From Around: Hong Kong handover: The protest symbols China’s scared of

Monday, June 26, 2017

Hong Kong handover: The protest symbols China’s scared of

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Hong Kong (CNN)When Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997 after more than 150 years of British guideline , the Bauhinia flower was selected as the sign of the brand-new Chinese unique administrative area.

A huge golden statue was talented to the city by Beijing and set up at Golden Bauhinia Square , which is now utilized for main flag-raising events.

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Early Monday, a number of pro-democracy activists staged their own event, covering the statue in a big black fabric to expose "the harsh reality behind the marvelous rhetoric" of Hong Kong's handover to China.

The protesters were led by Joshua Wong, the previous" Umbrella Movement"leader turned global political activist and leader of the Demosisto political celebration .

"(We) desire to attract fellow people to participate in direct civic actions on 1st of July to show our goal to democracy and the right to self-determination," Demosisto stated in a declaration.

Banned words

Monday's action is the very first of exactly what is anticipated to be numerous demonstrations around the handover anniversary, which will be increased by the existence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is because of show up in the city on Thursday .

According to regional media , cops in the city are under guidelines to protect Xi from as a number of those demonstrations as possible-- consisting of avoiding specific expressions and images prohibited in China or that may "humiliate"Xi from appearing in his eyeline.

So simply exactly what iconography in specific might patriotic Hong Kongers prefer to prevent?

Hong Kong or Taiwan self-reliance

Since both the Umbrella Movement and government-led political reform ended in failure, there have actually been growing needs in the city for complete self-reliance from China . Couple of things are most likely to rile up Chinese leaders than talk of separatism, be it in Hong Kong, Tibet or Taiwan-- an independent island that has actually been de facto independent for years however is still declared by Beijing.

An unusual propaganda video released in 2015 by Chinese legal authorities cautioned that those promoting Hong Kong or Taiwanese self-reliance would change tranquil China into war ridden Syria or Iraq .

While a lot of Hong Kong self-reliance activists are vital of the UK for rejecting the city a possibility of going it alone -- as all other British nests had the ability to-- the flag of the Hong Kong Colony has nonetheless end up being a sign of the motion, most likely due to the fact that it is ensured to frustrate China .

Protester Xi

A picture of Xi holding a yellow umbrella has actually been prohibited, inning accordance with the Ming Pao paper. The umbrella ended up being a sign of the 2014 motion after protesters utilized them to safeguard themselves versus cops pepper spray.

After Chinese state media released a picture of Xi bring an umbrella on a website examination in Wuhan province at the height of the Hong Kong presentations, the image was rapidly remixed and embraced by the umbrella protesters.

Tiananmen Square

On June 4, 1989 , individuals's Liberation Army sent out tanks and soldiers into Tiananmen Square to clear pro-democracy protesters who had actually been inhabiting the website at the heart of Beijing for weeks. Hundreds were eliminated in the crackdown, and thousands more detained. Hong Kong is the only put on Chinese soil which holds a significant public ceremony of the occasion.

"The June 4 event" stays among the most censored subjects in China , with all recommendations to the massacre, no matter how oblique, prohibited or erased. That indicates no social networks posts around the anniversary utilizing the words "Tiananmen," "June," "today," "trainee motion," "tank guy," or "square," and no usage of the numbers 4, 6, 8, 9 or any mix that amounts to 64 or 89, or perhaps "May 35."

In 2013, even ducks were prohibited , after a huge yellow duck art setup was embraced as a method to bypass the censors.

'I desire real universal suffrage'

A crucial need of the 2014 demonstrations-- which were triggered after Beijing declined permit Hong Kongers to choose their own leader without China picking the shortlist-- "I desire real universal suffrage" ("ngo jiu zan pou syun" in Cantonese) has actually ended up being a crucial rallying cry for pro-democracy activists in the city.

The motto has actually been emblazoned on posters, composed on walls, beamed onto the sides of structures, and hung from Hong Kong's renowned Lion Rock mountain , which ignores the city.

Protest tunes

While cops might have the ability to avoid Xi from seeing anything that disappoints him, hushing the numerous Hong Kong demonstration tunes may be a harder job.

"Boundless oceans, large skies," a barnstorming ballad launched in 1993 by the Hong Kong rock band Beyond has actually long been the informal anthem of the Hong Kong pro-democracy motion due to its lyrics about liberty and hope composed by straw man Wong Ka-kui, who passed away in a freak mishap soon after its release.

While "Do you hear individuals sing?"-- a bold require uniformity and resistance from the musical Les Miserables-- has actually been sung by demonstration motions all over the world for many years, it's appeal increased after 2014, thanks to the release of a Cantonese language cover.

As 10s of countless Hong Kongers collected in the streets in 2014, numerous felt they required their own anthem-- instead of obtaining those of previous motions-- and a number of specially-written tunes were launched. "Raise the umbrella," composed by Lo Hiu-pan hours after cops fired tear gas at tranquil protesters , rapidly ended up being the most popular, including vocals from regional popstars Denise Ho and Anthony Wong.

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