Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong vented their anger over skyrocketing property prices and government policies at an annual march held yesterday on the anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule.
People blew whistles, beat drums and banged metal cups to express their unhappiness. Many waved flags calling for universal suffrage, while others chanted “Down down with property tycoons” and called for Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) to step down.
Since the territory was handed back to China on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong has largely retained its Western-style civil liberties, including press freedom and the right to hold public protests. However, its people still cannot directly elect the city’s chief executive or all legislative members.
Photo: AFP
One of the big themes of the march, held on a public holiday marking the 14th anniversary of the handover, is the growing rich-poor divide in Hong Kong, where skyrocketing property prices have left many residences unaffordable and forced out small shopkeepers. March organizers said they wanted to protest the “hegemony” of Hong Kong’s big property developers over the market.
Some protesters carried large signs depicting Tsang and billionaire Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), Hong Kong’s richest man whose business empire includes a major property developer, with devil horns and vampire fangs. They chanted slogans accusing the government and developers of colluding to establish a monopoly.
Housing prices have been driven up by ultra-low interest rates and excess liquidity, and the government has tried to cool the market by introducing measures twice since November.
Residents are also upset over a recent government proposal to scrap by-elections and instead fill vacant legislative seats based on previous results.
The government came up with the idea after five pro-democracy legislators quit last year and ran again in a vote that they said would be seen as a de facto referendum on democratic reforms. The government argued that most people thought it was a waste of taxpayers’ money and that electoral laws needed to be changed to prevent similar campaigns in the future.
“The proposal to get rid of by-elections to fill vacancies in the Legislative Council is a crazy idea and insulting to the intelligence of the people of Hong Kong,” veteran democracy activist Martin Lee (李柱銘) said.
“That’s one principal reason, but also on social issues, there is a lot of unhappiness. That’s why the people are coming,” Lee said.
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