Dozens of people including men wearing bras yesterday staged a protest in Hong Kong after a woman was sentenced to three-and-a-half months in prison for “assaulting” a police officer with her breast.
About 100 people gathered for the lighthearted “breast walk” protest outside police headquarters in the Wan Chai District, with some holding up bras and others wearing them over their tops.
“We better watch out as one day police might accuse us of attacking with our penis or buttock,” a topless male activist wearing a black bra told the crowd.
Photo: EPA
Retired teacher and spokesman for the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union James Hon (韓連山), 66, wearing a pink bra over his white polo shirt, told reporters: “It’s the first time to wear a bra in my entire life.”
“We have come to this rather odd method to tell the world how ridiculous it is,” he said.
The crowd chanted “Breasts are not weapons — give back our breast freedom” and “Shame on police” as a representative handed a petition letter to a police officer.
Photo: AFP
Ng Lai-ying (吳麗英), 30, was sentenced on Thursday for “assaulting a police officer” during a chaotic protest against mainland Chinese cross-border traders in March.
The clerk was found guilty of using her chest to bump against the arm of Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Chan Ka-po (陳嘉寶). She was released on bail pending an appeal.
“The ruling is absurd. How can breasts be a weapon? We are angry, but we also fear that this precedent exploits women’s rights to take part in protests,” Ng Cheuk-ling, an activist from Hong Kong Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities, told reporters.
“Police must review their guidelines to handle female protesters,” Ng Cheuk-ling said.
Ng Lai-ying had previously told the court that she yelled “indecent assault” out of fear immediately after Chan’s hand landed on her left breast when he failed to grab the strap of her bag, the South China Morning Post reported.
However, Magistrate Michael Chan Pik-kiu (陳碧橋) said she “used her female identity to trump up the allegation that the officer had molested” her, calling that a malicious act and harming the officer’s reputation, the Post reported.
A massive influx of millions of Chinese tourists to Hong Kong prompted protests early this year by residents, who say the visitors have driven up shop rent and prices, leading to clashes with police and arrests.
Hong Kong opened up to Chinese tourists in 2003 in a bid to revive its economy after an outbreak of the respiratory disease SARS, allowing mainland Chinese to visit as individual travelers rather than as part of an organized tour.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique