Handmade passport holders identifying the owner as a citizen of the “Republic of Hong Kong” were last month introduced by Local Studio HK, a group of activist graphic designers.
The leather holders, which resemble the covers of an official passport, bear the title and emblem of the putative Republic of Hong Kong that the group designed in lieu of the People’s Republic of China and its national emblem.
Local Studio HK in July attained media attention by producing a series of “Hong Kong is not China” graphics showing the difference between Hong Kong and China, many of which include sardonic jabs at Hong Kong’s Chinese visitors and residents.
Photo: Local Studio HK Facebook page.
CITY CITIZENS
In an Oct. 27 announcement on Facebook about the passport covers, the group derided the Chinese-issued Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passports as no better than British National Overseas passports and that both confer “second-class citizen status.”
“To the people of Hong Kong, the ‘city’ of Hong Kong is bigger … and better than the ‘nation’; we the people of Hong Kong do not claim citizenship to a nation, we have instead claimed citizenship to a city … which is genuine and real. Therefore, to Hong Kong’s native-born, our national citizenship belongs to the city of Hong Kong,” the group said.
“As for Communist China’s name and emblem printed on HKSAR passports, we feel no sense of belonging and only contempt... [We] have never been anyone but people of Hong Kong. This passport holder design is an expression of an identity and an aspiration,” the group said.
The group said that the name for the territory of Hong Kong and its emblem are less pressing issues than “identifying with and promoting Hong Kong’s autonomy, [and also] covering up the emblem of Communist China, of course.”
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