More than 1,000 protesters yesterday marched to major foreign consulates calling on leaders at the this week’s G20 summit to raise the plight of Hong Kong with China and to support the full scrapping of a controversial extradition bill.
Holding placards that read “Please liberate Hong Kong” and chanting “Help Hong Kong,” the demonstrators, some wearing masks, marched to a succession of consulates represented at the G20 major economies summit in Osaka, Japan, that opens tomorrow.
Over the past three weeks, millions of Hong Kongers have protested against an extradition bill that would have allowed individuals, including foreigners, to be extradited to China to face trial.
Photo: AFP
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) eventually caved in after some of the worst violence seen in decades on the territory’s streets, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
However, Lam stopped short of protester demands to scrap the bill altogether, saying it would be suspended indefinitely.
“As long as the government doesn’t withdraw the bill, and they refuse to respond, then we will keep on fighting,” said Aslee Tam, a 19-year-old university student in the march. “We want to make some noise during the G20 meeting, to let other countries discuss the issues in Hong Kong.”
At the US consulate, protesters handed over a petition asking US President Donald Trump to “back Hong Kong at the G20 summit.”
They urged Trump to raise Hong Kong with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and to support a full withdrawal of the extradition bill and to set up an independent investigation into Hong Kong police brutality against protesters.
The protesters, some wearing “Liberate Hong Kong” T-shirts, also marched to the British consulate, where their petition was received by a senior diplomat.
British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday called for an independent probe into the violence.
The raising of Hong Kong’s extradition saga could prove to be an embarassment for Xi at a delicate time of rising trade tensions with the US, and pile further pressure on Lam amid reports that Beijing now harbors serious doubts about her capabilities.
Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Jun (張軍) earlier this week said that China will not allow Hong Kong to be discussed at the G20.
However, Hong Kong advocates have raised more than HK$5 million (US$640,606) in a crowdfunding campaign to take out newspaper advertisements in major foreign media, such as the New York Times, in a bid to raise awareness of the territory’s plight at the G20.
Some advocates have also traveled to Osaka.
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