Hundreds of Hong Kong residents have been lining up in front of the British Consulate General for hours each day to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, leaving piles of flowers and handwritten notes.
The collective outpouring of grief after her death last week is perhaps the most ardent among the former British colonies, where mourning has been subdued.
It has seen by some experts as a form of dissent against increasingly intrusive controls by communist-ruled Beijing, which took over the territory in 1997.
Photo: AP
Some Hong Kongers are nostalgic for what they view as a past “golden age” under Britain’s not entirely democratic colonial rule, when the territory of about 7 million people gained stature as a world financial center and tourism destination.
The queen’s death has sparked a flurry of interest in British memorabilia, among other things.
The Queen was nicknamed “Si Tau Por” in Hong Kong — “Boss Lady” in Cantonese.
Photo: AP
“We used to call her Si Tau Por when we were under her rule. It’s simply a way of showing respect to her. There was a feeling of kindness from her, she’s not the kind of boss who is up above you,” said CK Li, a resident who queued for more than two hours to pay his respects.
Another resident, 80-year-old Eddie Wong, said she was there “out of true feelings” from her heart.
“When we were under her rule, we enjoyed democracy and freedom, and we were very grateful,” Wong said. “I want to bid farewell.”
With its takeover on July 1, 1997, China promised to leave Hong Kong’s Western-style civil liberties and institutions intact for at least 50 years. Many raised in the former territory grew up hoping for still greater freedoms.
However, after months of anti-government protests in 2019, Beijing imposed a tough National Security Law on Hong Kong, seeking to stamp out public dissent. The mass protests ended, but tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents have chosen to emigrate to places such as Taiwan and the UK.
The authorities are allowing the orderly, somber shows of respect to continue.
“I would imagine that some people are going there not so much for nostalgia reasons, but as a kind of protest, now that dissent is suppressed,” University of Hong Kong honorary professor John Burns said.
“Some people, for example, who agree with the kind of universal values that the UK stands for, and that were incorporated in our Bill of Rights at the end of colonialism could participate in this as a form of protest,” Burns said.
Emotions are running high given the territory’s political situation and its struggles in fighting COVID-19, former Hong Kong legislator Emily Lau (劉慧卿) said.
“There are some who are genuinely nostalgic and have sentimental feelings for the queen, but there are also people who have grievances about the current situation in Hong Kong,” Lau said. “We cannot rule out that some have used this occasion to express that.”
At the same time, public figures in Hong Kong are being scrutinized over their response to the queen’s passing, and drawing criticism if they are too admiring of her reign.
Social media users in China have blasted veteran actor and opera singer Law Kar-ying (羅家英) for posting a photograph on Instagram showing him outside the British Consulate with a caption saying: “Hong Kong was a blessed land under her reign.”
Not all Hong Kongers are sentimental about British rule. Some resent London’s decision not to grant them full British citizenship, instead giving them British National Overseas passports before the handover, which do not guarantee a right to live in the UK.
“The British took away the rights of those born in Hong Kong before 1997. They didn’t protect those rights,” said Leslie Chan, who said he had no plans to show his respects to the queen.
Some in Hong Kong are only focusing on the last few decades of British rule, when the territory became increasingly prosperous and the colonial government burnished its legacy with new parks, train lines and other modern amenities.
British rule benefited Hong Kong in some ways, but colonialism is ultimately harmful for its hegemony and racism, Burns said.
“When you’re talking about the benefits of colonialism, you cannot just take the last 10 years or 20 years,” he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese