- Protesters in Hong Kong are holding blank posters to dodge China’s new national security law, which was imposed on the city last week.
- The law gives China wide discretion to define and punish cases of “separatism, subversion, terrorism” in the city.
- For this reason, dozens of people gathered for a silent protest with white posters in the city’s shopping malls on Monday.
- Scroll down to see photos.
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Hong Kong protesters are holding white signs after China passed a new security law that gives them the power to label pro-democracy slogans as sedition or terrorism.
The photos showed that around 200 people stood on the balconies surrounding the central atrium of the APM shopping center in the Kwun Tong district on Monday.
Other photos showed people participating in a protest Monday at lunchtime in the luxurious IFC shopping center.
Most of the protesters held blank sheets of paper, although some still carried signs with words and graphics.
A protester at the IFC shopping center displayed a sign with anti-government slogans such as: “Five demands, not one less,” referring to demands made by pro-democracy activists last year; and “Carrie Lam, resign,” referring to the city’s executive director, who enacted the law.
The IFC protest was silent, but riot police arrived after protesters began chanting “liberate Hong Kong,” according to local media outlet RTHK.
This is what the IFC Mall protest looked like:
And this is what the APM shopping protest looked like:
—Xinqi Su 蘇 昕 琪 (@XinqiSu) July 6, 2020
A group of Hong Kong people in a silent protest at a city mall on July 6, 2020.
Twitter / XinqiSu
Police in a clash with protesters at the APM Mall in Hong Kong on July 6, 2020.
Twitter / XinqiSu
China passed the National Security Law for Hong Kong last Tuesday, despite opposition from the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom, and weeks of protests in the city.
The wording of the law is vague, but it essentially means that everything China believes to be “separatism, subversion, terrorism” in Hong Kong can be punished by law.
An IFC protester, identified only as Tam, told RTHK that the white signs “show that there is” white terror “in Hong Kong.”
Blank posters have also been seen elsewhere in Hong Kong.
-Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong. (@Stand_with_HK) July 4, 2020
Libraries in Hong Kong have also begun removing books by pro-democracy activists from their shelves and catalogs.
Some activists have removed their social media or even fled the city.
The UK has offered a path to citizenship for 3 million Hong Kong people following the national security law. The United States and Australia are also considering measures to help Hong Kong residents trying to flee.
