the five demands
Never have I seen so much news coverage, almost everyday, of Hong Kong in the UK media. Unfortunately a lot of them are biased or untrue to a certain degree (especially the BBC, shame on you). Violent acts of protesters (many of whom are actually undercover police or organised gang activity to make the originally peaceful protest look bad) are commonly publicized, propaganda in and from China claiming the aim of this protest is to claim independence of HK as a country (not true). All we are asking for are these 5 things (commonly known as “the Five Demands”), and I’d like to give you a little context, fill you in. So here they are, in black and white:
The complete withdrawal of the proposed extradition bill (not just a suspension that Carrie Lam announced).
Retract of the characterization of the protest as a riot as protests were mostly peaceful. Beijing had even gone so far to describe the protests as “close to terrorism”. In fact most of the violence came from the law enforcement, brutally attacking unarmed civilians with lethal weapons. Even the vulnerable population have been attacked or affected.
Unconditional release of all arrested protesters and the promise of no future persecution. Most arrests during the protests are unreasonable political arrests to terrorize people, spreading fear in the fight of democracy. One of the recent high profile arrest includes pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, who have been arrested over unauthorized assembly.
Accountability for Police Brutality. Police officers have resorted to unnecessary violence against protesters and journalists. We do not wish to accused or blame the police force as a whole but to demand that individuals be held accountable for their actions. Below is a video from SCMP, reporting one of the recent incidents(warning: contains upsetting images): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkgMTiprHhE
Resignation of Carrie Lam. We wouldn’t have come to this current state if the Chief Executive Carrie Lam have listened and respond to the voices in Hong Kong. She holds fully responsibility and is unfit for the job. It almost seems as though she is just a puppet controlled by Beijing.
This time Hong Kongers are not backing down. If we lose this fight, it might mean that Hong Kong will lose its autonomy, slowly becoming a city where information are sensitized, A place where people have to worship their Gods in secret, a place where no one is educated to be good people but people who follow orders and worship money and power. This would not be the Hong Kong I love.
So the fight continues.
I am fully aware that I am not fighting this battle in HK with my fellow Hong Kongers, whom some are sacrificing their future for everybody else’s. I feel helpless and useless in this critical time for the city. There’s really not much I can do except raising awareness to those who care (so thank you, for reading, for caring).
Last but not least: Power to the people, 香港人，萬事小心.
Photo: peterychuang