Hong Kong protests: demonstrations across Australia show support

Pro-democracy supporters around the country stage demonstrations in solidarity with Occupy Central

  • theguardian.com,
  • Jump to comments ()
Hong Kong protest Sydney
Post-it notes on the facade of Hong Kong House in Sydney call on the Chinese government to allow free and democratic elections. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

As tens of thousands of Occupy Central pro-democracy protesters remain on the streets of Hong Kong, smaller groups of their allies around the world, including in Australia, are holding demonstrations in support.

On Wednesday afternoon around 40 people gathered outside the State Library of Victoria holding signs with slogans calling for Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying to step down and demanding freedom and peace.

In Brisbane, people will gather in King George Square at 4pm with umbrellas, which have become the symbol of the movement.

Similar demonstrations took place around the country throughout the week, with the ABC reporting that approximately 250 people gathered in Perth on Monday in front of the East Perth consulate.

In Sydney, demonstrators having been sticking hundreds of notes on the walls of Hong Kong House, while a separate solidarity action took place outside the city’s Queen Victoria building on Monday.

Hong Kong protest Sydney
An office worker walks past thousands of post-it notes on Hong Kong House in Sydney. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP Image

Behind some of the demonstrations is a social media group calling itself United for Democracy: Global Solidarity With Hong Kong, which was created about a week ago and now has more than 50,000 followers.

One of the creators of that group is Henry Hunt, a student at Melbourne’s Monash University who helped to organise the demonstration on Wednesday.

“United for Democracy is a collection of people just like me – students who believe in democracy and who have an empathy for students over in Hong Kong,” Hunt said.

“We don’t like what we’re seeing in Hong Kong, we don’t like the fact that teargas is being used on the streets, and so we organised this to show international support and solidarity.”

Similar solidarity events were taking place throughout the world in the US, New Zealand, Europe and throughout Asia, he said. Many of those events were taking place on 1 October, a Chinese national holiday.

“When the Chinese government is so strong and authoritarian, it’s important for the international community to tell China this isn’t on and we just won’t accept it,” Hunt said.

“I’ve seen reports coming out from China saying that because today is a national day, people in Hong Kong are coming out onto the streets to celebrate which is really misleading. They’re fighting for democracy.”

Hong Kong protest Melbourne
(From left) Wilson Chan, Elaine Chiu and Yan Ng join protesters outside the State Library of Victoria to show their support for Occupy Central. Photograph: Melissa Davey

Yan Ng, a University of Melbourne student from Hong Kong, held up a sign outside the State Library of Victoria with the slogan: “Occupy Central – Peace and Love”.

Her parents and sister were taking part in the protests in Hong Kong and she wanted to show her support for them and the hundreds of thousands of people, largely students, joining them.

“My sister is a high school student helping to organise a protest inside her school, and my father is a civil worker so he is backing up the protesters by organising legal support if they are caught by the police,” she said.

“Police used pepper spray and also teargas against these protesters a few days ago and I feel very angry about that and worried about more violence.

“Today is the Chinese national day so we know the police will be peaceful, but what about after today?”

Wilson Chan and his wife, Elaine Chiu, said they were inspired to attend the Melbourne demonstration by their daughter. They moved to Australia from Hong Kong 14 years ago.

“My daughter is very angry. She’s thinking about the people who have a right to choose their leader and also to protest, but the government have taken away that right,” Chiu said.

“The Chinese government said the Hong Kong people should have the right to elect their own leader, and now they’re stopping the people from doing that.

“Me and my daughter say we can’t accept that, because we love Hong Kong and the people.”

Today's best video

;