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Meet Lady Liberty of the Hong Kong Protests
Posted
September 9, 2019
Views
4,947
Likes
96
Comments
42
Engagement
2.79%
September 9, 2019
4,947
96
42
2.79%
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1:18Now PlayingWho is Lady Liberty of the Hong Kong protests? What’s the back story?
The hope is that it can motivate people in Hong Kong’s democratic movement, says Hong Kong protest coordinator Lomy.
“We hope that different voices in the society can come into consensus to create a better future for Hong Kong,” he says. “The statue reminds people of the Tiananmen democratic movement in China.”
In 1989, more than a million Chinese civilians, many of them students, staged the biggest challenge to the Communist Party’s legitimacy since it came to power in 1949. The pro-democracy demonstrations were sparked by the April 15 death of a former party chief, Hu Yaobang, who had a reputation as a liberalizer.
Hong Kong is now facing a similar situation, says Lomy. A controversial extradition bill was originally proposed by Hong Kong’s government in February and covered mainland China and other jurisdictions that don’t have an extradition agreement with Hong Kong. Lam and the law’s backers originally defended it as necessary to ensure the city wouldn’t become a refuge for suspected fugitives.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she would formally withdraw the bill allowing extraditions to the mainland, which triggered the unrest in early June. But demonstrators now have a host of other demands, and Beijing has ruled out the biggest one: the right to elect a leader of their choosing.
The posture of Lady Liberty looks like she is leading the movement. The protesters’ five key demands are written on a black flag that she raises in her hand. She carries an umbrella to protect herself as well as a school bag, which “is a signature image of the frontline protesters.”
“What’s under her is something is something we want to see the least but we need to show tear gas,” says Lomy. “The police fired a lot of tear gas canisters and the smoke from them. “
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