New Yorkers and others across the country rallied Wednesday in support of pro-democracy rallies in Hong Kong.
The Crossroads of the World, always bustling with tourists, filled with hundreds of demonstrators Wednesday, concerned that Hong Kong sits at a crossroads.
A Queens resident at the rally moved to the U.S. from Hong Kong more than 25 years ago.
“I can’t believe that’s the Hong Kong government right now. That’s not what I know Hong Kong for,” he said.
They brought umbrellas to symbolize solidarity with those who they say used them for defense against pepper spray. Police in Hong Kong hit demonstrators with pepper spray Sunday.
Student activists are leading protests against China’s mandate in August that any future Hong Kong chief executive candidates first get approved by communist China before running for office.
“It’s going back to someone choosing the candidates, carefully selecting the candidates. But we’re the people. Shouldn’t we be picking?” said one woman at the rally who was born in Hong Kong and moved here a year ago.
The woman said that China is going back on its promise to allow democracy to continue well after Great Britain’s peaceful handover of the territory in 1997.
“Freedom of press. Freedom to democratically vote,” she said.
“That’s what China promised, and now, they’re going back on it,” said an American-born lawyer at the rally.
The American-born lawyer said it’s not just about freedom to vote, it’s about freedom of speech, and that his emails to his parents in Hong Kong are now being censored.
“As I was writing it, different lines in my email got blacked out, and I’d have to fiddle with it to get it to clear up, and then other parts would black out,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like that happen before.”
He said he is proud to be of Chinese descent, not because of the activities of the Chinese government but because of people fighting for their rights.
The rally in Times Square was planned in conjunction with demonstrations in nearly three dozen other cities.
http://ift.tt/1rykIHc
via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1
No comments:
Post a Comment