Hong Kong vigil for Liu Xiaobo sends powerful message to Beijing
Thousands of mourners marched through the heart of Hong Kong in a candlelight vigil for Chinese Nobel peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, sending a powerful message to Beijing as it tries to erase his legacy. The Hong Kong rally is the only large-scale commemoration for Liu on Chinese soil. The semi-autonomous city maintains a wide range of freedoms that are non-existent in mainland China, and several newspapers in the city splashed Liu’s portrait on their front pages.
Besides mourning Liu, many called for the release of his wife Liu Xia, who despite never being accused of a crime has been kept under house arrest since her husband won the Nobel peace prize in 2010. At the front of the march was Lee Cheuk-yan, a former lawmaker of 20 years, carrying a banner calling for Liu’s spirit to inspire people. The four white Chinese characters painted on a black cloth was a replica of a banner hoisted by student protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989, an event that Liu flew back to China to join.
