Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters have set themselves a busy schedule for Saturday, rebuilding “Lennon Walls” of anti-government graffiti and marking the fifth anniversary of the “Umbrella” street movement that gridlocked the city for weeks. Thousands of protesters rallied at the harbourside on Friday, chanting slogans accusing the police of brutality amid more than three months of often violent unrest in the Chinese-ruled territory.
That came ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday, when there are pro- and anti-Beijing protests planned across the former British colony, including at the British Consulate where protesters this month asked for help in reining in Beijing. Protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula intended to guarantee freedoms that are not enjoyed on the mainland.
That came ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday, when there are pro- and anti-Beijing protests planned across the former British colony, including at the British Consulate where protesters this month asked for help in reining in Beijing. Protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula intended to guarantee freedoms that are not enjoyed on the mainland.
