Last Tuesday, the Hong Kong democracy primary election (47 people case) received a heavy sentence from the Communist Hong Kong court, sparking strong condemnation from the international community. Over the weekend, two major cities in California, Los Angeles and San Francisco, saw three consecutive protest events organized by democracy and human rights groups, denouncing the Chinese Communist manipulation of the Hong Kong government, the use of the National Security Law to strip Hong Kong people of their voting rights, and the suppression of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.
“Free Hong Kong!” “Release our candidates!” At noon on Saturday (23rd), near the Hollywood Chinese Theatre on the Walk of Fame, the crowd was filled with loud chants echoing one after another — members of the Chinese Democratic Party, overseas Hong Kong people, and individuals concerned about human rights in China and Hong Kong gathered here to protest against the Hong Kong government’s oppression of political rights and freedom of speech. Multiple rounds of speeches in both Chinese and English attracted numerous passersby to stop and listen.
In the afternoon of the same day, the area in front of the Consulate General of China in Los Angeles was also crowded with protesting Chinese individuals. About seventy to eighty members from organizations such as the Chinese Democratic Party Headquarters, Chinese Social Democratic Party, China Human Rights Watch, Hong Kong Refugees of Southern California, and Los Angeles Blank Paper Movement Alliance gathered. They burned copies of the National Security Law and photos of the three Communist Hong Kong judges involved in the “47 people case,” expressing anger towards the Chinese Communist Party’s destruction of Hong Kong’s rule of law.
Protesters held banners and slogans that read “The Evil Root of the Chinese Communist Party,” “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times,” “Save Hong Kong,” and “Resist the Hong Kong Article 23 Legislation,” while chanting slogans together.
On the previous day (Friday) at noon, the Chairman of the China Democratic Education Foundation, Fang Zheng, organized a rally to support the 47 Hong Kong democracy advocates. Dozens of people gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, holding banners and signs to protest.
Since last weekend, in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and other regions, numerous other protest rallies are still ongoing.
Former Hong Kong Legislative Council member Shin Chung-Kai attended the Hollywood event. Many of the 45 individuals who were sentenced are his friends, and he hopes that those wrongfully jailed will be released soon.
Shin Chung-Kai stated during his speech that the verdict of the Hong Kong court lacked legal basis, and that Legislative Council members have the right to veto the government’s budget. “When I was a LegCo member, there were at least eight out of ten instances where I vetoed the government’s budget. The Basic Law does not prohibit it,” he said. “As a LegCo member, when you receive the budget, you can veto or support it. Basically, the ’47 people case’ is all wrongful convictions.”
“From now on, everyone is clear that Hong Kong no longer has ‘One Country, Two Systems’, nor does it have democracy. Hong Kong is no longer the Hong Kong it used to be,” Shin Chung-Kai said. He mentioned that now Hong Kong residents who wish to participate in Legislative Council elections must first be approved; after the 2020 primaries, the election has effectively become a facade, changing from ‘Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong’ to ‘patriots ruling Hong Kong.’
Gabriel from the Hong Kong Forum stated in English during the speeches that the 47 convicted individuals are not politicians but merely human rights activists, journalists, organizers, and thinkers who care deeply about Hong Kong. “Is that their crime? Is that why they are being imprisoned and sentenced to ten years? It’s unbelievable!”
Gabriel called on the international community to explain the current situation in Hong Kong and advocate for the voices of the Hong Kong people. “The worst part is that Hong Kong will only get worse. When Hong Kong suffers, we all suffer.” After his speech, he led the attendees in chanting together, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times!”
Two years ago, the young man “Fragile Lord” who fled to the United States from Hong Kong led the crowd in singing “Glory to Hong Kong” at the rally. He recalled during his English speech that during the last election in Hong Kong, 600,000 people participated, nearly 10% of the population, “Those who prohibit such elections are the ones who are guilty.”
“Doesn’t the government’s power come from people’s authorization? The people are the only shareholders of the country. If they wish to change or abolish the government system, they have every right to do so,” he said. “Actually, when the government goes against public opinion, those in power should be dismissed.”
Fragile Lord stated that the conviction by the Hong Kong court this time “not only convicts these 45 individuals but also convicts hundreds of thousands of voters in Hong Kong. It’s a public attack on democracy.”
Many of the protesters who participated for two consecutive days were immigrants from mainland China. Before the handover of Hong Kong’s sovereignty in 1997, Hong Kong was seen by many Chinese people as a precious place. The situation of Hong Kong under the National Security Law today deeply pains them.
At the protest in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, Jie Libian condemned the Chinese Communist Party for intimidating the people of Hong Kong through the “47 people case,” turning the once prosperous Hong Kong into a “dead city,” a sacrifice of ‘One Country, Two Systems.’
“Hong Kong, just like mainland China, Xinjiang, and Tibet, under the Communist rule feels suffocated,” said Jie Libian. “The harm suffered by Hong Kong people today is even greater than what we (mainland Chinese) have experienced.”
Organizer Zhang Zhijun at the Hollywood rally specifically mentioned Wong Tszyuet, who was wrongfully sentenced to four years and five months, praising her efforts in defending democratic freedoms in Hong Kong and the sacrifices she made.
Zhang Zhijun criticized the Communist Hong Kong regime for damaging the constitution in the “47 people case,” which is a complete suppression of Hong Kong society. She called on the free world to stop the Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration into civilized societies, reminding everyone: if they do not wake up, yesterday’s Beijing and Hong Kong will be tomorrow’s world – devoid of the rule of law, constrained freedoms, and silenced democracy.
Human rights activist Wang Han, a graduate of the University of Southern California, read out the list of the 45 individuals who were heavily sentenced during his speech. He pointed out that these brave Hong Kong people have not only spoken the truth to Hong Kong people but also to mainland China and the world, exposing the “truth of Beijing’s broken promises.”
Shi Qingmei, the head of the Los Angeles Chinese Democratic Human Rights Union who attended the rally, agreed, stating that when the Chinese Communist Party says “no change for fifty years,” it has been only over twenty years, and Hong Kong is already indistinguishable from inland cities under Communist terror rule.
“The Chinese Communist Party is completely a brutal, untrustworthy, and lie-filled regime. It has completely lost its legitimacy to rule in China. That’s why we’re here to condemn it today, to let the American people know that it is also the enemy of the world. No government in the world treats its people as cruelly as it does,” Shi Qingmei said.