Protests planned for national leader's visit

Various groups plan to protest during Vice-President Xi Jinping's visit to Hong Kong next week.

Lee Cheuk-yan, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, said dozens of its members would protest on Monday outside the Island Shangri-La hotel in Admiralty, where Mr Xi will dine with guests, including legislators.

The protesters would call for democracy in China and vindication of the 1989 student movement.

Fermi Wong Wai-fun, director of the racial-equality advocacy group Unison, said it was planning a petition to Mr Xi to express discontent about flaws in Hong Kong's draft law against racial discrimination, to be tabled for its third reading in the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

The group yesterday presented a letter to Premier Wen Jiabao from Hong Kong-born Pakistani teen Fatimah Bibi, 13, to an official of the central government's liaison office.

Jackie Hung Ling-yu of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organises the July 1 march for democracy, said it might also stage actions during Mr Xi's visit.