New | Anti-Beijing protesters rally outside British Consulate-General, urging UK to take back Hong Kong

Ten activists from the pro-independence group Hongkongers Come First rallied on Sunday outside the British Consulate-General in Admiralty, urging London to take back Hong Kong and help make the city an independent state.

They raised the Union Jack, waving placards and chanting slogans “Declare Sino-British Joint Declaration Void” and “Hong Kong Is Our Country” during the rally, which was closely monitored throughout by a dozen of uniform and plainclothes police officers.

The group claimed that Beijing’s white paper on Hong Kong, released last week, was proof that China had broken its promise in the joint declaration that it would give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy.

In a Chinese language petition letter, addressed to the queen, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and British consul-general Caroline Wilson, the group said Hong Kong’s democratisation, press freedom and independent judiciary had been eroded after the handover.

“Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong [and a] high degree of autonomy, have become the lie of the century,” the petition said.