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Youngspiration convenor Baggio Leung in Wan Chai in April. Photo: Dickson Lee

Hong Kong localists claim police halted communications with them ahead of planned July 1 protest

Youngspiration convenor says WhatsApp exchanges suddenly halted, but force contends the group could not be reached

July 1 march

A leader of a localist group planning to protest outside Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong after the July 1 rally is claiming police rejected further communications while the force asserts they could not reach the protest’s organisers.

Baggio Leung Chun-hung, convenor of Youngspiration, one of the groups organising the protest to be held Friday, said he had been communicating with police via WhatsApp.

“I can’t understand why [the police] said they couldn’t contact core members of the groups,” he told Commercial Radio on Thursday. “We’d been in constant conversation through Whatsapp.”

If someone assaults us, we won’t just hold up our arms and let them beat us
Baggio Leung Chun-hung, Youngspiration

Leung said after some exchanges police “claimed someone said there was no need to discuss” the protest further. He said he did not press the force to explain who gave the alleged directive to halt exchanges.

Following the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers last year, Youngspiration was among the localist groups gathering outside the central government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong to demand the release of individuals held by mainland authorities.

But the police said on Wednesday they could not contact organisers for the planned protest.

Senior superintendent Tse Kwok-wai said police had “called on protest organisers, who had called on people to wear black masks and clothing, to contact them as soon as possible”.

A letter of no objection had not yet been granted by the police, meaning the gathering would be considered an illegal activity.

Leung said on Thursday that while protesters would not storm the building, they would not be passive either.

The central government's office in Hong Kong earlier this month during a protest over Beijing's handling of the missing booksellers. Photo: AFP

“If someone assaults us, we won’t just hold up our arms and let them beat us,” he said.

Meanwhile, Youngspiration had planned to set up a fundraising booth along the July 1 rally route, but did not agree to submitting one-tenth of its received donations to the rally’s organiser Civil Human Rights Front per the front’s standard request.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable,” Leung said. “People might think twice if they know one-tenth of their donation has actually gone to another political group.”

But Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, the front’s convenor, said the amount would help cover the rally’s operating costs.

Speaking also on Commercial Radio on Thursday, Sham said his group saw no need to cancel the rally following last week’s deadly fire in Ngau Tau Kok as the event would not be festive. He added he hoped the government would announce a clear fire emergency plan for the blaze site as soon as possible and ascertain whether anyone was negligent in the tragedy.
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