Joshua Wong and other activists cover iconic Golden Bauhinia statue in black cloth ahead of Xi Jinping visit

Demosisto secretary-general, People Power’s Tam Tak-chi and others from radical pan-democratic groups say move is protest against central government’s interference in Hong Kong’s internal affairs

Reading Time:2 minutes

The activists made their move at about 6am on Monday. Photo: Facebook

Published: 9:54am, 26 Jun 2017Updated: 12:51pm, 27 Jun 2017

Members of three radical pan-democratic groups covered an iconic symbol of Hong Kong’s handover in black cloth on Monday in protest against the administration ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit later this week.

Protesters including Demosisto secretary-general Joshua Wong Chi-fung, People Power activist Tam Tak-chi and representatives from the League of Social Democrats swathed the Golden Bauhinia statue in Wan Chai – a gift from the central government to mark the city’s 1997 transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China – in black fabric at about 6am.

Security guards at Golden Bauhinia Square tried to stop them but failed.

Security guards were unable to stop the activists from covering the statue. Photo: Facebook

The act comes just before an official visit by Xi, who will be in Hong Kong from Thursday to Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover and to swear in the city’s new administration.

“The black-cloaked statue symbolises the hard-line rule of the authoritarian regime over the past 20 years, meaning that the Chinese government failed to honour the promises made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, depriving Hong Kong people of civil and political rights to free elections and democracy,” the groups said in a statement.

They said their move was meant to express anger and disappointment at the administration for major political blunders since 1997.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x