The Hongcouver | Fear of Hong Kong security law spreads in Vancouver, but some dare wave the black flags of ‘revolution’
- Canadian protesters worry they will be arrested if they return to Hong Kong, after waving the ‘Liberate Hong Kong’ banner or the black bauhinia flag
- Some go to great lengths to conceal their identities from authorities and keep their activities secret from family members
“You’ll delete my number won’t you? After we hang up, you’ll delete that, right?” said the protester, who asked that I identify her only as “Jessica”.
Jessica lives in Vancouver, where she attends protests about Hong Kong – waving the same black flag that resulted this month in the first charge of inciting secession under new national security laws in her former home city.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“Liberate Hong Kong; Revolution of Our Times,” the allegedly secessionist flag proclaims.
There is ‘white terror’ going on right now, in the whole community. The CCP influence has deeply penetrated Canadian society
For the past year, such flags have been a feature of Hong Kong-related protests in Vancouver, home to a large diaspora population. But the introduction of Hong Kong’s new national security laws on July 1 has raised the stakes for flag-waving protesters who now weigh the risks of prosecution should they ever return to the city.
Another Vancouver protester, asking to be called “Wah”, waves a different banner of the Hong Kong democracy movement, the black bauhinia flag that is based on the official red-and-white flag of the territory.