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Lancome’s booth inside the shopping mall Times Square in Causeway Bay. Photo: Christy Leung

Lancome stores reopen across Hong Kong, but Denise Ho warns of a spreading ‘white terror’

Despite end of on-site protests, Canto-pop star posts defiant Facebook message and petitions calling for her concert to go on are gaining support

Cosmetic brand Lancome reopened its stores across Hong Kong on Thursday, a day after protests were held over the company’s cancellation of a concert by Canto-pop star Denise Ho Wan-sze.

But pressure mounted on Lancome’s parent company L’Oreal as support for an online petition calling for a reconsideration of the cancellation multiplied on Thursday.

French citizen and former philosophy teacher Beatrice Desgranges started a French-language petition on change.com on Monday. She called for L’Oreal Hong Kong’s president and managing director Stephen Mosely to reconsider the cancellation.

It only had 4,200 supporters on Wednesday, but after its English and Chinese versions emerged, the number of supporters multiplied to more than 50,000 as of 3pm Friday.

Desgranges wrote: “We cannot accept that Lancome, in their way the ambassador of France – country of human rights – in Hong Kong, sacrifices the freedom of thought and expression to their commercial policy”.

The controversy surrounding Lancome was reported by French newspapers including Le Croix and Le Monde , with a Le Monde reader named “CB” commenting: “A market of 1.3 billion people versus a market of 7.5 million inhabitants ... For now the fight is not balanced.”

L’Oreal Paris did not respond to the Post’s inquiry, while a L’Oreal Hong Kong spokeswoman reiterated that the company had nothing to add to its statements issued on Sunday.

Ho urged on her Facebook page on Thursday for everyone to stand up against “the white terror that is spreading among our societies” and to fight for freedom of speech.

“This is about suppression and self-censorship that is affecting [the] global market and brands,” she wrote.

The singer was vilified and blacklisted by mainland media for taking part in the Occupy movement protests in 2014. Last month, Ho met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, on her 39th birthday.
“This is about suppression and self-censorship,”
Denise Ho in a Facebook message on June 9

The trouble began after Lancome invited the singer to host a mini-concert in Hong Kong on June 19, then abruptly called it off after Beijing newspaper Global Times accused the brand of inviting “a Hong Kong and Tibet independence advocate”. With mainland internet users calling for a boycott of the brand’s products, an angry backlash ensued from Hongkongers, who accused L’Oreal of kowtowing to Beijing.

Writing on her Facebook page on Thursday, Ho said the issue was “not solely about me and Lancome, nor only about Hong Kong”.

Lancome and brands under the L’Oreal group reopened their stores on Thursday after closing them on Wednesday to avoid the protests.

Shu Uemura also resumed business on Thursday at Times Square. Photo: Christy Leung

The Lancome booth at Times Square in Causeway Bay opened Thursday at 10am. A staff member told the Post all the brand’s shops and booths in the city had resumed business and that she did not fear possible protests.

Another staff member working at a Lancome shop said staff were forced to take annual leave on Wednesday.

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