Wet weather marks flag-raising ceremony for 67th National Day, with small protest group unable to reach event
Lawmaker ‘Long Hair’ Leung Kwok-hung and a band of 20 protesters chanting for the release of Chinese dissidents failed to gatecrash Golden Bauhinia Square
As the flag-raising ceremony marking the 67th National Day commenced outside the Convention and Exhibition Centre on a rainy Saturday morning, the umbrella – held by many government officials to shield themselves from the rain, but also an iconic symbol of anti-government protests two years ago – brought a sense of irony.
Seconds before the national and Hong Kong flags were to be raised, Zhang Xiaoming, chief of the central government liaison office in the city, abruptly put down his burgundy red umbrella and braved the drizzle.
Zhang was soon followed by Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee, wife of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. She had been holding the umbrella for herself and her husband.
Dozens of other guests standing in the Golden Bauhinia Square continued to hold up their umbrellas in the rain.
Yellow umbrellas were then used as the symbol for the longest pro-democracy protest in the city’s post-colonial history.
Inside the square, spectators waving miniature flags brought umbrellas and raincoats to watch the ceremony, while some left as they were not prepared for the wet weather.
