Hong Kong July 1 handover ceremony scaled back amid extradition bill protest security concerns
- Home Affairs Department reduces number of people attending over ‘security concerns’
- Plans to disrupt ceremony began circulating online on Wednesday
The flag-raising ceremony to mark Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on July 1 will be scaled back over “security concerns” amid the escalation of protests against the contentious extradition bill, the Post has learned.
Activists had reportedly considered hijacking the event before attending the annual July 1 march.
The Home Affairs Department, which is in charge of organising the ceremony, said it would reduce the number of attendees.
“Due to the recent societal situation and security concerns, students and uniformed groups will not attend the celebration,” it said.
Asked if the event would be cancelled, a spokesman said: “From our reply you can tell that the event still exists.”
The ceremony, which is traditionally officiated by the chief executive, is held at the Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai. In 2017, the same event was attended by Chinese leader President Xi Jinping, who was on a three-day visit to the city.
A source familiar with the matter said the ceremony would not be cancelled but would be reduced in size, and the number of participants “won’t be as big as in similar ceremonies in the past”.
Thousands of people, including politicians, high-profile business leaders and students, have attended the annual flag-raising ceremony in the past. The event has also been a popular choice for mainland tourists.
The announcement about the ceremony came as more than 100 protesters descended on the offices of Hong Kong’s justice department on Thursday, calling for the complete withdrawal of the suspended extradition bill, and to spare arrested protesters from prosecution.
Patrick Leung, a 62-year-old retiree, thinks hijacking the event would be effective in putting more pressure on the Hong Kong government.
“There will be a lot of government and international officials at the scene,” he said. “It puts them [the government] in an awkward spot because the police cannot possibly use tear gas on the crowd.
“Even if they do, they will make headlines around the world and shame themselves.”
A 21-year-old university student surnamed Lee, also said even though the ceremony was being scaled down, she would still protest there and confront the city’s leaders.
“Despite all our actions so far, our demands have not been met,” she said. “The government leaders are just trying to shed their responsibility and go into hiding.”
But a 20-year-old tertiary student, surnamed Shing, said he did not plan to join the protest in the morning, as organisers were unlikely to obtain permission from the police beforehand.
“There is a higher chance of police using force to disperse the crowd. The cost of participation could be high,” he said.
On Thursday, a letter believed to have been sent out by the Auxiliary Medical Service’s chief staff officer to cadets in which they were told their participation had been cancelled, was circulated online.
A spokesman for the service confirmed that cadets would not be attending “as informed by the Home Affairs Department”.
Hong Kong Red Cross confirmed that it was notified on Tuesday by the Home Affairs Department it need not to attend the ceremony.
The plan to hijack the ceremony began circulating online on Wednesday night.
Protesters discussed occupying the square the night before July 1 to stop the ceremony going ahead altogether.
Should that fail, online users said people could arrive at the square in the morning of the event to sing songs and hymns, and chant their demands, before dispersing.
“The demands come first, hijacking comes second,” the text of one action plan read.
The plan also called for people to attend the July 1 march organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, which is set to depart from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay at around 2.30pm.
Additional reporting by Gary Cheung, Rachel Cheung and Su Xinqi
