Tai Po Lennon Wall restored after group of masked men plaster flags of historical invaders of China, the Eight-Nation Alliance, over it in night-time manoeuvre
- Eyewitnesses say dozens of men arrived around 2am and started covering anti-extradition bill display with flags of countries that invaded China in 1900
- Some pro-Beijing figures have accused foreign countries of being behind extradition bill protests
The largest “Lennon Wall” in Hong Kong was restored to its original state on Tuesday after a masked group turned up in the dead of night and covered messages in support of the anti-extradition bill movement with printed flags of the historical “Eight-Nation Alliance”.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened at around 2am on Tuesday in Tai Po; a group of burly men warned residents not to film them as they plastered the wall with flags.
Since last week, local residents have been turning spaces in various parts of Hong Kong into so-called “Lennon Walls”, where people have left messages on Post-it notes related to the anti-extradition protests, a movement some pro-Beijing critics have accused of being backed by foreign powers.
In Tai Po, thousands of notes have been posted on walls inside a series of pedestrian underpasses outside Tai Po Market MTR station.
In a six-minute video circulated online, dozens of masked individuals could be seen marching into the underpasses from the direction of Tat Wan Road.
Most of them were silent and pasted to the wall printed copies of flags from the Eight-Nation Alliance – a coalition of countries that invaded China during the Qing dynasty in response to the Boxer rebellion in 1900.
‘Lennon Walls’ spring up across Hong Kong as police in Tai Po remove messages
The coalition was composed of Japan, Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and Austria-Hungary.
The flags of several countries the men posted, such as Germany, Russia, Italy and Austria, were copies of the present-day versions rather than the ones used at the time of the alliance.
There were also copies of Japan’s rising sun flag, associated with Japanese imperialism, including the invasion of China and occupation of Hong Kong during World War II.
In the video, a man was heard shouting at the group: “Stick it better!”
He also told others not to remove any posts from the walls.
At the end of the video, the group clapped and cheered before leaving the scene.
Tai Po resident Wong Chung-man, 35, said he was with other volunteers at the underpass when the group came in.
“Some heavyset men gave orders [to others] and threatened us,” Wong said.
Whenever volunteers pulled their phones out, the men would rush at them.
“We dared not film,” he said.
Wong described the group as organised, as some were tasked with brushing paste on the wall before others applied the flags.
Another local, Dalu Lin Kok-cheung, 30, said the masked group were of various ages.
He added the police arrived only after the masked group had left.
After the incident, some protesters used Post-it notes to cover the flags. Two of the rising sun flags were covered with a message that read: “We can peacefully reconstruct the Lennon Wall.”
All the flags were later removed.
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Lau Man-kwong, 68, said it was not necessary for the group of masked men to cover up the original postings.
“The walls are so big you can stick them anywhere,” Lau said.
