City
Epaper

Protests in Hong Kong ahead of G20 summit in Japan

By IANS | Updated: June 26, 2019 10:35 IST

Dressed in black, hundreds of protesters marched in silence on Wednesday to 19 foreign consulates in Hong Kong to deliver letters urging representatives to exert pressure on the Chinese President at the upcoming G20 summit in Japan.

Open in App

"We will urge the countries to pressure China at the G20, to raise concerns over Hong Kong, to defend Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and free trade environment, and to protect the rights of their citizens to do business and to live in Hong Kong," the demonstrators said, reported Efe news.

The protest plan came after China's Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun said on Monday that his country will not allow protests in Hong Kong to be discussed at the summit as it was an internal affair of the Asian country in which "no foreign country has a right to interfere."

"This proves that China wants to avoid Hong Kong issues, and that is why Hong Kong people should seriously call on foreign countries to raise this issue that (Chinese president) Xi Jinping wants to avoid - to force Xi to review the current policy for Hong Kong," the demonstrators said.

As part of the strategy, the Hong Kong activists have raised more than HK$5 million ($640,000) through a crowdfunding campaign to publish ads in 13 international newspapers of nine countries in an attempt to get the contentious extradition bill to be included in the agenda of the G20 summit, scheduled to be held Osaka on June 28-29.

The campaign reached its original target of HK$3 million in 10 hours, with over 20,000 donors.

The ad is an open letter asking foreign citizens to pressure their government before the summit, which will be attended by Xi and Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan.

"Now we need your support: that our voices to be heard in your governments and consulates; that freedom prevails at the next G20 summit and beyond. We can save ourselves if we act now," the letter by the protesters said.

After visiting the 19 embassies of those countries with representatives taking part in the summit, the protesters are to join a rally organized by the Civil Human Rights Front at 8 p.m. One of the coordinators, Jimmy Sham, said the theme of the protest will be "Free Hong Kong, democracy now."

The organizers will invite various professionals to announce a joint declaration in several languages and will speak about the relationship between Hong Kong and the international community.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Hong KongchinaG20Zhang JunPaul Chan
Open in App

Related Stories

CricketBAN vs HK 2025 LIVE Cricket Streaming: When and Where to Watch Asia Cup 2025 Match Between Bangladesh and Hong Kong?

CricketBangladesh vs Hong Kong, Asia Cup 2025: Likely Playing XI, Sheikh Zayed Stadium Pitch Report, Weather Forecast and Other Stats

CricketRashid Khan-Led Afghanistan Beat Hong Kong by 94 Runs in Asia Cup 2025 Opener (VIDEO)

CricketAsia Cup 2025: Sediqullah Atal’s 73, Azmatullah Omarzai's 53 Power Afghanistan to 188/6 vs Hong Kong

CricketAFG vs HK, Asia Cup 2025: Abu Dhabi Weather Forecast and Sheikh Zayed Stadium Pitch Report for Afghanistan vs Hong Kong Match

International Realted Stories

InternationalSouth Korea proposes bilateral currency swap with US in trade talks

International'Great ally for US; have to do something about Hamas': Trump walks diplomatic tightrope on Qatar

InternationalNorth Korea says its status as nuclear weapons state is 'permanently' fixed

InternationalUS negotiation with TikTok "depends on China": Trump

InternationalN. Korean hacking group uses AI deepfake to target S. Korean institutions