Rebel City. South China Morning Post Team
largest social media network. “The injuries on his face reflect the injuries in the hearts of all Chinese people,” read one of the most popular comments. Another asked: “How many Chinese will have sleepless nights? Our state power should take action now!” Fu’s provocative challenge to the protesters – “You can beat me now” – was even immortalized on a T-shirt, which sold for 98 yuan on online shopping platform Taobao.
The Hong Kong protests, which had been off-limits and a heavily censored topic on Chinese social media, suddenly burst into the open, amplified further by the mainland’s mainstream media. People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, praised Fu’s “manliness” and said in a Weibo post shared widely: “Let’s remember Fu Guohao and his awe-inspiring righteousness while being held. This is what a dignified and upright Chinese should be like.” The two mainland men attacked at the airport were discharged from hospital the day after. Fu told supporters as he left the hospital: “In Hong Kong, I complied with everything a citizen should do. I didn’t do anything unlawful or behave in a way that would stir controversy. I think I should not be treated violently.”
Reflecting on the outpouring of emotion on the mainland, lawmaker Cheung said: “I read some of those comments online and thought there was palpable anger in some unfamiliar quarters, not just the usual nationalist types. The effect was certainly to turn or silence those originally sympathetic to the protests. The Fu incident definitely showed that the propaganda machine went into overdrive to whip up nationalist fervor.”
As protesters and police clashed at the terminal building on August 13, the Airport Authority went to the High Court and obtained an interim injunction to ban unlawful and wilful obstruction of the proper use of the airport as well as the roads and passageways nearby. It prohibited people from “inciting, aiding and/or abetting” such acts, and confined any demonstrations to two designated areas at either end of the arrivals hall. Flouting the injunction would amount to the criminal offense of contempt of court, with a penalty of a jail term and fine. The injunction was the first in the ongoing anti-government protests, and drew some criticism as an abuse of the legal process.
But Victor Dawes, the Airport Authority’s lead counsel, who had the order extended indefinitely a week later, said: “An injunction, unlike the by-laws of the Airport Authority, carries with it the express authority of the courts, and therefore may command higher respect and compliance among the general public.” He rejected the suggestion that this was an abuse of the law, saying protesters or other relevant groups could argue their case in court. No legal challenge was filed.
Others, including businesses, welcomed the move. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the city’s largest business group, supported the airport’s injunction application to boot out protesters. “Left unaddressed, the closure of the airport would have seriously tarnished Hong Kong’s reputation and role as an air transport hub for the region,” it said.
The five days of the airport occupation ended on Tuesday, August 13. The next day, hundreds of protesters were back, this time to say sorry for causing the flight cancellations and inconvenience to travelers. A hand-written sign, one of many with similar messages, said: “Dear tourists, we are deeply sorry about what happened yesterday. We were desperate and made imperfect decisions. Please accept our apology.”
There were no references to the two mainlanders who were attacked, but a statement issued by “a group of fellow Hongkongers longing for freedom and democracy” said the overreaction of some protesters left them feeling heartbroken and helpless.
The administration team of the Telegram encrypted messaging group for the airport sit-in, which had close to 40,000 members, posted a message too, saying: “What happened on Tuesday is not perfect, but it does not mean that the sit-in is officially terminated. What we need to do now is to look forward, to maintain confidence in ourselves and our peers, to reflect on our deeds, and to believe that we will perform better next time.” Internet users had fierce debates on the LIHKG online forum – the de facto virtual command center of the protest movement – with some saying they should reflect on their strategies to win back public support. At the airport, protester Spencer Ho, 39, a salesman, distributed food to passengers. A placard on his trolley read: “We were desperate. Please accept our apology.”
Looking back at the airport protests, lawmaker Cheung said: “It was definitely a watershed moment because radical protesters felt more able to push the envelope afterward and see how much they could get away with.” He said the protesters’ motto to stay united with the more extreme elements within the movement also sowed the seeds for more violence to come.
After Wednesday, August 14, few protesters continued to stay at the airport while others moved their battlefield to nearby towns like Tung Chung over the next few weekends. Over the weekends that followed, they tried to block access routes to the airport, including throwing rods and metal objects at the railway tracks of its express train line. On September 1, travelers were stranded for hours at the airport or forced to lug their suitcases and walk at least 15km on a highway to find transport into the city. Protesters tried the same tactics again in subsequent weeks, but with little success.
To date, the airport remains a tightly controlled facility with passengers required to present their boarding pass at barricaded entrances, their family and friends generally barred from entering the building.
But while the protests there came to an end, Lo dismissed the suggestion that occupying the terminal building was a failure. “Victory comes in many ways, shapes and forms,” he said, adding that the episode taught the movement to harness its firepower and hone its mobilization skills for other action, including the occupation of the Polytechnic University campus in November 2019. “We can lose one battle to win the war. We are in this for the long haul,” he said.
October 1: Celebrations in the capital, clashes in the city
Jeffie Lam
A red-letter day in the nation sparked a violent chain of protests culminating in a shooting of a radical teenager.
From his rostrum at Beijing’s Gate of Heavenly Peace, President Xi Jinping stood ready for the ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of communist rule. Hundreds of millions watched on television or online what was described as the grandest military parade in the history of the People’s Republic of China, at the very spot where Mao Zedong stood when he declared the founding of the republic on October 1, 1949. Xi was flanked by his predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, as he delivered a short speech praising the accomplishments of the Chinese people over seven decades and pledging to achieve his “Chinese dream” of national rejuvenation and global prominence. “No force can shake the status of our great country, no force can stop the Chinese people and the Chinese nation from marching forward,” he declared.
Among the guests was a smiling Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive, leading a delegation of more than 240 government advisers, professionals, pro-establishment lawmakers and businessmen. In his message, Xi said that China must uphold the principle of “one country, two systems” that promises a high degree of autonomy to Hong Kong while preserving its freedoms and unique way of life following its return to Chinese rule. Also present was Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fan, one of Lam’s advisers in the Executive Council. She was impressed by the patriotism of young Chinese at the military parade. “So many young people in the parade are wearing big smiles and chanting ‘Long live our country’,” she gushed. “I look forward to the day when young people in Hong Kong join the National Day Celebration with the same pride, joy and optimism.”
Around the same time in Hong Kong, however, the scene could not have been more different, as defiant young people had other ideas for October 1, 2019. On social media, the hashtag #NotMyNationalDay caught fire among Hongkongers who branded it a day of mourning. The national flag flew on government buildings and at Beijing-friendly conglomerates and associations, but there were signs of impending trouble from the morning. The official flag-raising proceeded at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, but government officials and hundreds of guests moved indoors to watch the ceremony on screens at the nearby Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The streets near