The Hong Kong Way was a peaceful political campaign held in Hong Kong on 23 August 2019, the 30th anniversary of the
Baltic Way
The Baltic Way ( lt, Baltijos kelias, lv, Baltijas ceļš, et, Balti kett) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to ...
.
The goal was to draw people's attention to the
2019 anti-extradition bill movement and the protesters' five demands for government accountability and democratic reform. Organisers estimated that 210,000 people participated.
In the early night time hours, Hongkongers
Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...
joined hands to create a human chain of 50 kilometres long on both sides of Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental i ...
, along the three main MTR
The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving :Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus service centred on a 10-line rapid transit network ...
lines and over the top of Lion Rock
Lion Rock, or less formally Lion Rock Hill, is a mountain in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, between Kowloon Tong of Kowloon and Tai Wai of the New Territories, and is high. The peak consists of granite covered sparsely by shru ...
, without any disruptions to traffic.
The action was inspired by the Baltic Way
The Baltic Way ( lt, Baltijos kelias, lv, Baltijas ceļš, et, Balti kett) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to ...
demonstration of 1989, which involved two million people, and contributed to the collapse of Soviet control of the region.
Inspiration
The action was inspired by a similar event that occurred 30 years before, on 23 August 1989.[ The Baltic Way involved two million people in a human chain across 675 kilometres that linked the capitals of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, serving as a call for restoration of independence from the ]Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.[ On 11 March 1990, within seven months of the Baltic Way, Lithuania became the first Soviet state to declare independence. The independence of all three Baltic states was recognised by most western countries by the end of 1991.
The Hong Kong Way idea was posted to the ]LIHKG
LIHKG ( zh, t=連登, cy=Lìhn dāng) is a multi-category forum website based in Hong Kong. The website has gained popularity since the launch in 2016, and is often referred to as the Hong Kong version of Reddit.
Threads with more up-votes and re ...
forum on 19 August 2019 with the objectives of calling attention to police violence, attracting "the focus of international media, to show ... our determination and unity to fight for democracy" and "in the hopes of more international support." The event was also a peaceful show of unity and solidarity among Hong Kong people, a visual display of community strength in the face of challenges. Many participants wore masks, fearing that attending a peaceful rally could lead to reprisals by authorities or loss of employment as a result of pressures from Beijing. Despite the fears people still turned up. As protesters held hands to form the human chain, many chanted "add oil
"Add oil" is a Hong Kong English expression used as an encouragement and support to a person. Derived from the Chinese phrase '' Gayau'' (or ''Jiayou''; ), the expression is literally translated from the Cantonese phrase. It is originated in Hon ...
!" and "Democracy now!"
Logistics and organisation
On the streets
The Hong Kong Way event was organised from the LIHKG
LIHKG ( zh, t=連登, cy=Lìhn dāng) is a multi-category forum website based in Hong Kong. The website has gained popularity since the launch in 2016, and is often referred to as the Hong Kong version of Reddit.
Threads with more up-votes and re ...
forum, along with real-time Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
chat groups to assist with the creation of the human-chain. The event took place in the absence of a "letter of no objection" from the Hong Kong Police Force
The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Po ...
.[ Organisers created videos and posters, mapped out the route of the proposed human chain, and they used different Telegram channels for different sections around the city.][ Organisers billed the event for Friday, 23 August between 7 p.m. and 8 pm.][ They called on participants to assemble at 7 pm on pavements along the three main MTR lines in Hong Kong – the ]Tsuen Wan line
The Tsuen Wan line is one of the eleven lines of the metro network in Hong Kong's MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map.
There are 16 stations on the line. The southern terminus is Central station on Hong Kong Island and the nor ...
, Kwun Tong line
The Kwun Tong line is a heavy-rail rapid transit line of the MTR network in Hong Kong, coloured green on the MTR map. Starting at Whampoa in Hung Hom and ending at Tiu Keng Leng in Tseung Kwan O, Sai Kung, the route has 17 stations and ...
and Island line Island Line or Island line may refer to:
* Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong
* Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England
** Island Line (brand)
Island Line is a brand of the ...
— and to hold hands, creating three human chains across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories as a form of peaceful protest.[ Volunteers were on hand at every MTR station to direct demonstrators along the route to ensure the chain was continuous.][
Participants stood in single file along pavements. At road junctions, the chain constantly reformed obeying traffic lights, so that vehicular traffic could flow normally.][ At 9 pm, demonstrators collectively covered up their right eye with one hand, to symbolise the first-aid worker who had lost an eye due to having been hit by a police ]bean bag round
A bean bag round, also known by its trademarked name flexible baton round, is a type of baton round, fired from a shotgun, and used for less lethal apprehension of suspects.
Description
The bean bag round consists of a small fabric "pillow" fi ...
earlier in August.[ People were in positive mood, and the demonstration was entirely peaceful, with police keeping a low profile. Participants promptly departed from their positions shortly thereafter.][
The campaign avoided ]North Point
North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Tin Hau, Hong Kong, Causeway Bay and Tsat Ts ...
, which is known to be where many local Fujianese people
Min-speaking peoples () are a major subgroup of ethnic Han Chinese people, speaking Min Chinese languages. They mainly live or trace roots from Fujian, Hainan, Southern Zhejiang and Guangdong province's Leizhou and Chaoshan regions. In the Chinese ...
reside. Democracy activists were previously assaulted by stick-wielding Fujianese residents who had attacked citizens during the previous phase of protests on 5 August.
Lion Rock
A team of hikers also scaled Lion Rock, a landmark that symbolises to many the spirit of Hong Kong, lighting their trail with torches.[ The group, initiated on Tuesday, organised separately from the MTR campaign so as not to detract from it. Organisers hoped to send a distinct and separate message of solidarity with the "Hong Kong Way". It attracted trail runners, hikers, and nature lovers.] After getting to the top, they lit up the hilltop so that its outline was visible in many parts of Hong Kong; they sang "Glorious Years" by Beyond
Beyond may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film
* ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne''
* ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed b ...
– written about Nelson Mandela's struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, and "Below the Lion Rock
''Below the Lion Rock'' () is a TV show about the lives of Hong Kong citizens. It was broadcast five times, each forming its own series, from 1972 to 1979, 1984 to 1988, 1990, 1992 to 1995, 2006, 2014 to 2020. Each series was a collection of unrel ...
" – the theme song to an iconic television series of the same name. The group also organised a team to check the area the next day and clean up if necessary.
Responses
Some 100 supporters joined hands in Lithuania on the same day to show their solidarity with Hong Kong's protests. Lithuanian lawmaker Mantas Adomėnas
Mantas Adomėnas (born 1 October 1972) is a Lithuanian classicist and politician. He was first elected to the Seimas in 2008 and served until 2020. He earned a Ph.D. degree in classics from the University of Cambridge. His best known work is probab ...
, who co-organised the rally with Emanuelis Zingeris
Emanuelis Zingeris (born 16 July 1957 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian philologist, museum director, politician, signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, currently serving as a Member of the Seimas (199 ...
, said he was 16 years old when he joined the Baltic Way. He said he was impressed with Hong Kong's struggle for liberty and democracy, having visited the city during the protests in 2014 and also during the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
The Chinese central government in Beijing which had been claiming that the wave of protests over the previous 11 weeks was instigated by "foreign forces", had up to that point stopped short of calling the protests a colour revolution
Colour revolution (sometimes coloured revolution) is a term used since around 2004 by worldwide media to describe various anti-regime protest movements and accompanying (attempted or successful) changes of government that took place in post ...
, but mainland scholars agreed that the symbolic reference to the collapse of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
was "provocative" and would add to the government's concerns.[
]
See also
* 228 Hand-in-Hand rally, Taiwan (2004)
* Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...
* Baltic Way
The Baltic Way ( lt, Baltijos kelias, lv, Baltijas ceļš, et, Balti kett) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to ...
(1989)
* Hands Across America
Hands Across America was a public fundraising event on Sunday, May 25, 1986, when 5 to 6.5 million people held hands for 15 minutes in an attempt to form a continuous human chain across the contiguous United States. The attempt to have a co ...
(1986)
* Catalan Way
The Catalan Way ( ca, Via Catalana), also known as the Catalan Way towards Independence ( ca, Via Catalana cap a la Independència), was a human chain in support of Catalan independence from Spain. It was organized by the Assemblea Nacional Ca ...
(2013)
References
External links
*
{{2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
2019 in Hong Kong
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
August 2019 events in China
Human chains (politics)