The anti-Hong Kong Express Rail Link movement was a social movement and period of civil discontent in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

between mid-2009 and early 2010. Select groups of Hong Kong residents protested at the proposed Hong Kong section of the

Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), also known as “Guangshengang XRL” (officially Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong high-speed railway, Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong section), is a high-speed railway line th ...

(abbreviated "XRL"), a high-speed railway that would link Hong Kong with mainland China's growing high-speed rail network.

Background

Segments of the general public and various interest groups opposed to certain aspects of the Hong Kong section of the project mobilised through petitions, marches, hunger-strikes, rallies to show their discontent at government insistence on pushing through the project. They cited cost, noise pollution, customs and border control complications, and existing rail links as main reasons for the opposition. Pan-democracy legislators made the most of their limited opportunity within committee to question the project rationale within the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kon ...

(LegCo), while civil groups kept vigil outside LegCo during the debate. The January protest has also been called the "siege of Legco" by local media. Ultimately, the movement was unsuccessful in impeding the government's plans to build the railway.

Protest timeline

November 2009

On 29 November 2009, a demonstration of more than 1,000 people protesting against the construction of the Express Rail link gained the attention of the local media when a group of 100 people engaged in a sit-in protest in front of the government headquarters in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

.Angry rail-link protesters clash with police
, ''The Standard'', 30 November 2009

December 2009

On 18 December 2009, the funding application was debated in the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council. A demonstration of an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 people was staged around the Legislative Council Building. The debate was put on hold and the funding was not yet finalised.Opponents of high-speed rail link claim victory as pan-democrats delay funding, ''South China Morning Post'', 19 December 2009

January 2010

Promotion activity of HK 80 Night Anti-Express Rail Link 01

A group performed a "prostrating walk" (苦行) imitating Tibetan pilgrims, dubbing it the "Prostrating Walk of the Five Districts", in which participants kneel down and touch the ground with their heads every 26 steps (to symbolise the length of the rail link), from 5 to 8 January. Protesters also walked around the LegCo building in a similar fashion during the protest from 15 to 16 January. A series of disputes and arguments were held in and out of the HK legislative council chamber for four weeks. Lawmakers that were for or against the line traded insults during debate that lasted 25 hours straight. On 15 January, hundreds of young protesters swarmed the government house gates.''South China Morning Post'',
Rail cash approved amid protests
, Retrieved on 16 January 2010. Anti-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong rail oppositions Jan 2010 protest 06

Anti-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong rail oppositions Jan 2010 protest 06

On the morning of 16 January, protests carried on, along with the debates inside the LegCo building. About 10,000 people showed up at the peak according to organizers. Police gave the figure of 1,700.South China Morning Post.
SCMP
" ''Hard core came prepared for trouble.'' Retrieved on 16 January 2010. About 1,200 police officers were involved.
Mingpao.com, Retrieved on 16 January 2010. Just before the approval of the budget at around 18:00, an initial group of people tried to storm the Legislative Council Building, but was blocked by the police. Then scuffles broke out as the police used

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, ...

on the citizens while they covered their face with sheets of

plastic wrap Plastic wrap, cling film, Saran wrap, cling wrap, Glad wrap or food wrap is a thin plastic film typically used for sealing food items in containers to keep them fresh over a longer period of time. Plastic wrap, typically sold on rolls in boxes ...

. Arming with mobile devices and communicating with Twitter, protesters quickly moved into 6 separating strategic positions on the streets around the LegCo building, blocking all the exits.

Eva Cheng Eva Cheng, GBS (; born 31 May 1960, Hong Kong) was the Secretary for Transport and Housing and the chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority Blogger Martin Oei drew a detailed strategic map showing the distribution of police and protesters, and gave an estimation of about 1700 protesters in that night. The crowd that surrounded the building promised Eva Cheng her safety if she would only come out to talk. She did not. The pro-Beijing

DAB DAB, dab, dabs, or dabbing may refer to: Dictionaries * '' Dictionary of American Biography'', published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies * ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published since 1949 Places * Dą ...

had to be escorted out of the building while the crowd chanted "shame". Five police officers were injured.

February 2010

On 15 February 2010, and shadowing the tradition of Lau Wong Fat of the

Heung Yee Kuk The Heung Yee Kuk, officially the Heung Yee Kuk N.T., is a statutory advisory body representing establishment interests in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The council is a powerful organisation comprising heads of rural committees which repre ...

, about 20 post-80s generation anti-rail representatives joined the annual HK kau cim tradition at

Che Kung temple Che Kung Miu (), also called Che Kung Temple, are temples dedicated to Che Kung, who was a general during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) in imperial China. He is believed by some worshipers to have been involved in the attempt to ...

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ...

to draw three divination sticks for the year of the Tiger. They said the fortune of the city should not depend on unelected, unrepresentative business/political personalities leaders. Two 'mid' sticks were drawn with No. 89 and No. 24, along with one 'misfortune' stick. The misfortune stick No. 74 was interpreted as 凡事待遲 (roughly translated as "Everything should be carried out later").

Reasons for opposition

The opposition was initiated by media activists already active in high key campaigns such as the struggle for the preservation of the Star Ferry Pier in Edinburgh Place in 2006 and

Queen's Pier Queen's Pier, named after Queen Victoria, was a public pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. For three generations it served not only as a public pier in day-to-day use but also as a major ceremonial arrival and d ...

in 2007, at the outset, only focused on saving Choi Yuen Tsuen village, which was painstakingly built by its residents over four decades. Yet, while the activists were working on ways to solve the problem, they found out the many inconsistencies with the government plan and finally went out to oppose the rail link as a whole. It was widely regarded as sacrificing the interests of the common people to a small minority of economic elites. Besides possible damage to the environment during its construction and operation, the rail link would cost HK$69.9 billion (US$9 billion), while the estimated return over 50 years is only HK$80b. A village along the track,

Choi Yuen Tsuen The anti-Hong Kong Express Rail Link movement was a social movement and period of civil discontent in Hong Kong between mid-2009 and early 2010. Select groups of Hong Kong residents protested at the proposed Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou� ...

, home to about 500 people, would be dismantled.

Tai Kok Tsui Tai Kok Tsui is an area west of Mong Kok in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The mixed land use of industrial and residential is present in the old area. The Cosmopolitan Dock and oil depots were previously located there. Blocks of high-rise residential ...

residents said the railway would cause unbearable noise pollution to residents in some districts and could cause a number of old buildings with poor foundations to collapse.New front opens in fight against hi-speed rail link
, ''The Standard'' (4 January 2010) A number of different groups, ranging from environmentalists to the affected villagers, oppose the project for different reasons. With regular demonstrations, the collection of signatures and various other forms of protest, they are trying to raise awareness among the population and to exert pressure upon the respective politicians. By the end of June 2009, more than 10,000 signatures opposing plans for the railway had been collected.
''South China Morning Post'', (28 June 2009) (third party link) Doubts have also been cast on the official projections and plans for the national rail link. While the rail link is officially needed to connect to the high-speed national rail network at Shibi, Guangzhou, reports show that nearly 80% of the trains will actually end in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern provi ...

.Most trains will stop short of new mega hub
''South China Morning Post'' (16 September 2009) (third party link) Hong Kong's

Pro-democracy camp The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...

has said that the project will only benefit developers.HK protesters fight police over new Guangzhou railway
, ''Taipei Times'', retrieved on 16 January 2010. Meanwhile, Mirana Szeto, a member of the Stop XRL Alliance compared the civil opposition to the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

in Beijing some 20 years earlier. They want the government to stop collusion and corruption, and wanted to fight for democracy. The Professional Commons, a think tank of the

Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) is a pro-democracy liberal political party in Hong Kong. It is currently chaired by barrister Alan Leong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Basic Law Article 45 Concern Group, which was derived from the ...

, has reportedly exposed many flaws in the project using testimonials from rail experts. According to some government members, who opted for a purely generational analysis of the phenomenon, many among the younger generations feel helpless in today's society where it is impossible to move forward or up.. However, other observers regard them as a new civil force bringing along a positive project for Hong Kong. Via its discourse on a more inclusive developmental approach, an encompassing form of democracy and the decolonisation of the territory it has developed during its various urban campaigns, the movement is regarded as striving for the emancipation of both the city and the citizen. Cultural critic Law Wing-sang regards the opposition to the Guangzhou-Hong Kong Express Rail Link as the first step of the collapse of the dominant ideology and analyses the movement as having initiated the process of decolonisation for Hong Kong, where local economic elites and colonizers have historically worked hand in hand with each other, in what he termed collaborative colonial power.Law Wing-seng, Collaborative colonial power, The Making of the Hong Kong Chinese, Hong Kong University Press, 2009

Ma Ngok Ngok Ma () is a Hong Kong political scientist. Education Ma was educated at the Wah Yan College, Kowloon and graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) with bachelor degrees in Journalism and later master in Politics. He obtained ...

, another prominent political observer, also supported the protesters, and regarded the "black box" process through which the project of the Rail Link was arrived at as epitomising the structural governance problem of the Hong Kong administration.

Final approval

The pro-establishment lawmakers who form a majority in the legislature approved the funding at 31 votes to 21 in 2010, with 30 pro-establishment members and 1 pro-democracy member voted for it, with 21 pro-democracy members voted against it. The government's HK$2 billion compensation for affected residents was approved 30–0, as pan-democratic lawmakers stormed out in protest.

References

External links

NowTV video report of demonstrations at Government HouseSiege of LegCo, by reporter and blogger dm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Opposition to the Guangzhou-Hong Kong Express Rail Link 2009 in Hong Kong 2010 in Hong Kong Political protests in Hong Kong History of Hong Kong Protests in China Rail transport in Hong Kong