1 July mass protest, the biggest in years

Upon HK’s entering 15th year under China rule, thousands of people here marched to air their grievances and anger towards new Chief Executive CY Leung, the interference of Beijing officials in HK affairs, the lack of democracy, and a host of other issues.

There were so many people to join the rally which started at 3pm that the last batch of people waiting at Victoria Park to start could not do so until 6pm. At 8pm, Admiralty Station, the nearest MTR station to the Government Headquarters where the march ended, were still jammed with protesters finishing the march.The rally organizer put the number at 400,000, but the police said there were about 60,000 people gathering in Victoria Park  to join the march. The police always underestimated the number so their number could be ignored. Some academics estimated that there were about 98,000 to 11,200. Whatever the number, the turn out was the largest in years.

The rally saw CY Leung being the target of all, whose wolf images were put up everywhere along the route of march in mockery of his slyness. This is one of them, combing hello kitty and his wolf image given that he has cited Hello Kitty in clearing his responsibility in being found illegal structures in his house.

On his first day in office, people shouted “down with CY Leung”:

The fear of impending communist rule in HK was very palpable. This poster in Chinese reads: Our last generation came to HK to avoid Communist Party. Please do not let our next generation come under the devil’s rule again.

I was touched by these quite scenes among the fanfare: A foreign woman holding a poster, she did not say anything, just holding high a phone, beckoning the protesters to go to their website (www.governmenthill.org) to send email to the authority to preserve Government Hill.This man was standing on the side of the street, holding two posters up, which read: strong request the set up of a performance street. He is an artist.

Drawings in memory of China dissident Li Wang Yang:

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