Protesters in Hong Kong are planning a “marathon-style” consulate blitz tomorrow, saying they will deliver letters to the offices of 19 foreign governments tomorrow calling on them to push for a discussion of the situation in Hong Kong at the upcoming G20 summit in Osaka.
According to Stand News, the activity is being organized by the “626 consulate petitioning group” on Telegram, which currently boasts about 400 members. The encrypted app has been a favorite of protesters seeking to mobilize groups of supporters in a movement that is largely without visible leadership.
Organizers told participants to wear black, and to gather at Chater Garden in Central at 9am on Wednesday. After assembling, the group will deliver the letters to 19 consulates in Central and Wan Chai.
Meanwhile activists plan various events in HK on 6.26 to coincide with G20 meetings. This one looks fun: “G20 Anti-extradition marathon-style petitioning of 18 countries’ consulates” – with route map. https://t.co/t2IDMDPzSO pic.twitter.com/FV8wbbt7IL
— Antony Dapiran (@antd) June 24, 2019
The first stops will be the US and British consulates, then the European Union Office, after which the group will split in two. One group will cover consulates in the Wan Chai area, including Italy, Australia, and Indonesia. The other group will cover those in the Central area, including Japan, Germany, Canada, and India consulates.
Once the so-called marathon is over, participants are encouraged to take a break ahead of what is likely to be a much larger rally organized by the Civil Human Rights Front at Edinburgh Place at 8pm. The CHRF has been behind two massive marches, together comprising millions of people, that brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill as marchers called for a controversial extradition bill to be fully scrapped.
In a copy of what appears to be a form letter, this one addressed to US Consul General Kurt Tong, the group acknowledges that the G20 is primarily “a platform for international leaders and experts to discuss policies pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.”
It goes on to note that the extradition bill — which would allow renditions to mainland China — “not only threatens Hong Kong citizens but endangers [American] employers and employees in Hong Kong as well.”
“Hong Kong is a stepping stone to the Chinese market and passing the Extradition Bill directly threatens Hong Kong’s autonomy and it will force [American] and foreign businesses and investments to retreat,” the letter adds.
However, raising the topic of Hong Kong at the G20 summit may prove to be a thorny proposition.
Yesterday Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun appeared to quash that possibility, saying the G20 was focused on economic issues, and that China would not allow discussion of Hong Kong, even though US President Donald Trump plans to raise the situation in a meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Tomorrow’s planned protest will be just the latest in a series of smaller-scale, guerilla-style protests that have sprung up in response to the government’s refusal to fully withdraw the extradition bill in spite of the enormous protests starting June 9.
On top of demanding the withdrawal of the controversial bill, protesters have also called on police to retract the use of the word “riot” to refer to a chaotic protest on June 12, and for authorities to drop charges against those arrested in the clashes that day.
Yesterday, a group of about a hundred protesters occupied two government buildings in Wan Chai in a failed bid to force them to shut down yesterday afternoon, and protesters on Friday surrounded police headquarters in Wan Chai for some 15 hours.
Today, however, the streets were largely quiet as of press time.
