With Hong Kong still reeling from an unruly demonstration on Monday that left the Legislative Council battered and vandalized, opponents of the city’s controversial extradition bill are calling for yet another protest on Sunday, this time in Kowloon.
Eschewing the busy shopping and business districts on Hong Kong Island where previous protests have taken place, Sunday’s rally would begin at the Tsim Sha Tsui harborfront and end with an assembly inside the West Kowloon high-speed rail station — itself a controversial site after a lengthy legislative and legal battle to oppose plans to allow mainland Chinese law to be applied inside the terminus.
Activists first called for the march yesterday in a post on the forum LIHKG, saying that despite “feeling exhausted after the July 1 protest,” Hongkongers should try other methods of spreading their message.
In addition to its symbolic value as a mainland China’s literal foothold in Hongkong, the West Kowloon station was chosen for the large numbers of mainland tourists who pass through it every day. Media coverage on the mainland has so far sought to either downplay Hong Kong’s anti-extradition protests, or cast them as “mob violence.”
By “spreading the anti-extradition message to Chinese tourists,” mainlanders will take home a better understanding of the situation in Hong Kong, organizers claim.
However, the march isn’t set in stone. According to an update post published at around 3:10pm today, the organizer said they still have yet to receive the “no objection letter” from the police green-lighting the event. Negotiations with the police about the route are still ongoing, with police suggesting a 4pm starting time and organizers agreeing.
The MTR, meanwhile, has objected to having an assembly inside the station due to safety concerns, with organizers saying they are currently negotiating whether they can use the station as a dismissal point instead.
