Hongkongers came out in their masses for a second consecutive Sunday in defiance of a controversial extradition bill that has sparked protests, writes FG Asia’s Romil Patel from Hong Kong.
In historic scenes, the Civil Human Rights Front, which organised the march, claimed almost two million people took part on June 16, 2019. Police put the figure at 338,000.
A day earlier, Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive, Carrie Lam, said she would suspend the bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China to stand trial.
Hongkongers, however, wanted to see the bill scrapped entirely over mounting concerns about Beijing’s tightening grip on the former British colony. The “one country, two systems” arrangement – which guarantees Hong Kong a “high degree of autonomy” following the British handover in 1997 - is perceived by many to be under threat.
On Sunday, the protesters dressed in black and weaved their way through Hong Kong’s streets, keeping the pressure on Lam to step down as leader. She later apologised for the government's work that has “led to substantial controversies and disputes in society, causing disappointment and grief among the people”.
Protesters stayed out well into the night chanting and occasionally breaking into song. In more sobering scenes, they also clutched bouquets of flowers and handmade origami flowers and cranes to pay tribute to a demonstrator who fell to his death on Saturday night after unfurling a banner.
Silence pervaded the atmosphere on a grey and dreary Monday as people continued to pay their respects to the fallen protestor outside Pacific Place in Admiralty with handwritten notes and origami.
People also congregated outside Hong Kong’s legislature to continue to demand Lam’s resignation. Beijing has said that it continues to support Lam in comments made by Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, at a press briefing.
Hong Kong’s stocks rose in the aftermath of the protests, with the Hang Seng index rising by as much as 1.4% on Monday. By the midday break it was up 0.7%.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s protests on the outlook for Asia and how investors should maintain a cautious view through this period of uncertainty, Binay Chandgothia, a portfolio manager at Principal Portfolio Strategies, said: “Even before these developments, the outlook for Asia was challenging, given the ongoing slowdown in growth and ongoing worries about the impact of an escalation of trade tensions between US and China.
“We have dialed down our portfolio risks, reducing our equity allocations to Hong Kong/China and Asia generally and adding defensive bonds in the portfolio to tide over this period of uncertainty,” said Chandgothia.
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