Hong Kong activist Lui Yuk-lin stages solo protest on Handover anniversary

HKFP

2 days ago

Activist Lui Yuk-lin staged a one-person protest in Causeway Bay on Tuesday, as Hong Kong marked the 28th anniversary of its Handover to China with celebrations across the city.
Arriving at Victoria Park at around 3.45pm, the activist wore a Chinese sign reading, 'Hong Kong people are very sad.'
She chanted slogans to protest the government's imported labour schemes, which have attracted workers – mostly from mainland China – to work in the city.
'Stop importing labour. Increase employment [opportunities] for [local] workers,' she chanted in Cantonese.
Lui – known as 'Female Long Hair' for having similar political ideals to ex-lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, himself nicknamed 'Long Hair' – also held up a clay pot. She said it symbolised how imported labour schemes were affecting the livelihoods of Hong Kong people.
Plainclothes and uniformed police officers, including those from the force's media liaison department, followed and filmed the activist as she walked through the park.
She questioned why there were so many officers watching her, saying that she was not violent and would not attack anybody.
Victoria Park was the site of a Handover celebration on Tuesday, a public holiday commemorating the former British colony's return to China.
Parts of the park were booked out by the Hong Kong Celebrations Association, which set up installations – including giant egg tarts and mini panda sculptures – for people to take pictures with.
A small exhibition displayed photos of key landmarks in Hong Kong and the years they were built. Among those highlighted were Golden Bauhinia Square in 1997, the Avenue of Stars in 2004, West Kowloon Station, which connects Hong Kong to the mainland, in 2018, and Kai Tak Stadium this year.
Lui did not set foot in those parts of the park, which were cordoned off by security checks.
Speaking under a sheltered area opposite the clothing store H&M on Paterson Street, where Lui walked after it started raining, the activist told reporters that Hongkongers were struggling to get by in the poor economy.
Many businesses, like theatres and restaurants, had been forced to shut, she said.
Lui said the government should force landlords to lower their rents by 50 per cent so that people could hold on to their jobs. Authorities should also offer retirement benefits, she added.
Monday marked five years since Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong following a year of protests and unrest sparked by a controversial extradition law.
Prior to 2020, the park was the starting point of pro-democracy marches on the Handover anniversary, during which civil society groups walked from Causeway Bay to Central to call for democracy.
Dozens of groups, however, have disbanded since June 2020. On Sunday, the League of Social Democrats (LSD), a political party co-founded by Leung, announced that it would dissolve due to 'tremendous political pressure.'
The demise of the LSD makes it the third major pro-democracy party to meet its end in recent years. The Civic Party folded in March 2024, and the Democratic Party, the city's largest opposition group with a history of three decades, announced in February that it would begin steps to disband.