Veteran Hong Kong activist Koo Sze-yiu vows to continue protesting after recent release from jail
Hong Kong Free Press
An elderly Hong Kong activist who recently completed a jail term for a sedition offence has vowed to continue protesting, including on China’s upcoming National Day.
Koo Sze-yiu and other activists protested outside the Japanese consulate on Wednesday, which marked the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden incident, which preceded Japan’s invasion of China in 1931. Japanese soldiers set off an explosion on a railway near the Chinese city of Mukden and blamed it on Chinese dissidents as a pretext for invading Manchuria.
Pro-Beijing groups have held similar protests on the anniversary to denounce Japanese militarism. On Wednesday, patriotic groups also held memorial events including talks and a concert to mark the date.
According to local media reports, Koo and around 10 activists marched from the General Post Office in Central to the consulate holding a banner that read: “Don’t forget September 18.” Outside the consulate, they demanded that Japan apologise for the invasion and make reparations to China.
The activists were members of the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, a concern group named for an assertion of Chinese sovereignty over the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed by Japan and known as the Senkaku Islands. Also present at the protest was Tsang Kin-shing, a member of pro-democracy party League of Social Democrats, and elderly activist Lui Yuk-lin.
Police held up orange tape to cordon off the activists from the public as they marched. There were no clashes with police, but when Lui displayed the protest banner, officers warned her of littering, media outlet Channel C reported.
The protest was Koo’s first since he was released from jail two weeks ago after serving a nine-month sentence for a sedition offence over never-materialised plans to protest last year’s opposition-free District Council race. That conviction was Koo’s 14th.
The veteran activist told InMedia that he had not been put off protesting. He said he planned to protest outside China’s Liaison Office, Beijing’s top organ in Hong Kong, on October 1. The date marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, known as National Day, and will see city-wide offers including public transport discounts and half-price movie tickets to celebrate the date.
Koo said there were “plenty of chances” for him to go to jail. The activist, who last December was handed a HK$6,000 fine over breaching fire safety regulations for placing a coffin – Koo’s signature protest prop – in the corridor of an industrial building, hence blocking escape routes, said he would not be paying the penalty, InMedia reported. He said he would opt to be jailed instead, and expected to serve a two-week sentence.
With dozens of civil society groups disbanding in the wake of Beijing’s national security law in 2020, Hong Kong has not had major demonstrations in recent years. The city still sees occasional petitions outside government buildings, but they are often small in scale and heavily policed.
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