Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying spent his birthday at meetings with state officials in mainland China, as Hongkongers protested against him back in the city.
Leung, who turned 61 on Wednesday, travelled to Zhuhai, Guangdong, on the same day to discuss the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge development with Zhuhai Municipal Committee Secretary Li Jia.
A video shot by online media Resistance Live showed protesters setting up an altar in Mong Kok for Leung. Banners next to a photo of Leung read, “Die as soon as you can and rot in hell forever.”
Leung’s birthday coincided with the first day of the Hungry Ghost Festival, a traditional Taoist festival that occurs in the seventh month of the lunar calendar.
People were seen throwing eggs and “hell money”—made out of joss paper and commonly used as an offering to the deceased in Chinese culture—at the altar.
Leung’s approval rating dropped to 39.2 marks, more than five marks below the 45 points threshold used as a credibility crisis indicator, according to the latest poll released on Tuesday by HKU’s Public Opinion Programme.
