Pro-democracy activists hung a yellow banner with the words “I want genuine universal suffrage” on Hong Kong’s famous Lion Rock mountain peak on the morning of its small-circle chief executive election.
The banner was a symbol of the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy protests, and was first hung on Lion Rock – considered a symbol of Hong Kong – on October 23. That autumn, protesters filled the streets for 79 days to call for the reform of the city’s election system. Sunday’s leadership election will be decided by a committee of only 1,194 electors.
Photo: Apple Daily.
Chairman Avery Ng of the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats said his fellow party members were responsible for putting up the banner, reported digital media outlet Stand News.
Photo: Apple Daily.
The same banner was also flown from a hillside near Lion Rock last May, when Chinese state leader Zhang Dejiang visited Hong Kong.
Banner from May 2016. Photo: Apple Daily.
Police have so far not removed Sunday’s banner, but the previous banners were removed within hours of being discovered.
The banners during the Occupy protests. Photo: HKFP.
The small-circle election will be held on Sunday from 9am to 11am. Candidates are former chief secretary Carrie Lam – heavily rumoured to be favoured by Beijing, the popular former financial secretary John Tsang, and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing.
Follow HKFP’s live blog of the chief executive election here.
