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Oct. 1 marked the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party regime. Under the “Hong Kong National Security Law,” protests have disappeared in Hong Kong. However, Hongkongers have held demonstrations against the CCP in the UK, the U.S., Canada, Taiwan, and other places. Demonstrations took were held in many places in the UK, a popular immigration country for Hong Kong people.
There were rallies or demonstrations in more than ten cities including London, Birmingham, Bristol, and Liverpool to denounce the CCP’s suppression of the human rights of Hongkongers, Tibetans, and Uyghurs; and to criticize the CCP for infiltrating the UK and other countries.
Hongkongers, Tibetans, and Uyghurs March Together in London
“Hong Kong Aid UK”, “Power to Hongkongers” and Tibetan organizations “Free Tibet”, “Tibetan Community UK”, “Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities,” Uyghur organizations “Stop Uyghur Genocide,” “Uyghurs Ukuc” and “World Uyghur Congress” co-organized “Resist The CCP Day Joint London Rally” at 6 p.m., on Oct.1 marching from Piccadilly Circus in the city center to the Chinese Embassy.Before the protest started, Hongkonger Catherine criticized the CCP for its continuous oppression of Hongkongers, Tibetans, and Uyghurs. And this is the second protest jointly organized by various ethnic groups since 2021. She also called on the public to join in the signature signing, urging various British cities to terminate their relationship with sister cities in China.
“Sever the sister city relationship with China—Global Joint Campaign” began on July 1. The official page stated that because organizations worldwide have successively expressed their demands to the local government to cut off the relationship of sister cities with CCP, many cities in the UK also started the campaign on Oct. 1., and held joint actions to present a petition to local governments in different formats and to collect public opinion.
The joint petition also advocates the establishment of an independent advisory committee by the British government to provide guidelines on local city diplomacy, and a national public consultation to investigate whether the Chinese Communist Party is using city cooperation for economic and cultural infiltration.
The organizer of the march, Hong Kong Aid, said that while more and more persecuted communities are fleeing to the safety of Western countries, the Chinese Communist Party has not stopped suppressing the dissenting peoples and cultures. Instead, it has increased its efforts to infiltrate free countries—from parliamentarians to student organizations, from chambers of commerce to trade unions, and even by setting up offices of public security bureaus outside China, so as to continue to monitor and sabotage the actions of the dissidents, extending the claws of oppression to every corner of the world.
The protesters finally succeeded in demonstrating at the entrance of the Chinese Embassy, and they placed the Chinese National Flag with suspected faces and maggots on the ground and burned them.
Later, the British police dispatched reinforcements to help protesters block the road in front of the Embassy as a demonstration area, and searched one of the protesters, but no one was arrested in the end.
A-shan, a middle-aged woman, was ready at the meeting point at 5 p.m. on Oct. 1. She also participated in the Oct. 1 demonstration in London in 2021. She hoped that the demonstration can gather the strength of more people and alert more people to be aware of the threat of the CCP.
In addition, the CCP is no longer the world’s factory and lacks its previous appeal. Therefore, she hoped that the Western society can re-examine whether to continue to “be afraid of the CCP. ‘’
Finn Lau, Hong Kong social activist, also called “Laam Caau Baa”, told The Epoch Times that sister-cities is a tool for the CCP’s infiltration. Taking Nottingham, a popular city for immigrants from Hong Kong as an example, the CCP established a Confucius Institute in the city. It is not an isolated example. London and Beijing, Manchester and Wuhan and so on all have sister-city relationships. So he hoped that through the joint signature, the British MPs could be urged to take action to sever the ties with their sister cities.
Lau also hoped that the British government could provide guidance to local governments in the UK on the sister-city matters and set up a public hearing.
Silent Protests in Southern UK
Hongkongers’ organizations in four towns in southern England, including Reading, Guildford, Kingston, and Sutton, jointly launched a silent protest “Resist Chinese Communist Party, Stop China’s Infiltration in the UK” . About 200 participants dressed in black and stood in silence in the city center of the four cities.
They wore masks symbolizing the “claws of the CCP” and carried boards that listed reasons for the arrest of Hong Kong people and examples of the CCP’s infiltration in the UK. The contents of the boards focused on the deprivation of Hong Kong people’s rights in recent years, so that local people in the UK would become aware of the situation in Hong Kong and be alert to the CCP’s infiltration in the UK.
Many local British people stopped to read and learn from the volunteers present. At the same time, volunteers collected signatures on the street to urge the British city governments to dissolve their sister-city relationship with China.
After the silent protest, Hongkongers organized “Reading UK Stands with Hong Kong” to hold a rally outside Reading Town Hall. The host criticized the CCP for infiltrating the UK and called on Hongkongers to explain to their neighbours, colleagues, and friends more about the CCP’s threat to them.
The organizer arranged for some participants to tear up CCP flags to express their dissatisfaction with the CCP.
Chung Kim-wah, scholar and former Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute Deputy Chief Executive, mentioned in his speech that although the number of participants of Hongkongers in the UK’s protests is difficult to compare with that in previous protests in Hong Kong, it is very important to pass down the messages from generation to generation. He appealed to Hongkongers living in places of freedom to continue to participate in local rallies and make their voices heard.
He believed that many people will not regard Oct. 1 as a “celebration day,” but this date is still meaningful because it allows everyone to reflect on what the CCP stands for.
Chung also mentioned that in addition to the many young people arrested and imprisoned in Hong Kong, young people are also subjected to “brainwashing education” in schools full of lies.
Benson Wong Wai-kwok, a scholar of Hong Kong cultural studies and politics, analyzed in his speech that political parties in the UK seem not to pay enough attention to the threat and infiltration of the CCP. There is no figure in British politics similar to Pompeo in the U.S., and the British media do not pay much attention to the news about China. The reason behind this may be that there is no direct geopolitical conflict in China.
In addition, Wong recalled that when he came to the UK one or two years ago, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many shops were closed. At that time, the news reported that half of the residents in a nursing home had died. He believed that the British needed to hold someone accountable for this “debt of blood.”
Finally, he called on participants to think about what Hongkongers can do to “end” the dictatorship of the CCP and its attacks on Taiwan.
At the end of the rally, the participants sang the song “Glory to Hong Kong,” which was always sung in the 2019 Hong Kong protests.
The Epoch Times interviewed one of the participants “Mr. K” at the scene.
Mr. K said that he would never forget the harm done to Hongkongers by the Hong Kong government and the CCP in recent years. Participating in the rally is a good opportunity to remind himself and the international community of the CCP’s persecution of people. He believed that overseas Hongkongers should continue to make their voice heard, otherwise those who stay in Hong Kong will feel lonely.
In Solidarity with Ukraine and the Iranian People
In Birmingham, a city in Midlands England, the Hongkongers’ organization “Birmingham Hongkongers,” the Church of Good Neighbour England, Hongkongers in Britain, former Hong Kong Shatin District Councillor Yau Man-chun and Rick Hui Yui-yu co-organized “Sever the Sister City Relationship with China, Global Joint Campaign” marches and rallies, shouting slogans such as “Condemn CCP” and “Detwin with China".Birmingham
A Hongkonger seeking asylum in the UK spoke at the rally, saying that he missed the spirit of helping each other during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and hoped that Hongkongers living in the UK can continue to uphold that spirit and support each other.Teresa, a mother, also delivered a speech at the rally, saying that she does not want her children to grow up in Hong Kong, where right and wrong are confused, and to be “brainwashed” by the CCP.
So she would rather give up the opportunity to make money and live life in Hong Kong and move to the UK. She believed that there is infiltration of the CCP everywhere, and Hongkongers must take a clear stand against totalitarianism.
In order to show solidarity with the oppressed people in Ukraine and Iran, the organizer arranged for two of their representatives to speak at the rally.
The representative of Ukraine recalled that prior to 2014, Ukrainians treated Russia as an ally, but that illusion was shattered after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. When Russia invaded Ukraine again this year, the Ukrainians were determined that the invaders must be completely expelled, otherwise, it would only lead to more aggression and oppression.
The representative of Iran said that the CCP and Russia are behind Iran’s tyranny that recklessly exploits the freedoms of Iranians. He believed that the world needs peace and tolerance, and called on people everywhere to unite against totalitarianism.
