A civic organization in Hong Kong, the League of Social Democrats (LSD), set up a booth within a pedestrian zone in Causeway Bay on Aug. 6, distributing publications with the words “disobedience” and explaining various social issues to the public. This group has been prosecuted many times by the Hong Kong government. In order to avoid being charged again by the authorities for illegally displaying banners, it hangs a black cloth on its booth as a “scripture without words.”
The issues raised by the LSD include the government’s proposed HK$2 trillion (US$260 billion) spending to develop artificial islands and the northern metropolis, population aging, and people’s livelihood. Before the implementation of the national security law, these issues in Hong Kong were widely discussed in the public domain. But today, such space for free speech in Hong Kong has been severely reduced.
