40, 40, a Hong Konz said a Kong not to use his real name, “For more than 10 years, protests from July 1 – running on the streets for universal victims and other demands, running in familiar faces, finishing the day with a drink or dinner. It felt that it felt like trying to build a better society.”
July 1 is the date when the UK rule in Hong Kong ended and the city rebuilt China in 1997, in which Beijing Plying gave it widespread autonomy under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy.
For many years, Hong Kong’s liberal citizens marched against what he saw as a government on 1 July. But Beijing was uncontrolled – in the summer of 2020, the authorities implemented the National Security Act, suddenly shook the space for public expression. Then, in 2024, Hong Kong strengthened the shift with Article 23, which expands the power of the police, allows for closed tests, and focuses on treason, treason and state mysteries.
The new law used almost all possibilities for protest. For Chief Executive John Lee, a change in thesis means that the city “has returned to normal condition.”
“Stability has been restored,” Lee insisted.
“I stopped leaving in 2020, when March was no longer allowed. Now it is just red flags and celebrations. It is probably the number that feels numbness – just another holiday,” Vinz told DW. “Turning back, it seems almost romantic – that we once believed that we could ask the government for change.”
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the National Security Act, the last active Pro Democracy Group of 1-Hong Kong, the League of Social Democrats, announced its discovery.
“Many of us have already served time,” said the group’s chair, Chan Po -sing. “We are not continuing because we were strong in numbers – we were going because we believed for whom we stood.”
Chan said, “The sake of our members and who stand with us,” said, “We have to make this painful decision.”
Even the annual flag raising ceremony is now close to the public. The presence is prohibited for government officials and participants. Some demonstrations have been pre-recorded. The entry scene is tightly managed.
A group of students stated that they were taken to a stadium in Hung Home to record a performance for 1 July. “The teacher said that there would be no audience. The security is more,” a teenage artist said.
His school partner surprised: “Real? I didn’t know what was for 1 July.”
Another couple, slowly: “Wait, what is 1 July?”
Across the city, the imagination of patriotism fills public places – in transport hubs, museums, shopping malls. Along with Victoria Harbor, fishing ships Hong Kong participate in a cruise tour organized by fishermen’s consortium – a local fishermen’s union that works closely with the government department. Pro-seeding supporters wave their flags in the waterfront.
“I am not Chinese, but I feel very proud of Hong Kong and supports its development as part of China,” in the 40s a mother and professional said who had lived in the city for more than a decade. “There is a capacity for ‘a country’ to bring real coordination and community development. But I am worried that the way the National Security Act is implemented can eventually slow Hong Kong’s progress.”
Since 2019, more than 10,200 people have been arrested for pro -democracy protests. There are more than 300 detailed under national security charges. Thirteen prominent activists now live in exile, with reward on their heads.
Chan Po -sing of the disbanded league now describes political pressure as “overwelling” of social democrats.
Asked why the announcement came now, she stops: “We can only say – 無何奈何 – there was no other way.”
Nevertheless, activists say that their principles are unchanged – urge others to keep the flame of dissatisfaction alive. Somewhere else in the city, a protest slogan is barely visible under gender, paint layers. It seeps into the environment of control, which is called and what is remembered in the space.
Edited by: Darko Jenjeevic
