Hong Kong 818 incident
The Hong Kong 818 incident (
Li Keqiang's visit
On 16 August 2011 Li Keqiang began a three-day visit to promote development between Hong Kong and
On 18 August, the last day of the three-day visit, Li visited the University of Hong Kong as part of the university's 100th anniversary celebrations.
Incident
School lockdown
During Li's visit, the school was placed into lockdown by the police. Students and alumni were kept far away during his visit. Three students who attempted to approach Li were blocked by police and thrown to the ground:[6][7]
Students involved in the incident:
- Wong Kai-hing (黃佳鑫), of Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Tang Kin-wa (鄧建華), of Lingnan University
- Samuel Li Shing-hong (李成康) of University of Hong Kong
Samuel Li in particular was dragged off and locked up in a staircase for an hour.[8] According to Johannes Chan, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at HKU, keeping the students in the zone constituted false imprisonment and could be the basis for a civil suit against the police.[6]
Samuel Li argued that the school president did not care about the students and demanded an apology. Before the school president
In a statement to the HKU community, president Tsui admitted that the security arrangements could have been better planned and organised, and apologised to the university's students and alumni for not having been able to prevent the unhappy incident. He assured them that "the University campus belongs to students and teachers, and that it will always remain a place for freedom of expression".[9]
The ceremony
At 18 Aug ceremony, Li Keqiang was seated in the Chancellor's chair, a symbol of the highest authority in the university.[10][11]
David Wilson, one of the two keynote speakers (the other being Li Keqiang) and the second-to-last pre-handover governor of Hong Kong, was given a seat in the second row. In the introduction, Sir David was referred to only as an alumnus of HKU. The fact that he was both a former governor of Hong Kong and a former chancellor of HKU was not mentioned.[11]
August protests
About 48 hours after Li Keqiang's departure, 300 members of the Hong Kong Journalists Association dressed in black and protested outside the police headquarters in Central.[12]
On the night of 26 August, a group of 1000 teachers, students, and regular citizens gathered on the campus's Zhongshan square to protest against the 818 incident and conduct a candlelight vigil.[13] In response, school president Tsui claimed that the liberties and freedom of HKU and its students were not violated and that he would not participate in the rally.[13] The crowd started booing him and demanded he stepped down.[13] Following the protest at the square, a smaller group of 200 participants marched to the West District Police Station.[13]
About 270 HKU alumni purchased a full-page newspaper advertisement to condemn police security arrangements. The sponsors included former
Police testimony
During a meeting on 29 August, Andy Tsang said the students refused to leave, lingering in the staircase, and directed profanities at the officers.
3 September protest
A march was held from Wan Chai on 3 September against the action of the police. The protest had 800 people including those who wore V for Vendetta masks. Many citizens in the march were screaming for police commissioner Andy Tsang to step down.[16] The protest was set up by the post-80s generation.[17] A giant 8 x 20-metre black cloth was used to cover the front of the police headquarters. This signifies the dark shadow that is being cast and to satirise Tsang's "dark shadow/hand stuck" testimony in Legco.[18]
Further analysis said that the handling of the whole incident is a disappointment to the One country, two systems.[19] About whether civil rights were violated Henry Tang said "it was completely rubbish".[20] He has since been criticised about the statement made.
Other issues
Confusion arose initially as to whether the school had invited Li Keqiang to its campus or if he had invited himself.[5] School president Tsui Lap-chee later admitted in a public statement that he himself had invited Li.[5]
On 17 August, a day prior to the 818 incident, a
Also on 17 August, Leung Kwok-hung tried to get a demonstration going at the hotel where Li and Donald Tsang were having dinner.[22] Li Dak-wa (李德華), the driver of the protest van was supposed to transport equipment like microphones to the hotel. He was intercepted by the police and then surrounded by 5 to 6 policemen who forced him to do a public full inspection of his car.[23]
Not only were 2000 to 3000 police officers deployed for the visit, but a group of mystery men wearing black suits followed Li Keqiang around to protect him around the city.[12] No HK government official acknowledged the presence of these security agents.[12]
After the incident the special administrative chiefs Donald Tsang and
As an official function of HKU, the centenary ceremony should have been open to all HKU alumni. Yet only pro-Beijing camp members were invited. Missing was Anson Chan, who served as Chief Secretary both before and after the 1997 handover. Another was Martin Lee, a pro-democracy advocate.[11] Instead, the invited guests included real estate tycoons Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee, as well as casino tycoon Stanley Ho, who occupied front row seats,[12] this despite Li Keqiang naming Hong Kong's unaffordable housing as a key concern during his visit.[3][4]
In October 2011, school president
See also
References
- ^ Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang arrives in Hong Kong on 3-day visit
- ^ 马玉佳 (17 August 2011). "Li Keqiang expresses support to Hong Kong". China.org.cn. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "Li takes 'walk, look and listen' to hear concerns". The Standard. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ a b "李克强在机场发表讲话:希望尽可能多走走多看看多听听-时政-人民网". People's Daily. 16 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d South China Morning Post. 20 August 2011. HKU chief apologises on treatment of protesters.
- ^ a b South China Morning Post. 25 August 2011. HKU expert says protesters can sue.
- ^ "港大生控警禁錮理據足 – 新浪網 – 新聞". Sina Corp. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ a b South China Morning Post. 20 August 2011. HKU chief apologises on treatment of protesters.
- ^ Tsui, Lap-Chee. "About The University of Hong Kong Centenary Ceremony". The University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ "Vice-Premier Li Keqiang attends HKU centenary ceremony (with photos/videos)". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- ^ a b c "Hong Kong fears 'mainlandization'". China Post. Taiwan (ROC). 9 September 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "Asia Times Online :: Battle for Hong Kong University's soul". Asia Times. 1 November 2011. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c d 新聞. "港大人圍攻 徐立之含淚 千人校園悼自由 徐:完全支持學生 – 本港新聞 – MSN 新聞". MSN. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ a b South China Morning Post. 26 August 2011. 270 alumni condemn police security arrangements in newspaper.
- ^ South China Morning Post. 29 August 2011. Row over campus incident deepens
- ^ 香港新聞組香港4日電 (4 September 2011). "世界新聞網-北美華文新聞、華商資訊 – 反鷹抗暴遊行 黑影嗆警部". Worldjournal.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "AM730 香港免費派發的報紙 (Online Edition of am730)". Am730.com.hk. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ "新報網站". Hkdailynews.com.hk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ 香港新聞組香港2日電 (2 September 2011). "世界新聞網-北美華文新聞、華商資訊 – 促曾偉雄下台 「反鷹抗暴」要上街". Worldjournal.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "唐英年:完全垃圾 – 新浪網 – 新聞". Sina Corp. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ "Mad Dog hot under the collar again". The Standard. Hong Kong. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ 警嚴防示威 駕走長毛汽車檢查. Ming Pao (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- ^ "警嚴防示威 駕走長毛汽車檢查". Sina Corp. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- ^ "Asia Times Online :: China's Santa Claus shakes up Hong Kong". Asia Times. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "成報 www.singpao.com". Sing Pao. Retrieved 12 September 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "HKU Vice-Chancellor Professor Lap-Chee Tsui decides not to seek re-appointment Council to discuss the search process for successor". The University of Hong Kong. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.