On June 13, a rally and memorial service for the 1-year anniversary of Hong Kong pro-democracy movement will be held respectively at 2pm in Aotea Square, and 3:30pm at St Andrews Church, Auckland. These are organized by New Zealand Concern Group for Hong Kong Extradition Law with the theme of “Tears of June, The Outcry of Freedom”.
The events will be coordinated with 15 other assemblies, taking place in over 7 countries around the world. Hong Kong protesters and witnesses from the Tiananmen Square Massacre will be sharing their tragic experiences, followed by prayers and messages from a pastor.
“It is heartbreaking to see our families and friends in Hong Kong, who risk their lives to protect the city’s freedom and democracy, are rewarded by the injustice of police brutality,” said Wong, one of the organizers of the rally. “People in Hong Kong have not given up their fight and they need the help from other countries including New Zealand to stand up against the authoritarian Chinese government.”
Hong Kong for the past year has been embroiled in anti-government protests, with escalating violence and anger on all sides. On 9 June 2019, estimated one million people took to the streets of Hong Kong, with one objective – for the government to withdraw a controversial extradition bill. As the Hong Kong government blatantly ignores the demands of its citizens, peaceful rallies quickly descended into violent clashes with the police. To this day, only one of the five demands laid out by the protesters has been met.
Recently, the Chinese government has doubled down on suppression by bypassing the Hong Kong legislature to make a national security law for Hong Kong. Wong explains that the law declares the death of “one country, two systems”, giving Beijing absolute ruling of the city. More than 200 parliamentarians and policymakers from 23 countries have voiced their condemnation against the law, including Simeon Brown MP, Marama Davidson MP and Simon O’Connor MP.
