In solidarity with Hong Kong students I went to the demonstration in London, Stand Up With Hong Kong. The protest was no violent. There was hundreds of people gathered on Parliament Square, nearly all of them were wearing black clothes and black face masks. I decide to do some interviews to let the demonstrators to be heard on social media and connect them with people in Hong Kong to let them know that they are not alone in this battle. Some of them did not want to named or photographed, none of them wanted to show their faces.
“I grew up in Hong Kong and I’m trying to fight for my friends. I’m hoping that the UK government will address the issue. We are trying to get more recognition here in London. We want British politicians realise that they do have very important role and they do have responsibilities towards Hong Kong citizens. Media in UK do cover the situation in HK but still it is not enough. They do not show the dead bodies and there is no reports about increased number of suicides in Chinese prisons”
“Today I came to London to protest in solidarity with demonstrators from Hong Kong. I hope to make British government to take some actions to help HK people, defend democracy and fight for their freedom. Sino-British Joint Declaration is been ignored and avoided by China. It has been signed by both countries, but it has not been officially stated that it has been revoked. It will be very good if the HK residents could apply and get the British citizenship. I think there is a lot of coverage but it still not enough. There is a lot of pressure from businesses to cover protest, but media try to avoid how the protesters have been treated by the authorities. A lot of media show violence from both sides, but there is disproportion. It is the police who is escalating the brutality and causing the violence scenario. I do not see that this it has been highlighted in media. That could cause confusion and neutral approach from the observer. If you do paint a big picture of the situation it is the police who is causing majority of the problem. People from Hong Kong should get more support from other countries.”
“I’m here to protests against Chinese and Hong Kong government, they shuld start listening to the people. In my opinion the British government could do more to help protesters in Hong Kong. Also British authorities could put bigger sanction on everyone who is against democratic process in Hong Kong. I think some media are attacking protesters, and media cover is unbalanced, but in U.K. I can see balance showing both sides being violent.”
“ I’m here to stand with Hong Kong, I think HK is on the first line to confront Chinese power, but China has now influence all over the world. So I think, in democratic world we shall stand up with Hong Kong to protest against Chinese tyranny. China does not like democracy, does not like freedom. Chinese authorities oppress people in Tibet, in Taiwan, in Hong Kong and in some countries in Africa. I think we have to stand up together to protect our freedom. I think there is still many people who are not aware what is actually happening in Hong Kong. So, I’m hoping that today here on the streets we can spread the word about the situation in Hong Kong.We want to show to the protesters there that they are not alone and there is many people who are supporting them. Most of the media cover is focus on violence done by police towards protesters, but there is also news in favour to China.”
ROSIE AND STUDENT, NO NAME GIVEN
Rosie: “I’m here today because one of my friends from university is from Hong Kong. She told me what is happening back in her home, I came to support here and HK community. I’m hoping that as we are here there will be more people who will know what is the situation in Hong Kong. I did not follow media about this particular news, but I will definitely look into it now.”
ROSIE’S FRIEND: “I’m a student from Hong Kong and I’m here to support students from my home who are trying to fight and defend their rights given by basic law. I want to them to know that there is many people who are supporting them across the world, so they won’t feel alone.Hopefully this kind of demonstration can help U.K. government pay more attention to conflict in HK. British authorities have an ethical and historical obligations towards Hong Kong. Both sides, police and protesters, should start de-escalating the violence. This whole situation started causing a lot of stress and it is not good for the city and their residents. For Hong Kong media there is a lot of cover in favour for pro-protesters and they focus on police brutality. But they are also showing what protesters are doing, for instance attacking police with petrol bombs. Pro-government media are more focus on violence from protesters and how much police has been injured. And Chinese media, they are making up the stories, for instance they spread rumours that protesters are holding kids in hostage. these kind of media cover is not helpful at all. There is also overuse of emotional and provocative words. In Western media the news are pretty much balanced, they are using the critical point of view.”
