Hundreds of Hong Kong pro-democracy supporters holding yellow umbrellas held three minutes’ silence outside the city’s government offices yesterday to mark the second anniversary of mass protests challenging Beijing.
The anniversary of the “Umbrella Revolution” comes as tensions remain high in the semi-autonomous city, with fears growing that China is tightening its grip.
Huge rallies in 2014 demanding fully free leadership elections and other democratic reforms for Hong Kong brought parts of the city to a standstill for more than two months. Those demands were snubbed by Beijing, but since then former Umbrella Movement protesters have won seats as city lawmakers.
Some of them are now pushing for a complete break from China as the fledgling independence movement gains support.
Former Umbrella Movement protest leader Nathan Law, 23, became Hong Kong’s youngest legislator in the recent citywide elections.
He now advocates self-determination for Hong Kong and was due to address crowds later yesterday.
At 5:58pm (0958 GMT) those gathered held three minutes’ silence to mark the time two years ago when police fired tear gas at student-led pro-democracy protesters.
Activists hold yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the pro-democracy movement, as they observe three minutes of silence to mark the moment tear gas was used by police on the same day in 2014, in front of the government headquarters in Hong Kong yesterday.
