Dozens of activists from the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats party marched from the HSBC headquarters to the former government offices in Central. The group intended to go to Government House where Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was set to have a dinner with visiting Chinese state leader Zhang Dejiang at around 6:30pm.
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Avery Ng. Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
Zhang – China’s no. 3 official – arrived in the city on Tuesday to attend a Belt and Road Initiative summit hosted by the government.
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Avery Ng and Leung Kwok-hung protest against Zhang. Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
Leading the protest was the party’s chairman Avery Ng Man-yuen who — along with three other members – were released by police after being arrested at a protest earlier on Tuesday.
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Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
“Zhang’s visit was disrupting our daily lives, and we felt that China was not sincere in implementing genuine universal suffrage in Hong Kong,” Ng said.

See also: Hongkongers stage mini acts of resistance as Chinese state leader arrives.

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Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
The group began the march at around 5:45pm. They chanted “No to Belt and Road Initiative”, “end Chinese dictatorship”,”universal suffrage in China”, “release Liu Xiaobo”, “Release all political prisoners”, “Zhang Dejiang go to hell”, “I want genuine universal suffrage” and “Leung Chun-ying step down” as they moved along Garden Road.
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Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
They also accused Zhang of being a “SARS murderer”, claiming that – when Zhang was in charge of Guangdong Province in 2003 – he tried to cover up the SARS pandemic in China as it spread to Hong Kong, costing 299 lives.
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Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
However, they were stopped at the former government offices on Lower Albert Road.
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Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
Police officers scuffled with protesters as they attempted to push through to Government House.
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Bull Tsang. Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
As a stalemate set in, protesters said they wished to walk back along Garden Road at 6:35pm. However, police officers would not allow them to pass, saying Garden Road was blocked.

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The protesters then read out a statement condemning Zhang’s visit, and said they wished to leave.
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Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
“No matter how the police try to erase our voice of opposition, I believe many Hongkongers will use their own methods to express their discontent towards the Chinese Communist regime,” Ng said.
zhang protest
Photo: Kris Cheng/HKFP.
By 7:30pm, protesters were allowed to leave the area.

Kris Cheng is a Hong Kong journalist with an interest in local politics. His work has been featured in Washington Post, Public Radio International, Hong Kong Economic Times and others. He has a BSSc in Sociology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Kris is HKFP's Editorial Director.