Dozens of protesters have marched to foreign consulates to ask them not to interfere in Hong Kong affairs.
They gathered at Chater Garden in Central and walked to the US consulate, EU office, the British consulate and the German consulate on Wednesday morning.
The demonstrators held banners that read “Hong Kong belongs to China,” “Stop ruining Hong Kong,” and “Stop interfering in HK affairs,” among others.
The spokesperson of the group, who only gave his surname as Lam, said the march was organised online and around 200 people joined.
He said the march was a response to another rally organised on Wednesday when anti-extradition bill protesters marched to 19 consulates to submit petition letters. They called for foreign support ahead of the G20 summit in Japan on Friday.
“They asked the US to liberate Hong Kong – this is unacceptable. Most Hong Kong people, including those who are here with us, believe that Hong Kong belongs to China, and foreign countries should not interfere in our internal affairs,” Lam said.
“The US government unusually expressed opinions about Hong Kong frequently over the past two months… are there any ulterior motives? You can tell,” he said. “The US wants to use Hong Kong to beat China in the trade war.”
The three foreign consulates and the EU office each sent a representative to receive their petition letters.
Foreign officials and governments have previously expressed concern over the controversial bill.
The bill was first proposed in February to allow the city to handle case-by-case extradition requests from jurisdictions with no prior agreement. However, there have been mass protests and widespread criticism over the risk of residents being extradited to mainland China, which lacks human rights protections. The bill was suspended after huge demonstrations, but has not been axed.
Protesters are set to hold another rally outside the Legislative Council on Friday at 7pm, to lobby G20 leaders to raise concerns about Hong Kong at the leaders’ summit and urge for democracy.
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— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) June 28, 2019
An anti-extradition law protest, to coincide with the G20 meeting, will be held on Friday night outside the legislature.
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