Umbrella Movement Anniversary: 40 Powerful Photos of Pro-Democracy Protests that Shook Hong Kong
Umbrella Movement Anniversary: 40 Powerful Photos of Pro-Democracy Protests that Shook Hong Kong
This article originally appeared on International Business Times
One year ago, Hong Kong's streets were shut down by pro-democracy activists who occupied them for 79 days in what became known as the "Umbrella Movement." The protests were led by students and other activists who took to the streets to voice their opposition to Beijing's plan to restrict elections for the leader of the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
The protest was kicked off by students, led by Joshua Wong, who stormed into the government headquarters compound on 26 September. They were promptly arrested by the police. Two days later tens of thousands of supporters flooded onto a major highway in Hong Kong, blocking traffic, and stayed there despite police firing 87 rounds of tear gas in one day.
While largely peaceful, the size and duration of the protests – and the fact that they took place in full view of international media, who filmed the activists using umbrellas to defend themselves against police tear gas, pepper spray and batons – raised a serious challenge to China's Communist Party. The movement fizzled out as the government stuck to a hard line and authorities eventually cleared out all three protest camps.
As the Los Angeles Times reports:
"Much as the protests transfixed the world, they yielded no concessions from the local government in this semi-autonomous Chinese territory, or from Communist Party rulers in Beijing. Many of those who participated fell into a deep despondency; Wong himself called the mass movement 'a failure' that has plunged many a participant into 'an abyss of helplessness."
"He was in the crowd Monday evening as nearly 10,000 pro-democracy supporters regrouped in central Hong Kong to mark the one-year anniversary, many unfurling yellow umbrellas and chanting: 'Hong Kong won’t be the same again. Democracy defies gas bombs.'"
Here's a look back at 2014's Hong Kong Umbrella Movement pro-democracy protests in 40 powerful photos.
28 September 2014: Police officers stand in front of pro-democracy protesters during a demonstration in Hong KongXaume Olleros/AFP28 September 2014: A pro-democracy protester confronts the police during a demonstration in Hong KongXaume Olleros/AFP28 September 2014: A riot policeman uses pepper spray during clashes with protesters outside the government headquarters in Hong KongTyrone Siu/Reuters28 September 2014: A protester holds on to a fence as riot policemen fire tear gas to disperse protesters blocking the road leading to the financial district in Hong KongTyrone Siu/Reuters28 September 2014: Police fire tear gas on pro-democracy demonstrators near the Hong Kong government headquartersAaron Tam/AFP29 September 2014: Riot police fire tear gas to disperse protesters outside the government headquarters in Hong KongReuters28 September 2014: A pro-democracy demonstrator gestures after police fired tear gas towards protesters near the Hong Kong government headquartersXaume Olleros/AFP29 September 2014: Protesters hold their mobile phones up as they block the main street to the financial district in Hong KongCarlos Barria/Reuters30 September 2014: Protesters take cover from the rain under umbrellas outside the government headquarters in Hong KongCarlos Barria/Reuters30 September 2014: Protesters are reflected in a puddle as they block an area near the government headquartersCarlos Barria/Reuters1 October 2014: Joshua Wong, leader of the student movement, delivers a speech outside the government headquarters in Hong KongCarlos Barria/Reuters2 October 2014: A woman looks at notes left by pro-democracy protesters on a footbridge in Hong KongBobby Yip/Reuters3 October 2014: A pro-democracy protester working as medical volunteer sleeps in a makeshift supply area on a flyover in Hong KongAnthony Wallace/AFP3 October 2014: A man is held back by police as he screams at pro-democracy protesters to stop occupying an area of the Causeway Bay district of Hong KongAlex Ogle/AFP4 October 2014: Anti-Occupy Central protesters try to remove a barricade on a main street in Hong Kong's Mongkok shopping districtCarlos Barria/Reuters5 October 2014: Yau, 22, gets down on one knees to propose to his girlfriend Chen, 21, on a street in the Mongkok shopping district in Hong KongLiau Chung-ren/Reuters5 October 2014: A sculpture named Umbrella Man, by the Hong Kong artist known as Milk, is set up at a pro-democracy protest site next to the central government officesAlex Ogle/AFP9 October 2014: Anti-government protesters play table tennis on a main road in the Mongkok shopping districtTyrone Siu/Reuters11 October 2014: An art installation made with umbrellas is seen in a commercial area of Causeway Bay in Hong KongTyrone Siu/Reuters13 October 2014: Pro-democracy protesters use bamboo to strengthen a barricade blocking a major road in Hong KongAlex Ogle/AFP14 October 2014: Police officers stand guard to create a cordon on a street outside the Hong Kong government complexAnthony Kwan/Getty Images14 October 2014: Police remove a barricade at a protest site in Admiralty near the government headquarters in Hong KongCarlos Barria/Reuters14 October 2014: Policemen remove a barricade made from bamboo left by pro-democracy protesters on a main road leading to the financial Central district in Hong KongBobby Yip/Reuters14 October 2014: Police officers carry a sign that calls for "Genuine Universal Suffrage in HK" as they dismantle a pro-democracy protest barricade in Hong KongAlex Ogle/AFP15 October 2014: A pro-democracy protester reacts after being pepper-sprayed in the face in Hong KongAlex Ogle/AFP16 October 2014: Police use pepper spray as they clash with pro-democracy protesters at an area near the government headquarters building in Hong KongCarlos Barria/Reuters17 October 2014: Pro-democracy demonstrators face police during a standoff amid ongoing protests in the Mongkok district of Hong KongEd Jones/AFP17 October 2014: Pro-democracy protesters and bystanders gather around a police line in the Mongkok district of Hong KongEd Jones/AFP17 October 2014: Police charge towards pro-democracy protesters during clashes in the Mongkok districtEd Jones/AFP17 October 2014: A local Hong Kong journalist collapses in agony after being hit in the face with pepper spray in the Mongkok district of Hong KongAlex Ogle/AFP24 October 2014: A pro-democracy supporter dressed as Spider-Man inspects a fellow protester after he was hit by an object in the Mongkok shopping districtTyrone Siu/Reuters28 October 2014: Umbrellas are opened as tens of thousands of people come to the main protest site one month after the Hong Kong police first used tear gas to disperse protestersPaula Bronstein/Getty Images12 November 2014: A carboard cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping holding a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the movement, is seen at a protest site in the Admiralty districtKevin Frayer/Getty Images14 November 2014: A couple kiss as they stand near a wall with messages left by protesters as they pose for a wedding photographer at the Admiralty pro-democracy protest siteKevin Frayer/Getty Images24 November 2014: A man looks at a painting at a protest site in the Admiralty district, depicting riot police using pepper spray against pro-democracy protestersAnthony Wallace/AFP25 November 2014: A police officer gestures as he stands on a barricade during the clearance of a major protest site in the Mongkok districtPhilippe Lopez/AFP25 November 2014: Police use pepper spray as they clear a road at a pro-democracy protest site in the Mongkok district of Hong KongPhilippe Lopez/AFP25 November 2014: Police officers use pepper spray as they clash with pro-democracy protesters outside Hong Kong's government complexChris McGrath/Getty Images26 November 2014: Pro-democracy protesters walk away with their belongings after packing up and leaving the protest siteAlex Ogle/AFP26 November 2014: Workers spray a road, previously occupied by pro-democracy protesters, after police completed their clearance of a major protest site in the Mongkok district of Hong KongPhilippe Lopez/AFP
Originally published by International Business Times
Black workers have been, for the working class as a whole, the canary in the mine. What befalls the black worker inevitably confronts the bulk of the U.S. working class.
The oil giant abandoned its Arctic search for oil after failing to find enough crude, representing a big defeat for Big Oil after months of sustained protests.
One year ago, Hong Kong's streets were shut down by pro-democracy activists who occupied them for 79 days in what became known as the "Umbrella Movement"
While its purpose has changed and evolved over the decades, the BIS has always been a club for central bankers – one that has aided some countries more than others.
Surveys of hundreds of formerly incarcerated people and their families in 14 states show that the true costs, emotional and financial, continue long after incarceration ends and reach far beyond the individual being punished
This week, Chris Hedges offers up some historical rebellion so we understand where we came from and where we're headed.
6 days 9 hours ago
The inequality goal allows current trends of income concentration to increase until 2029 before they start to decline – and totally ignores the structure of an economic system that creates inequality.
4 days 10 hours ago
Financial fees are sucking cities and states dry – but they can change the terms if they band together and bargain collectively over interest rates and other financial deals peddled to them by Wall Street.
6 days 9 hours ago
Housing activists who were protesting the eviction of families took to the roofs Wednesday as enforcement officers used battering rams in an operation to remove them from housing estate.
5 days 7 hours ago
The inequality goal allows current trends of income concentration to increase until 2029 before they start to decline – and totally ignores the structure of an economic system that creates inequality.
Financial fees are sucking cities and states dry – but they can change the terms if they band together and bargain collectively over interest rates and other financial deals peddled to them by Wall Street.
José Mujica, a former Tupamaros freedom fighter in the 1960s and 70s, served as Uruguay's president from 2010 to 2015 – and here discusses a philosophy of life focused on sobriety, learning learn to live with what is necessary and fairest.
Skyrocketing abstention from voting, social demobilization and an impending wave of harsh austerity measures call for critical reflection after Syriza’s "pragmatic" win at the polls.
-- Delivered by Feed43 service
Post a Comment