A pro-government rally will be held on Saturday in Admiralty calling for an end to “violent protests.”
The rally, known as “Safeguard HK,” will be held at Tamar Park at 5pm Saturday. It was organised by 70 pro-Beijing figures from different sectors.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Kennedy Wong, a pro-Beijing lawyer acting as one of the conveners, said Hong Kong had reached a “fever stage” for over a month, as peaceful protests gradually turned into serious, violent clashes.
“Many Hong Kong people are worried that the rule of law is being challenged, society is being split, that order is being damaged,” Wong, a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee member, said.
He said the rally will be peaceful and urged participants to wear light-coloured clothes such as white or light blue, not to wear masks or helmets and not to participate in any clashes.
Pro-Beijing lawmaker Starry Lee said they must provide another voice in society that opposed violence: “We urge all of you who agree with peaceful, rational, communicative [rallies] to come out,” she said.
Large-scale and continuous protests erupted in June against the extradition bill, which would allow the city to handle case-by-case fugitive transfers to jurisdictions with no prior arrangements, including China. Critics have said residents would be at risk of extradition to the mainland, which lacks human rights protections. Chief Executive Carrie Lam declared the bill “dead” last week, but did not enact any mechanism to withdraw it.
Protests in Sheung Shui and Sha Tin turned violent last week. Rights group Civil Rights Observer and lawmakers accused the police of adopting a “kettling” tactic, causing the clashes to occur.
The Thursday press conference was attended by several pro-Beijing lawmakers including Junius Ho and Kenneth Lau, as well as district councillor Dominic Lee.
Pro-Beijing activist Robert Chow, former lawmaker and Executive Council member Cheung Hok-ming and Federation of Trade Unions President Stanley Ng also attended, among others.
Former government health secretary Ko Wing-man is also a co-convener.
