Members of China Action and Light Over the Road held a 12th-anniversary commemoration of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement in New York on the evening of Sept. 28. They visited the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York and the Chinese Consulate General in New York.
Su Yutong, a spokesperson for the groups, said activists outside the consulate were subjected to high-intensity lights, as well as pulling and shoving near the entrance. Several participants later reported feeling physically unwell.
Honoring 12 Hong Kongers
Participants wore yellow raincoats and carried yellow umbrellas. They commemorated the 12th anniversary of the Umbrella Movement by forming lines with their umbrellas and projecting the names of 12 people onto the exterior wall of a building.
Explaining why they chose to project the names in the shape of an umbrella rather than simply recount the history of the movement, Su said the 2014 Umbrella Movement was a peaceful, nonviolent act of civil disobedience.
She said that after the anti-extradition movement erupted in 2019, the situation in Hong Kong deteriorated rapidly.
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According to Su, the projection was not simply a retrospective on the Umbrella Movement. Instead, the 12th anniversary was used to condemn what she described as the Chinese Communist Party’s abrogation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration after 1997 and its continued erosion of press freedom, freedom of publication, and the rule of law in Hong Kong, ultimately bringing the city under its complete control.
She said the organizers also hoped to pay tribute to Hong Kong people’s sustained resistance and their commitment to democracy and freedom, while calling on Beijing and the Hong Kong government to release Hong Kong political prisoners. The 12 names on the umbrellas included Jimmy Lai, Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, and Joshua Wong. They are pro-democracy activists who have been imprisoned or detained and, according to the organizers, collectively represent Hong Kong’s peaceful protesters.
According to the design provided by the organizers, the projection featured white lettering against a black background. The English names of 12 people, including Joshua Wong, Jimmy Lai, Chow Hang-tung, and Benny Tai, were stretched and arranged in curved lines to form the outline of an umbrella. The umbrella handle was made up of the words “HONG KONG DEMOCRACY NOW,” with “#ChinaAction” displayed at the bottom. The organizers said that from a distance, the image resembles an umbrella evoking the Umbrella Movement; up close, the individual names can be recognized.
Su Yutong said the organizers wanted to convey three messages.
First, during the 30 years following the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, Hong Kong people lit candles to commemorate mainland Chinese whose remembrance of the June 4 incident was prohibited. Now, she said, it is time for mainland Chinese to do something for Hong Kong people.
Second, she said, through the Umbrella Movement and the 2019 anti-extradition movement, Hong Kong people demonstrated—through peaceful, nonviolent, creative and visually expressive actions, backed by courage—how to defend freedom, the rule of law and the pursuit of democracy. The suppression of the movements did not mean they had failed, she said, because they left behind “seeds.”
Third, Su said, the Chinese Communist Party could tear up agreements at will, causing difficulties for Hong Kong, an international financial center, and could use the same methods to infiltrate other democracies. She argued that its “virus-like” infiltration must therefore be stopped.
In a statement, China Action said, “As long as people are still paying a price for freedom, this history is not over.”
On Sept. 28, 2014, large numbers of protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong demanding democratic reforms. The occupation protests lasted 79 days, and protesters used umbrellas to shield themselves from police pepper spray, making the umbrella a symbol of the movement.
Umbrella ceremony and a ‘battle of the lights’
According to members of the group, they purchased and prepared yellow raincoats, umbrellas, and other materials that afternoon, spraying the words “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” on the umbrellas.
The first event began around 8 p.m. outside the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Midtown Manhattan. Participants stood in a line holding 12 yellow umbrellas. As the song Glory to Hong Kong began playing, the umbrellas were raised one by one and then slowly lowered to chest level. The group subsequently projected an umbrella-shaped image onto the exterior wall of the building.
The group then went to the Chinese Consulate General in New York and projected the same image onto the consulate’s street-facing exterior wall. Su Yutong said the consulate had installed powerful anti-projection lighting equipment and routinely used high-intensity flashlights to counter such projections.
After the projection began, flashlights and platform lights from the consulate’s platform and main entrance were immediately directed toward the wall where the image was being projected in an attempt to block it. Members estimated that three or four people were on the platform and about two were near the main entrance. According to the participants, when the group moved the projected image, the lights also shifted accordingly, resulting in what they described as a “battle of the lights.”
Su said at least two people near the consulate’s main entrance came forward to interfere and directed high-intensity flashlights at the faces and eyes of activists across the street, which she described as conduct that posed a risk of personal injury.
Several participants then crossed the street to inspect the situation. Near the main entrance, they found at least two people whom they believed to be Chinese consular personnel. One of them was carrying an extremely bright flashlight and again directed it toward the activists’ eyes, according to Su.
During a verbal confrontation, a young man repeatedly shouted “Long live the Communist Party.” The activists responded with slogans including “Xi Jinping step down,” “Communist Party step down,” and “Communist Party, get out of China.” Su said it remains unclear whether the two men were consulate employees or privately hired security personnel.
According to members of the group, the man who had shouted the slogans later returned to the main entrance to enter the building. One participant followed him to the entrance. The man asked, “Do you dare come inside?” The participant replied, “Of course I do,” and stepped toward the entrance.
The man then allegedly grabbed the participant and tried to pull him into the consulate. The participant eventually broke free, but the left sleeve of his yellow raincoat was torn in the process. Su said the organization retained video footage from the scene as well as the damaged raincoat and other evidence.
Several participants report feeling unwell; organization plans to file lawsuit
Su Yutong said that after the action ended, several participants experienced symptoms including dizziness, nausea, and an urge to vomit. One female participant reported blurred vision in one eye and said the affected eye seemed worse than the other. She also reported more severe nausea. The participants planned to seek medical attention the following day, and the organization said it would follow up on their examination results and health.
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