Protesters in Hong Kong hold Catalan flags showing solidarity with Catalonia’s independence movement in Spain during the 20th week of marches for political rights Oct. 20. The action was on the Chinese mainland, in Kowloon, which is part of the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong.
In Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, some 350,000 marched Oct. 26 demanding Madrid free nine jailed separatist leaders. There have been daily protests since the Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned them Oct. 14 for helping organize a referendum for independence in 2017.
Wilson Ng wrote the Militant from Hong Kong Oct. 26 that he “took part in the mass demonstration in Kowloon,” and it was “well over 100,000.”
Jimmy Sham, convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, was assaulted by four masked thugs with hammers and knives Oct. 16 and hospitalized with head injuries. The coalition, which has organized the largest marches in Hong Kong, demands an end to cop brutality, amnesty for over 2,600 arrested protesters and direct election of city officials.
The demonstrations are a response to Beijing tightening its grip on the financial hub and former British colony, run by the Chinese leaders under a 1997 agreement as “one country, two systems.” The protest movement is a major political crisis both for Hong Kong’s administrators and for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who vows to suppress any attempt to split China.