Photos: Hong Kong protesters air grievances on New Year’s day

At least 1,500 people protested in Hong Kong on New Year’s day Friday calling for the city’s leader to resign and airing grievances over issues from expensive construction projects to internet freedoms.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

A procession of yellow umbrellas – the symbol of the city’s democracy movement – moved through Central with protesters carrying signs reading “fight for the freedom of the next generation” and demanding the resignation of officials who “sold out” the city.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

Leading the protest was a large replica of a white elephant with a model of the city’s unpopular leader CU Leung riding it, symbolising expensive public projects.

“We want universal pension, step down CY Leung, we are against white elephant projects,” protesters repeatedly shouted.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

Police said that 1,600 people joined the protest at its peak, while organisers estimate the crowd at more than 3,000.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

Negative sentiment remains high against authorities after mass pro-democracy rallies calling for free leadership elections in 2014 brought no concessions on political reform from Beijing and Hong Kong authorities.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

“It’s really for the next generation, they deserve a better Hong Kong,” pro-democracy lawmaker Claudio Mo, who participated in the rally, told AFP. “Leung has been provoking the Hong Kong population non-stop,” Mo said, adding that spiralling costs for major construction projects, such as a planned high-speed railway link with mainland China, have angered residents.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

Cost estimates for that project have risen by more than 30 percent to HKD85.3 billion (USD11.01 billion) in recent years, and the completion date has been repeatedly pushed back.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

“We would like Leung Chun-ying to step down and hold this march so he can hear what we want and know what he has done wrong,” Match Ip, a 19-year-old university student told AFP.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

On Thursday, Hong Kong University students and alumni voiced fury after a pro-Beijing official was appointed to a senior role at the university, as tension mounts over what critics see as political interference in the city’s education system.

New Year's Day protests Hong Kong

Once a British colony, Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 under a deal that guaranteed the retention of its civil liberties and capitalist system for 50 years.

Words: AFP
All photos: Adrian Lo

 


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