Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters draw support from around the world: South China Morning Post

HONG KONG will not be left to fight alone. So say a growing number of overseas groups springing up to support the Occupy Central movement and students who joined protests and a class boycott for democracy.

Yesterday, events took place in at least nine international cities in solidarity with Hongkongers fighting for free elections. Overseas Hongkongers were behind many of the events, which adopted the yellow ribbon that has become a symbol of the city’s protest movement.

From New York, London and Toronto to the Bosnian city of Mostar, they came together under the banner of Global Solidarity HK. The group could not estimate the number of people involved due to the range of locations and time zones.

Desmond Sham, a Hongkonger studying in London, said the group came together when various overseas events were set up and promoted on Facebook earlier this month. “It did not take long before we found one another and soon enough we are promoting the different events across the world together.”

Sham says the group’s aim is to “inspire people in other cities to similarly organise their own events” and to serve as a “support network”.

Down under, members of the Hongkongers in Australia Facebook group have collected more than 500 signatures on a petition urging Canberra to press Beijing to “honour its promises”.

Chrisann Palm, a Hong Kong-raised academic who founded the group, said more actions were planned and the group had no intention of letting the city stand alone.

In New York, it’s a similar story. Hongkonger Jeffrey Ngo, a student, joined Dr Eli Friedman, an expert on labour in China, to found the US Association for Democracy in Hong Kong.

The group was set up on August 31, the day Beijing set a framework for the 2017 chief executive election, under which candidates must win majority support from a 1,200-strong nominating committee to enter the public vote.

“We are very concerned about the social and political developments in the city,” Ngo said, adding that the group would unite students and scholars to “study and support democratic reforms in Hong Kong”. (South China Morning Post – Raquel Carvalho)

Link: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1602545/hong-kong-pro-democracy-protesters-draw-support-around-world