Huang Naiyuan, the former chairman of the Trade Union Union, and Du Zhenhao, the former secretary, announced on the 11th of this month that they applied to hold the May Day parade in their own names. The number of participants is expected to be less than 500 people. The two updated the progress of the parade application on FB today. They were invited to the North Point Police Station yesterday to meet with the police for the first time to discuss the parade. However, there is still no answer as to whether the letter of no objection will be granted.
The Commissioner of Police Xiao Zeyi publicly stated that the parade is not the only way for citizens to express themselves. He also emphasized that the police will continue to regulate the parade in the future and must ensure that the parade will not be hijacked. It is not disrespectful even if the participants are required to wear neck tags. It’s like a marathon runner’s number plate.
Huang Naiyuan and Du Zhenhao responded in a statement that the nature of public demonstrations is not the same as participating in marathons, entering and exiting police headquarters, or attending international conferences. A public parade is not a competition, and there is no need to record the number of participants; the police headquarters, where no one is allowed to enter, cannot be compared with a public place; the international conference aims to promote exchanges between designated objects, and it is currently different from a public parade that encourages the public to express their opinions. “We I sincerely hope that the authorities will stop exaggerating the risk of being hijacked during a parade, and earnestly protect the civil rights enshrined in the Basic Law.”
[May Day Parade Application Progress Report]The full text is as follows:
Yesterday afternoon (21/4), we were invited to the North Point Police Station to meet with the police to discuss the application for the May Day parade. At the meeting, the police asked a lot of questions, but they did not answer whether they would issue a letter of no objection, nor did they put forward any conditions for allowing the parade to be held. Asked when they will reply whether the letter of no objection will be granted, the police only said that they will deal with it within the legal framework, that is, reply to the application result no later than 48 hours before the start of the parade.
During the meeting, the police asked several questions. First, the police asked about the target audience of the parade, how to identify the participants of the parade, the roles of the two of us, the person or group who helped organize the parade, the administrator of this page, and the source of funding for the bid to host the parade, etc. Secondly, the police asked how to control the parade site and some hypothetical situations, including how to arrange picketing, how to handle media interviews, what to do when the number of people in the parade exceeds the estimate, how to deal with people with different opinions, how to prevent violent gangs from hijacking the parade, and so on. The police also pointed out during the talks that during the May Day Golden Week this year, a large number of tourists are expected to visit Hong Kong Island, and the parade may cause congestion and road blockage.
During the period, the police showed us a screenshot of a Facebook message, pointing out that there were two messages in the post on this page announcing the application for the parade, which were “Support everyone to cheer up even in the UK” and “Do you have to take a stand?”. The police asked us if we knew the person who posted the message, what we would do with the message, and emphasized that our propaganda has a certain influence. The police also stated that they shared information about the parade in the “Hong Kong Labor Rights Watch”, including sharing a report by Light Media. The police asked us if there was any communication and contact with the “Hong Kong Labor Rights Watch” in organizing this parade. Finally, the police asked whether the participants in the march were expected to include members of disbanded civic groups.
In fact, we are just ordinary citizens who care about labor rights without any sponsorship or funding. If the parade can be held, it can only rely on friendly loans of materials and inviting friends to participate voluntarily, and there is no financial resources to “recruit” pickets. In terms of specific parade arrangements, we believe that the past practice can be followed. As for how to avoid being hijacked, it must be pointed out that the organizer of the parade has no public authority and can only verbally persuade the parade participants. The government has public power, and has rich experience and sufficient resources in terms of weapons and equipment, personnel training, and on-site layout. We believe that the police are absolutely capable of ensuring that a rally with hundreds of people can go smoothly.
Here we would like to point out a few points: 1. The preparation process for this parade has nothing to do with any foreign organizations. Even local trade unions and labor groups were not involved in the preparatory process. 2. As organizers of the parade, we can only ensure that we abide by the law and persuade participants to avoid illegal words and deeds. It should be the responsibility of the government to protect citizens’ right to assemble and process. 3. The May Day parades over the past 20 years have been held peacefully and have been effective. We do not think that there should be major changes in the arrangements. 4. We hope that the police can notify the application result as soon as possible so that we can make corresponding arrangements.
Finally, we have noted the Commissioner of Police’s comments today, and our brief response is as follows. We don’t think the nature of a public march is the same as running a marathon, going to a police headquarters, or attending an international conference. A public parade is not a competition, and there is no need to record the ranking time of the participants. Police headquarters, where no one is allowed to enter, cannot be compared with public places. International meetings, designed to facilitate the exchange of targeted audiences, are also currently distinguished from public marches, which encourage public expression of opinion. We sincerely hope that the authorities will stop exaggerating the risk of being hijacked during a parade and earnestly protect the civil rights enshrined in the Basic Law.
April 22, 2023
