No Extradition to China flier.

This poster provides details of the ‘No Extradition to China/New Zealand Solidarity with Hong Kong’ rally held at the University of Auckland in support of the Extradition Bill protests in Hong Kong in August 2019. The aims of the event, organised by student activists associated with the group We Are Kiwi Hong Kongers 香港逃犯條例修訂草案紐西蘭關注組, were to:

“1. To show solidarity with the anti-Extradition Bill movement in Hong Kong; 2. To raise awareness in the University; and 3. To provide a platform for students to express their views and opinions towards this issue”.

The colours black and yellow, featured prominently in the poster, have become closely associated with the movement and are those most often worn by protesters.
 
The Hong Kong protest movement and Aotearoa

The Hong Kong protests were originally incited by the proposed Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019. Also known as the Hong Kong Extradition Bill, the proposed legislation would have enabled Hong Kong residents to be extradited to mainland China to face trial. The protest movement subsequently evolved and continued through much of the first half of 2020, though the Extradition Bill was withdrawn in October 2019. On 30 June 2020, the Chinese legislature approved the controversial National Security Law, bypassing Hong Kong’s own elected legislative council. This law effectively outlawed activities perceived as dissenting or secessionist, including the possession of protest banners and flags carrying slogans associated with the protest movement such as ‘Free Hong Kong/Revolution of our Times’.

The Hong Kong protests have garnered significant international attention due to Hong Kong’s importance to the global economy and the political aspects of China’s increasing prominence as a global player. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the protests have prompted wide-ranging debates, including those relating to democracy and freedom of speech, New Zealand’s relationship to China and the government’s obligations to those connected to Hong Kong but based here, among them international students and temporary visa holders, as well as citizens and permanent residents with familial and cultural links to Hong Kong.