item details
Overview
This brochure was distributed to students, staff and other attendees of the event ‘New Zealand Solidarity with Hong Kong/No Extradition to China’. The event, organised by activists supportive of the Hong Kong protests over the proposed Hong Kong Extradition Bill, was held at the University of Auckland Quad on 6 August 2019 and aimed 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 brochure provides details of the timeline of the AntiELAB movement in Hong Kong (ELAB stands for Extradition Law Amendment Bill) and the reasons why people in Hong Kong were protesting. It also explains how issues connected to the Extradition Bill affect people outside of Hong Kong.
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movement subsequently evolved and continued through much of the first half of 2020, though the Extradition Bill was withdrawn in October 2019.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.
*Reference: New Zealand Solidarity with Hong Kong/No Extradition to China’, Facebook event page, accessed 1 July 2021 https://www.facebook.com/events/654881738352191/.