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Overview
This sticker is one of many which were printed by members of the activist group We Are Kiwi Hong Kongers 香港逃犯條例修訂草案紐西蘭關注組 featuring well-known slogans and messages of support for the Hong Kong protest movement.
On 28 September 2019, the group organised a night-time ‘flashmob’ to spread these stickers throughout Wellington, splitting into three teams with each team containing at least four members ‘and at least one strong-ish male’*. The teams covered approximately a third of the Wellington CBD area each, splitting into pairs which walked in parallel on each side of the footpath. ‘[W]e have a fixed walking plan, an emergency escape plan, a final meeting point, an agreement finish time’, says a flashmob participant.**
The group plastered their stickers on light pole and various other surfaces from ‘Lambton Quay to Featherston Street to Customhouse Quay to Willis Street to Manners Street to Cuba Street to Wakefield Street to Victoria Street to Dixon Street to Ghuznee Street to Courtenay Place…basically the whole of Wellington CBD within 2 hours’. Copies of these stickers were also sent to activists connected with the group based in Auckland and Christchurch.
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movement subsequently evolved and continued through much of the first half of 2020, though the Extradition Bill was withdrawn in October 2019.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.