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Overview
This photograph was created by an anonymous New Zealand-based supporter of the Hong Kong protest movement. The message reads '香港人加油', often romanised as 'Heung Gong Yahn Ga Yau' and translated in English as 'Hong Kong people "add oil"'.* It is one of a series of similar photographs taken in front of the iconic 'Wellington' sign featuring messages of support for Hong Kong and staged at night to minimise risks of identification or harassment.
These images, which were designed to communicate New Zealand solidarity with the movement, were subsequently spread online via social media and draw attention to transnational and digital dimensions of the global Hong Kong protest movement.
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movement subsequently evolved and continued through much of the first half of 2020, though the Extradition Bill was withdrawn in October 2019.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.
*‘Add oil’ is a popular phrase of encouragement roughly equivalent to ‘Go for it!’