Thread by @XinqiSu

#StandWithHK rally in Chater Garden. Maybe first time in over 2 months when a major #AntiELAB rally here failed to pack the whole garden 40 minutes before its opening. The rally appeals to UK and US to mount pressure on China and support Hong Kong.

Poster sized leaflets distributed by organizers of #StandWithHK rally. Two causes of the rally in 2nd pic, and a timeline of how relations of UK, China and HK unfolded from 1984 to 2019 in the 3rd. #AntiELAB

UK and US flags and their bearers often caught the spotlight in #AntiELAB movement. But to put it into proper proportion and perspective...

In vid speeches, @hui_wingting called on her fellow citizens in HK to hang in and fight time for her team in US to push HK Human Rights and Democracy Act when Congress resumes in Sep. Former HKU SU head Billy Fung who is now studying in LSE also reported his work...

on urging UK to add human rights clauses in any future trade treaty it's gonna sign with China in light of Brexit. "As Churchill said, without victory there is no survival," Fung said. "Let's fight for more space for our small island amid power struggles of empires."

Rally declaration:
1, Reiterated to the world opposition of the #extraditionbill and root cause of the bill was lack of genuine democracy
2, Western world has waken from its mistaken view that China would take the democratic path upon reform and opening up so...

it shares a common cause with HK people longing for freedom and democracy
3, Vow to carry out and carry on appeal for international attention and support for HK to fight against the #extraditionbill and for democracy
4, Be humble, be water, be wise for final victory

@joshuawongcf : HK should not be seen only as a city of China. It should be a world city in Asia. This is why we are voicing out to the world. Indeed HK has strong ties with China. But the economic vitality of HK lies in international community's trust in the city's institutions.

Margaret Ng: Why so much international attention all in a sudden? Because they saw in broadcast how the police was brutally beating up our courageous youth. We should thank these youth.

Laser rave on branches stretching above the rally's main stage
#AntiELAB #StandWithHK

Veteran commentator Joseph Lian: biz sector benefits most from #AntiELAB movement but due to Beijing's pressure, they shut up. We understand there is little choice, but if you turn your guns to protesters, you are having your donut with human blood. I urge you...

not to step on the protesters and try to help them outside HK, maybe in a low profile way. If you simply walk away, HK will never forgive you.

The most hilarious moment in the rally so far: MC announced they found an unattended wallet, in which there is a police membership card. "Mr Tang, pls come to back stage for your wallet," he said, amid loud boo and laughter from the audience. #AntiELAB

@hoccgoomusic: what impressed me most in my trip to UN was that HK's is not the only place on earth that's facing authoritarian suppression. And what's most beautiful in #AntiELAB movement is that everyone is doing what they can to make noise and fight.

Deputy leader of labor party @tom_watson vowed to stand with Homg Kong, condemn @hkpoliceforce excessive use of force and misuse of dispersal weapon like tear gas. He urged UK gvmt to show real moral support for HK by starting to charter what it could do to help.

@hknationalparty convener Andy Chan on stage.
1, Thanks for not cutting ties with a radical like me
2, Political awakening in Umbrella Movement when I understood HK's democracy was in the hands of Beijing instead of HK gvmt
3, HKers are a nation with our own language, culture..

and beliefs. We should be equal to Japanese, Korean and Chinese. But Beijing is suppressing us with it racism. To defend the identity and right of HKers is the greatest driving force of the localist camp.
4, HK is always an arena of international power struggles...

when one of the powers gets too big, like China, it's normal for us to seek support from others in order to strike balance and safety. Significance of HK's economy is not about GDP but its role as a capital channel for both China and the world. Shenzhen and Shanghai cannot..

replace HK. China often intimidates us with sending troops but we are never afraid. Just send your soldiers if you dare. If we burn, you burn with us. Your troops in, we go home and sleep. We HKers are not good fighters, but we are definitely a pain in the ass...

4, Shift of international landscape requires HKers to choose side. In the past 2 months, we have made our choice. So don't betray us, free world, because we are friends.

"Laam Chau! Laam Chau!" (if we burn you burn with us) #StandWithHK rally participants chanted as @hknationalparty convener Andy Chan said in the worst case, the localist camp would call for sanctions against HK. "if we can't have HK, you (China) can't have it either. If we can't

have freedom, you burn with us. There is no way that you are free from the suffering we have to endure." Chan called on HKers to fight on.

Refuged localist leader Ray Wong in vid speech: "Today is August 10, the 646th day since I exiled"
"I want to tell HKers, you are world class citizens. You made way for ambulances, you went to airport to tell passengers about the protests, you went to malls to communicate...

with mainland Chinese tourists, and you were fearless in face of police brutality...You have clearly demonstrated Hong Kong is not China and Hong Kong is part of the free world. Hong Kong stands on the front line to fight against authoritarianism."

"I have a dream. I wish to come back to a Hong Kong that truly belongs to HKers. I wish I can be back to the Legco demonstration area again and meet you, hug you, without wearing a mask," Roy Wong said.

#AntiELAB protester Brian Leung: on 7.1, I spent most of the day observing how protesters trying to break into Legco. Other protesters, though heavy heartened, they kept supporting those on the front line. I shall not go into details of what happened later in the chamber...

But if you ask me to choose between personal safety and the survival of our people. I will for sure choose the latter. Many worry about my conditions but in fact, we were ready to be abandoned and exiled when we decided to come out and fight. Hker as a collective identity...

lives in our heart. Therefore we see each other as siblings and families though we don't know each other and we are masked. As long as we continue to feel for each other and share the burdens, the commonwealth of HKers won't be limited by time and space...

But we are in face of an authoritarian regime that is short of imagination and knowledge of commonwealth. It cannot imagine that people are not just economic animals and won't simply break under forces. We shall be more smart in our fights, I have seen how...

people in diaspora continue their fight for their identity through organisational work. Energy, humanity and aspiration demonstrated in HK means a lot for civil societies around the world. Placing HK and its fight in international discourse is vital.

"Hongkongers add oil!" #StandWithHK rally attendants chanted in light of Brian Leung's vid speech.
#AntiELAB

60,000 people attended #StandWithHK rally in Chater Garden, announced Sunny Cheung, spokesperson of HK Higher Institutions International Affairs Delegation.
#AntiELAB

Mysterious LIHKG team "Ngo Yiu Laam Chau" (I want you to burn with me) left a voice message:
1, We came up with this name when I found many pro-Beijing elites actually are foreign passport holders. So we decided to start joint petitions to revoke their passports, to make them..

burn with us, to make them live up to their glorious Greater Bay Area identity
2, There were 3 moments that touched me most in #AntiELAB movement. June 10, a youngster said he would rather take a bullet than live an unfree life. July 1, Brian Leung unmasked himself in Legco...

and on July 28 a protester refused to leave even after his makeshift shield was hit by rubber bullet and when asked why, he said "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times"
3, What does "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times" mean? It means to let HKers...

to decide how the city's resources should be allocated through a democratic institution that is built through bottom-up shake-up.
4, When the older generation asked if we could let a main stage take over, we would like to ask if they could...

let go of ther 30 year old mechanism and hand HK's future over to us. If there is any main stage built, we swear to kill it. And if one day we turn into a main stage, please topple us.

"818, See you in Victoria Park!" people chanted as they left from #StandWithHK rally in Chater Garden. Obviously @hkpoliceforce ban on Civil Human Rights Front's march on Sunday will only bring more to streets.