Laurel Chor Profile picture
Jul 1, 2021 32 tweets 12 min read Read on X
Quite the turnout for the rally for Uighurs/Tibet/Hong Kong outside the Chinese Embassy in London for the 100th anniversary of the CCP and the 24th anniversary of the HK Handover. It’s a sharp contrast from the somber day that Hong Kong had.
There’s a man in all yellow and he’s begun leading the HKers to another rally in Chinatown.
Rally starts in half an hour and these are all the people leaving the Chinese embassy protest to head to the next rally.
Just hours after a man in Hong Kong stabbed a police officer then died after stabbing himself, HKers are chanting something I haven’t heard in a while: “Corrupt cops, may your whole family die”. (Not heard in this video.)
People are holding these faux editions of Apple Daily: the logo says “Apple Grows” and the front cover says “The Stronger We Stand”.
The marches in HK often felt repetitive: the same route, the same chants & signs. They don’t happen anymore, of course. Right now, the London march feels just like the one on June 4, along Regent St again. I wonder if the London protests will begin to feel similarly… similar.
Addendum: the full English headline on the front page of the faux Apple Daily says “the harder you ban… the stronger we stand”. (The other side is in Chinese.)
This man says he came to the UK in July 2020, “after the nat sec law”. He’s carrying white flowers in honor of the HK man who stabbed a police officer & killed himself hrs ago. He says it shows how desperate HKers are. “You can either give money or yourself. He chose his path.”
I can’t say for sure, but it seems as if people in London are less clueless about what the protest is about and are more curious than on June 4. I would guess it’s because HK and China have been in the news a lot more in the last month. This man clapped the protesters on.
We’ve arrived to Chinatown, where a crowd of people were already gathered.
Got distracted by this dog in a backpack on a scooter
This man was leading the crowd into chants of “Free Hong Kong! Free Tibet! Down down CCP!”
Large banner for “The Incarcerated Brothers”
First protest dog sighting of the day. Her name is Mila.
I did NOT expect to see actual copies of the final edition of Apple Daily passed around in London less than a week after it was published. The man passing them out says he spent HKD5,000 buying and shipping 150 copies to the UK.
This man is in his late 60s. He says he came here in March with his family and that he had to leave and probably can’t go back because he published a book about the protests. He’s a reverend, and his wife is a pastor.
His wife asked me if I knew anything about the man who stabbed the police officer and died today. I said I didn’t. She said that his death was a sacrifice, that it “had value”. She said that it was just a pity that the “corrupt cop didn’t die too”…
“I didn’t used to hate the cops so much, but now I do,” she told me. She says they’re still figuring out how to transfer their money from HK to the UK. Their teenage son hasn’t graduated from high school yet and now has to work to save up to pay for school fees.
A video of former HK lawmaker @tedhuichifung, now in exile in Australia: “Let’s declare that the CCP is the biggest enemy of freedom and democracy; it’s a threat not only to HK but to the whole world.”
Overheard a convo between 2 men comparing the quality of the 糯米雞 (a classic dim sum dish consisting of glutinous rice with chicken wrapped in a lotus leaf) at a restaurant around the corner with those back in HK. The men were holding the banner of the “Incarcerated Brothers”.
Lawmaker-turned-political-refugee @nathanlawkc speaks in English warning of the reach of the CCP, influencing even the “political elite” of the UK. “My arrival is an alarming signal to the UK community… my story alone can tell the story of the deterioration of HK’s freedom…”
The protest is definitely attracting curious onlookers. Twice I’ve heard passersby ask protesters what the rally was about, and they gave nods of comprehension when they heard that it was for Hong Kong.
@EnglandGoodNei1 pastor Roy Chan talks about the “sacrifice” of the man who died by suicide in HK today after stabbing an officer. Like the two protesters who died in 2019, he has instantly become a martyr for the movement.
The crowd is now marching through Chinatown to the HK Trade & Development Office.
The crowd is marching past al fresco diners eating at Chinese restaurants. I saw a couple people join in the “Hong Kong is not China” chants.
Someone threw an egg. It appears it was thrown by men watching from the second floor of a Chinese restaurant.
The march has arrived to the HK Economic and Trade Office. Protesters began shoving hell money into the office’s mailbox and lit smoke bombs (not sure what to call them). Police eventually grabbed a kid who went up onto the steps to light another smoke bomb.
The police officers are saying the demonstration was supposed to end at 9pm and that this part was not authorized. They are saying the kid is not under arrest right now. I heard someone say he’s 17 years old. Some protesters shouted “thank you officer!”
Officer: “Tensions and emotions are running high but you can’t do those sorts of things. It makes our job harder and it makes it harder to facilitate these demos.” Explaining that the kid and everyone else have to leave the area now. They let the kid go.
The crowd claps for the police officers and ask if people have wet wipes and water to clean up the remnants of smoke. Pretty remarkable to see the officers de-escalate the situation so well.
Police explain that the main concern was that the smoke sticks (?) were fire hazards and that they didn’t know if anyone was inside the building. People are dispersing now. Signing off.
Protesters extinguish the candles and wipe up what they can. “You missed a spot!!”

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More from @laurelchor

Jan 18, 2022
Reporting live from the scene where the doomed, allegedly potentially Covid-infected hamsters live: 3 AFCD vans with staff in full hazmat, police officers (including plainclothes ones), police cordons, and camera crews.
The police have blocked off the hazard area and are telling people to cross the road and use the opposite sidewalk
Correction: 2 police vans, 2 AFCD vans (for 2,000 hamsters, though it’s unclear how many are in the shop)
Read 15 tweets
Jan 18, 2022
Updating my CV properly for the 1st time since 2006 & I've been thinking a lot about how grateful I am to have cut my teeth as a journalist @CoconutsHK, where I had (almost) free reign to be sassy & salty AF, esp when covering the Umbrella Movement. eg: coconuts.co/hongkong/news/…
It makes me so sad to think that future (and current) young journalists in Hong Kong won't get the chance to grow in an environment where they don't have to worry about whether their words will land them in jail. The loss of potential is beyond measure and unimaginably tragic.
I also had a momentary brain fart where I tried to click on a link in my CV to an old Apple Daily story that featured my little environmental project, which aimed to get people exploring HK's outdoors. The realization when I got an error page hit me like a punch to the gut.
Read 8 tweets
Jan 17, 2022
I’m actually struggling to come up with an analogy to explain to those unfamiliar with Chinese culture just how offensive this is. I’m almost laughing at the thought of how my late grandma would react to this… I used to spend hours folding joss paper with her for offerings.
This isn’t nearly as bad in comparison but it reminds me of the time I ordered pad thai in Paris (it was late and I was desperate for Asian food ok) and this is how it showed up.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 9, 2021
I pay attention to trolls bc I’m a masochist but also bc they often represent not uncommon views. This guy who comments on my IG blames protesters for the CCP tightening its grip on Hong Kong *but not the CCP itself*. Image
It’s a hypercynical, hyperpractical belief in the inevitability and inescapability of the CCP’s continued authoritarian rule. They think that HK was doing just fine & that ungrateful protesters who were otherwise enjoying a “decent” quality of life “forced” the CCP to crack down.
It’s a fairly common view amongst older generations & in mainland China: keep your head down, work hard, & accept trade offs on the human rights & democracy fronts in exchange for a stable life and some upward mobility: if no one had complained, things would have stayed the same.
Read 4 tweets
Oct 1, 2020
Sidewalk march happening on Yee Wo St in Causeway Bay despite heavy police presence. #hongkongprotests
And as quickly as it appeared it has dissipated. Some remain standing by bus stops holding up Apple Daily pages in protest. As has been the case for many protests this year, it’s hard to distinguish between shoppers, bystanders and protesters until they begin chanting.
Just saw two young women walk past at group of police. One exclaimed “Eek! It’s dangerous to be next to all these Ah Sirs!”
Read 10 tweets
Sep 6, 2020
At 1:20am, there are still a few dozen people waiting for those arrested to be released outside Hung Hom Police Station. Image
The Arrestee Support Counter provided by Yau Tsim Mong District Councillors. The table, chairs and snacks make it clear this is not their first rodeo. Image
3am: a smaller crowd of friends, relatives, and volunteers still waiting. People are still going in and out of the station. The Arrestee Support Counter is handing out drinks and rice boxes. Image
Read 4 tweets

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