HK protesters adapt as security law stifles old tactics

Bloomberg

Last summer Hong Kong’s protesters called for a revolution as they occupied the city’s international airport, marched in the millions and mocked Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “Game of Thrones” villain.
This year’s different. A sweeping national security law imposed by China in June and Covid-19 restrictions have
rendered the pro-democracy movement’s tactics illegal, from public gatherings to certain online comments. That has left demonstrators seeking more creative methods, like supporting sympathetic businesses.
Last week’s arrest of pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai was a case in point. Instead of flocking on the streets after police frogmarched him in handcuffs through the
office of his flagship Apple Daily newspaper and rummaged through files, protesters bought shares of its parent company Next Digital to fuel a 1,100% rally.
They also bought up copies of the paper and encouraged supporters to take out ads.
“Through blood, toil, tears and sweat, we will strive on,” read a front-page ad from a
university student union. “However difficult it may be, Hongkongers will eventually restore our city.”
The response to Lai’s arrest heralded another adaption for a protest movement that has constantly changed tactics since hundreds of thousands of people on the streets first captured the world’s attention last June. The security law prompted some activists to flee the city while others restrict activities due to the risk of spending the rest of their lives in prison.
“The protest movement has been reduced quite a lot,” Lai told Bloomberg Television in an interview last week, after he was released on bail.
“Those that remain are still very strong. And more people are reacting to the national security law in a different way.
I think the movement will go on. I don’t know how they’re going to go on. We can no long have
2 million people walk on the street. Are people going to
scatter into small groups? I think in the future there will be innovation.”
Lai’s trial in a separate case
of alleged criminal intimidation against an Oriental Daily reporter in 2017 was scheduled
to begin on Wednesday, but
was postponed due to Typhoon Higos.
One pro-democracy supporter, a 26-year-old professional who only wanted to be identified by her surname Tsui, said that protesters were concentrating on spending money at so-called yellow businesses that support the pro-democracy movement.
“This is the most basic way to fight the government,” she said. “At the moment, there is no
safe activity or protest that we can take part in, so the level of daily activity is very important. No matter what happens, we have to continue to support the yellow economy.”
Stanley Wong, an Apple Daily columnist, bought 1.2 million shares of Next Digital to show his support.
But he said it was more practical for ordinary Hong Kong residents to simply shop at stores that support the movement as a form of protest.