In Hong Kong the calendar has become political. Today marks 29 years since Hong Kong was returned to China after more than 100 years of British rule. Before the introduction of a wide-sweeping national security law, on July 1 there was an official flag-raising ceremony held by the government. In the afternoon crowds would gather in Victoria Park and march to government headquarters, chanting slogans against the Chinese Communist party. The anniversary marked the return of Hong Kong to China but also represented mass public participation.
Activists say that even a small gathering is seen as an act of public defiance
Now politics has become a more private affair. Anniversaries that once drew crowds to the streets bring police surveillance. On sensitive days, pro-democracy campaigners like Mrs Wong (not her real name) are tailed by plain-clothes police. She is followed through malls, the underground and public areas. Last year on the anniversary of the handover, she saw police waiting for her outside her building.
‘Before 2019 there were no sensitive days in Hong Kong,’ says Mrs Wong, referencing the back-to-back pro-democracy protests that rocked the city in 2019. Beijing then imposed the national security law which critics say has silenced dissent.
