Event held in Hong Kong’s Central to remember victims of Xinjiang fire
- Activist ‘Grandma Wong’, 66, injured after man snatches her trademark yellow umbrella
- About 30 police cordon off scene and check IDs of the 50 attendees
Dozens of protesters showed up in Hong Kong’s central business district on Monday night to mourn the victims of a fire in Xinjiang that sparked an outcry in mainland China against stringent zero-Covid policies.
About 50 people, including some from the mainland, stood in silence at Theatre Lane, Central, at 7pm, some of them holding up blank sheets of paper to symbolise censorship.
Others placed white bouquets of flowers and electric candles on the ground to commemorate the 10 who died and nine others who were injured.
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Dozens in Hong Kong gather to support anti-Covid protesters in China, mourn victims of Xinjiang fire
About 30 police officers deployed to the scene cordoned off the area and checked mourners’ identity cards about 45 minutes into the vigil.
The event was largely peaceful until around 8pm, when activist Alexandra Wong Fung-yiu, 66, known by her nicknames “Wong Po Po” or “Grandma Wong” had her trademark yellow umbrella snatched by a man while she chanted a slogan.
Wong was knocked over during the incident and taken to hospital. The man was taken away by police.
Details of the commemoration of the residential fire in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, was circulated online.
The tragedy sparked protests in some major mainland cities such as Shanghai and university campuses over the weekend, as many believed Covid-19 restrictions had prevented the victims from fleeing, although officials rejected the allegations.
