[UPDATE] Scholarism appeals to public to join their demonstration on Sunday
Scholarism petitions at US and British Consulates following disappearance of Causeway Bay Books' staff members
Scholarism spokeswoman Prince Wong hands a petition letter to a British Consulate representative.[UPDATE: Wednesday, January 6 - 2.15pm]
As Scholarism arrived at the central government's liaison office, Oscar Lai asks the Chinese government to uncover more details about the missing booksellers and to release them. Prince Wong calls the mysterious disappearance a "white terror incident" and appeals to the public to join Scholarism's demonstration on Sunday, which will go from Central Government Offices in Admiralty to the central government's liaison office.
Joshua Wong says the incident is a battle against mainland interference. "Hong Kong is not Hong Kong anymore; it’s only named Hong Kong. It's a battle for the future and the core values," he says.
When no representative from the liaison office came out to meet the members of Scholarism participating in today's petition, Oscar Lai climbed onto the fence to throw Scholarism’s petition letter over the fence. The small commotion he caused was quickly defused by the police present, and the gates to the liaison office was then closed and locked by a security guard.
[UPDATE: Wednesday, January 6 - 12.55pm]
At the British Consulate, Prince Wong hands Scholarism's petition letter to a consulate representative, asking the British government to safeguard Basic Law and the “One Country, Two Systems” philosophy as it has so far failed to do so. She says Scholarism hopes the British government, and other international authorities, will put pressure on the Hong Kong government to investigate the Lee Bo case, protect bookshop staff's personal safety, and strive to release updates on their whereabouts.
Prince also says Scholarism hopes their petition will raise public concern for the disappearances related to Causeway Bay Books, and for the declining state of Hong Kong's values it represents.
[UPDATE: Wednesday, January 6 - 12.44pm]
At the US Consulate, Joshua Wong told media that the US government should ensure the rule of law and judicial independence in Hong Kong based on the HK Policy Act in 1992. The disappearances of the Causeway Bay Books staff members proves that the freedom of press and speech, included in Article 27 of the Basic Law, has been violated and Scholarism hopes the US government will investigate into the continual erosion of our city's core values.
[VIDEO] Scholarism is at the US Consulate to petition regarding the Causeway Bay Books disappearances. Joshua Wong says Hong Kong values have been eroded.
<!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); //--><!]]>Scholarism is at the US Consulate to petition regarding the Causeway Bay Books disappearances. Joshua Wong says Hong Kong values have been eroded.
Posted by Young Post on Tuesday, 5 January 2016
Scholarism will hold a series of petitions concerning the five missing Causeway Bay Books booksellers today. Stay tuned for Young Post’s live updates.
The student group will stop at the US and British Consulates to demand the two governments to monitor and safeguard the “One Country, Two Systems” philosophy. Scholarism will then move on to the central government’s liaison office to protest.
Since October, five people connected to Causeway Bay Books, which sells books that criticise Beijing, have vanished. The first to go missing was Mighty Current publishing house owner Gui Minhai, followed by general manager Lui Bo, business manager Cheung Jiping, and bookstore manager Lam Wing-kei. The last to disappear, on December 30, 2015 was Causeway Bay Books' boss Lee Bo, who was reported to have sent his wife a fax yesterday to assure her of his safety.