Pursuits
Hong Kong Independence Goes From Fringe Cause to Contender
- So-called localists lament city 'changing into mainland China'
- Sunday election to test movement seeking break with Beijing
Wong Yeung-tat.
Photographer: Xaume Olleros/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
On the sixth floor of a commercial building in Hong Kong’s semi-industrial Kowloon East is an office stuffed with the paraphernalia of protest. Megaphones lie on the floor next to piles of pamphlets, backpacks and leftover red and gold Lunar New Year decorations.
In a corner is a makeshift radio-and-television studio with chairs lined up facing a camera. A white backdrop is festooned with the gold logo of Civic Passion, a party advocating independence for Hong Kong whose leader, Wong Yeung-tat, said he was beaten by police during a protest that descended into a riot earlier this month. Wong joined the fracas after police fired two warning shots to ward off surging protesters.