Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) - No "unauthorised" labour demonstrations, doors wide open to tourism from China. This will be the face of 1 May in Hong Kong on the first post-pandemic Labour Day. Confirming how the labour front is now the new frontier of the repression of the democracy movement, swept away with arrests.
An attempt to organise a demonstration on 1 May within the strict rules imposed by the National Security Act was nipped in the bud by the Hong Kong authorities. Activists Joe Wong and Denny To - from the dissolved Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), the trade union linked to the pro-democracy movement - withdrew their applications in recent days after being questioned by the police about where the funding came from and how they would prevent violent groups from 'hijacking' the event, alluding to pro-democracy demonstrations.
On Wednesday morning, Woe also disappeared for a few hours. His colleague To said that he was not arrested, but that he had had an 'emotional breakdown' and was under pressure. He cited Article 63 of the National Security Act - which prohibits the disclosure of information related to national security cases - on the decision to withdraw the request for permission for the demonstration. To, however, added that it is easy to imagine what happened. 'Wong did his best to preserve the rights of assembly, I fully respect and support his decision,' he said.
For its part, the police stated that anyone joining an illegal procession or public meeting on Hong Kong Island on 1 May faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted, and promised zero tolerance.
It is worth mentioning that former secretary of the dissolved Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) Lee Cheuk-yan has been in prison for more than two years. And that last month his wife Elizabeth Tang, who is general secretary of the International Domestic Workers Federation, was also detained for a few hours and had her passport confiscated. All new regulations in Hong Kong put the rights of domestic workers at risk.
In this context, for Hong Kong 1 May only becomes synonymous with Golden Week, the long 'bridge' of the Chinese: estimates predict an influx of 600,000 entries from mainland China. A figure that gives local operators hope for the recovery of tourism brought to its knees by the long closures of the pandemic period.
