Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times

"Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" was first suggested by Hong Kong localist camp activist Edward Leung as a slogan for social movements. Leung has continually advocated Hong Kong independence and localism and self-determination, considering Hong Kong to be a sovereign state, Hongkongers to be of the same group, and hoping to unite the "inner strength" of Hongkongers. At the press conference where Leung originally announced his bid for the 2016 New Territories East by-election, his campaign slogan was "Walk the talk, innovation for our generation" (). However, campaigners brainstormed another slogan in January 2016, as they considered the original slogan to be unable to attract voters to vote, alienating younger and older generations, and that its stance was not clear enough. The term "liberate" () was first used by the Guangfuhui (Restoration Society), founded in Shanghai in 1904, and by the revolutionaries of the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance), the predecessor to the Kuomintang. Its first use in Hong Kong's localist movement was in Reclaim Sheung Shui Station in 2012. In its early stages, Hong Kong Indigenous was most notable for its opposition to parallel trading in Hong Kong, and its series of "liberation protests" organised in 2015 in places like Tuen Mun, Sha Tin, Yuen Long and Sheung Shui in the New Territories. Thus, the use of the term "liberate" in its campaign slogan was to remind voters of the group's use of street resistance to advocate Hongkongers' rights. Although the by-election was held in the New Territories East constituency, "Liberate Hong Kong" was chosen over "Liberate New Territories East" () because the latter was more difficult to pronounce. The second half of the slogan was a modification of "generational innovation" in the original slogan, with "revolution" reflecting the group's political ideals and ideological position. He also pointed out that a belief in liberty is enough to embrace a new generation, and that people should grasp and advocate for their future. At the same time, he also said that many people were unwilling to give in to totalitarianism and the existing political framework, believing that they can have a government for themselves. After his bid for the 2016 Hong Kong legislative election was disqualified, he said that Hong Kong had become a dictatorship, adding that revolution was the only solution to the situation at hand. == Translation variations ==

Various English translations of the slogan have emerged since it became more widely used by anti-establishment protesters. The English version of Edward Leung's election platform used the translation "Ignite revolution to reclaim our Hong Kong, our age." Other variations include: • "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time" • "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times" • "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age" • "Free Hong Kong, revolution now" • "Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times" == Usage ==

2016 Legislative Council campaigns politicians at a campaign press conference in 2016, wearing shirts featuring the slogan In January 2016, Edward Leung announced his candidacy for the Legislative Council's New Territories East by-election, with the main purpose being the promotion of the ideologies of Hong Kong Indigenous and the localist camp. Previously, Hong Kong Indigenous suggested "Safeguarding local values with force" in order to achieve the goal of "My city, therefore I defend it." On 8 February the same year, after the Mong Kok civil unrest, Leung presented "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" and "Confronting violence with force" as campaign themes and slogans. The Registration and Electoral Office allowed "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" to be listed in Leung's election platform in their election guide, but refused to deliver his pamphlets for free because the Office considered the use of the terms "autonomy" and "self-rule" to be a "fundamental breach" of Article 1 of the Basic Law. During the election, Leung advocated the stances of "Using force to resist violence" and "Liberate Hong Kong," leading to a polarised public opinion. of which the majority was from young voters. Subsequently, the radical localist camp in Hong Kong represented by Leung also received support from many young people. After the election, the localist camp faced severe restrictions on their ability to participate in politics, with both Leung and Yau being disqualified from LegCo in the oath-taking controversy, and the Hong Kong National Party, another localist group, being banned. In June 2018, the High Court sentenced Leung to six years imprisonment for taking part in a riot on the night of the unrest and assaulting a police officer during the protests, while acquitting him of inciting a riot. 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests on 21 July 2019. During the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, protesters initially focused on opposing the introduction of the government-proposed extradition bill. At first, they used slogans such as "Be water," "No injury, no bleeding, no arrest; no disassociation, no snitching, no blaming," "We fight on, each in his own way," "Nobody left behind," etc. Police dispersed the crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets. In response, political parties and LegCo members of the pro-Beijing camp issued a joint statement, in which they said the behaviour of "liberation" and "revolution" promoted Hong Kong independence and were illegal acts against the Basic Law and the principle of one country, two systems. in Admiralty, 5 August 2019 Protesters organised a general strike and gatherings in seven districts on 5 August. On that day, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam condemned the slogan, saying that the slogan advocates revolution and challenges Chinese sovereignty. In response, many non-governmental organisations rebuked Lam's remarks as an attempt to defame the anti-extradition bill movement; for example, the Scholars' Alliance for Academic Freedom said that the slogan, which had been used in social movements since 2015, meant emphasising innovation and change and campaigning for rights via action; it did not carry a meaning of Hong Kong independence and did not ask for an actual revolution. , 10 August 2019 During the Hong Kong International Airport sit-ins held between 9 and 11 August, a protester unfurled a banner carrying the slogan (modified as "Liberate HK, Revolution Now") from a footbridge inside the airport terminal. Protesters at the scene cheered and clapped, chanting the slogan multiple times. Protesters jeered and aimed laser pointers at the banner in support when Airport Authority staff requested that the banner be removed. The slogan is incorporated in the lyrics of "Glory to Hong Kong," a song created in August and soon became the anthem of the protests. When people gathered to sing the song in public, the slogan is often chanted after the song. Hearthstone controversy On 6 October 2019, during a post-match interview at the Hearthstone Grandmasters streaming event in Taiwan, Ng Wai Chung, a professional Hearthstone player and Hong Kong resident professionally known as "Blitzchung," donned a gas mask similar to those worn by Hong Kong protesters, and uttered the phrase "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" in Mandarin. Blitzchung's camera feed was cut off shortly after. The following day, Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of Hearthstone, announced that Blitzchung had been banned from the current tournament, forfeiting any prize money (approximately by that point), and was banned for any further Grandmasters tournaments for one year. Blitzchung stated in an interview afterwards that he had done the act of protest because "I put so much effort in that social movement in the past few months, that I sometimes couldn't focus on preparing my Grandmaster match." Others spoke out that Blizzard's actions were unacceptable, as it appears to make them an agent for the Chinese government. Some United States lawmakers such as Senators Ron Wyden and Marco Rubio spoke out against the ban. Several long-term players of Blizzard's games discussed a boycott of Blizzard to encourage Blizzard to revoke the ban on Blitzchung. On Twitter, the hashtag #BoycottBlizzard trended worldwide, with notable participation of former Blizzard employee and World of Warcraft team lead Mark Kern, who showed he was cancelling his subscription to his own game. Supporters of the Hong Kong protest began to use Blizzard's own Overwatch character Mei, a Chinese native, as a sign of support for Blitzchung and the protests following the ban. In video games In October 2019, an anonymous developer under the pseudonym "Spinner of Yarns" released the Android game The Revolution of Our Times, a choice-based story game where the player roleplays as a Hong Kong protester during 2019–2020 protests. The app was removed from the Play Store within a week of its announcement for violating Google's "sensitive events policy." Another game Liberate Hong Kong was also released. == Impact of the 2020 national security law ==

On 1 July 2020, the day after the Hong Kong national security law entered into force, ten protesters who carried or displayed flags or banners which contained the slogan or variations of it were arrested for violating the national security law. Also on 1 July 2020, Tong Ying-kit, a 24-year-old waiter, became the first person charged under the security law after he struck police officers with his motorcycle while carrying a flag with the slogan printed on it. On 2 July, the Hong Kong government issued a statement declaring the slogan as having separatist and subversive connotations, and that it may seek to prosecute those displaying or chanting the slogan under the new law. Dennis Kwok, the LegCo member representing the Legal functional constituency, described the government statement as literary inquisition () and that it suppresses freedom of speech, in contrast with previous statements by the government that it would not criminalise speech. Maria Tam, vice-president of the NPCSC's Basic Law Committee, said that she had long considered the slogan to be problematic, and that it was a leakage () that no candidates were disqualified from the 2019 Hong Kong local elections for using the slogan. == Debate on connotations ==

in Tamar, 18 August 2019 The use of the slogan for protests initially led to significant debate online. , the former editor in chief of Initium Media, said that the slogan was the result of the protest movement not achieving its goals, leading to a strong wish for an escalation of tactics and a revolution. She said that "the people of this generation needed Hong Kong to become a Hong Kong for Hongkongers." Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee-hwa said that protesters' behaviour began challenging the principle of "one country, two systems" and the Central People's Government's authority when the protests turned from surrounding the legislature to storming the Liaison Office and the slogans turned from "anti-extradition bill" to "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times." Hu Xijin, editor in chief of the Global Times, published an opinion piece on Sina Weibo, in which he said that the use of the "extremist slogan" "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" by "radical protesters" in Hong Kong causes people to think of colour revolutions and the Hong Kong independence movement. In August 2019, a Xinhua News Agency opinion piece thought that the term "liberate" demonstrated the "political conspiracy" of "radical figures" in Hong Kong, "severely challenging the baseline of 'one country, two systems'." In 2016, the Registration and Electoral Office considered "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" to be a "fundamental breach" of Article 1 of the Basic Law. Chan Wai-keung, lecturer at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University College of Professional and Continuing Education, said that using the slogan signalled an intention of protesters to overthrow the existing regime, and that the rise of the Hong Kong independence movement had already reached a point where it affects national security. Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times opined that protesters chanting the slogan and their "radical sentiment" should alarm the Government of China. LegCo member Junius Ho thought that the slogan promoted Hong Kong independence and should be banned from demonstrations. Following the entering into effect of the 2020 national security law, scholars and politicians from mainland China and Hong Kong have expressed various interpretations on the slogan's connotations. The Chinese word used for "liberate" in the slogan is "," meaning to reclaim or recapture, as opposed to "," the usual Chinese translation of "to liberate." Tam Yiu-chung, a pro-Beijing politician and NPCSC member, expressed on a radio talk show that the term "liberate" () does not carry a positive connotation and should be avoided. On the same radio programme, Albert Chen Hung-yee, a professor of the University of Hong Kong, said that there exist "grey areas" regarding the slogan, and that simply displaying or chanting the slogan may not necessarily result directly in an offence. On 27 July 2021, three judges specially designated by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong to try cases under the national security law convicted the first person to be charged under the law of "incitement to secession" for displaying a banner bearing the slogan. The court ruling stated that such display of the words was capable of inciting others to commit secession. == Effect ==

Some protesters who went to the Liaison Office on 21 July 2019 considered the actions that night to be a revolution, reusing the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" for the protests. The slogan has been used by some candidates in the 2019 District Council elections. A number of candidates who used the slogan in Facebook posts, including Tommy Cheung, Liu Qing and Billy Chan Shiu-yeung, received letters from Returning Officers questioning the meaning of the slogan. In his publicly published response, Cheung stated that "liberate Hong Kong" referred to a return of Hong Kong to an era when citizens enjoyed various freedoms, whereas "revolution of our times" referred to a need for large social changes rather than a movement to overturn the regime. Following the July 2020 government statement on the legality of the slogan, a Facebook spokesperson said that when the company processes requests by governments to remove content, it would reject requests that violate international human rights law as much as possible. Anita Yip, vice-president of the Hong Kong Bar Association, said on a radio programme that she "cannot agree" that the slogan alone is enough to prosecute a person under the national security law. She argued that the government's statement on the slogan's legality carries no legal weight and cannot be submitted as evidence in court. == See also ==