Hong Kong 1 July marches
The Hong Kong 1 July protests was an annual protest rally originally held by the Civil Human Rights Front from the day of handover in 1997 on the HKSAR establishment day. However, it was not until 2003 that the march drew large public attention by opposing the legislation of Basic Law Article 23. The 2003 protest, with 500,000 marchers, was the second-largest protest seen in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover.
Prior to this, only the pro-democracy protest on 21 May 1989 drew more people with 1.5 million marchers in Hong Kong sympathising with the participants of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The introduction of Article 23 legislation was left aside due to the protest. Since then, 1 July marches have been organised every year to demand for democracy, universal suffrage, rights of minorities, protection of freedom of speech, and a variety of other political concerns.
In 2019, the anti-extradition bill protest on 16 June broke the record of largest protest in Hong Kong with nearly 2 million marchers. The 1 July march in the same year with 550,000 marchers, was the largest 1 July march. However, both these widely reported figures are now in doubt with research published by the Public Opinion Programme at The University of Hong Kong estimating that the attendance figures were 500,000-800,000 for the 16 June march and 260,000 for 1 July.
In 2020, despite a police ban citing gathering limits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a dramatically altered legal situation due to the national security law that had come into force only the previous evening, marches with a total of tens of thousands of participants took place in several parts of the city. Police made more than 370 arrests, among which at least ten were on alleged violations of the new law.
1997–2002
After the 1997 handover to 2002, marches were organised annually by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. By the end of 2002, the proposed anti-subversion legislation, as required by the Article 23 of the Basic Law, the constitutional document of the territory, sparked off heated debate and opposition. The public was worried civil rights and liberties would be adversely affected. The Civil Human Rights Front was formed by grassroots civil organisations and pro-democracy politicians. A march was held on 15 December 2002 from Victoria Park to the Central Government Offices, with a turnout of 65,000.The government attempted to pass Article 23 in Legislative Council, tabling the vote for 9 July 2003. The debate continued for months, with the Hong Kong Government refusing to any concessions. The bill eventually led to a series of 1 July marches.
2003
Motivation
The headline theme for the 2003 march was to oppose the anti-subversion Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23. Fear of the loss of freedom of speech along with other freedoms, as well as a general dissatisfaction against the Hong Kong Government prompted a mass protest of hundreds of thousands of people on 1 July 2003. The government attempted to pass Article 23 in Legislative Council, tabling the vote for 9 July 2003. The debate continued for months, with the Government refusing to make any concessions. Other issues include a number of blunders by the Tung Chee Hwa administration adding to people's frustrations, including the "Lexusgate" scandal involving the Financial Secretary Antony Leung and the government's incompetent handling of the SARS health crisis, all against the backdrop of the state of the economy.Formation
The planners originally wanted all four football courts in Victoria Park, but all courts were booked for a pro-Beijing festival and fair. The organisers originally predicted only 20,000 demonstrators would participate. The actual number ranged from 350,000 to 700,000 and even 1,000,000. The generally accepted figure is 500,000, a little less than one tenth the population at the time. Some Christian churches led by Rev. Chu Yiu Ming of the Baptist Church and Roman Catholics led by Bishop Joseph Zen organised a prayer gathering in Victoria Park before the march which was attended by some 40,000 people. The Civil Human Rights Front was also organised. Members of Falun Gong also took part in the protest, but have been asked by the organisers to march at the end of the rally. The march was originally scheduled to start at 2:30 pm at the football pitch in Victoria Park, arriving at the government headquarter building. Their route stretched from Victoria Park football field through Causeway Bay and Central to the Government's Central offices. Nonetheless, the large numbers meant that people were still starting the march as late as 10 pm.Aftermath
After half-million people protested against the law, James Tien resigned from the Executive Council to vote against proposals for legislation as required under Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Government then backed down on the proposal because it lacked the necessary votes to pass the legislation after losing the support of Tien's Liberal Party. Afterwards, Regina Ip and Antony Leung resigned, stating "personal reasons".2004
The headline theme for 1 July 2004 march was "Striving For Universal Suffrage in '07 & '08 for the chief executive and Legislature respectively." As the National People's Congress Standing Committee attempted to modify the Basic Law on 6 April 2004 to deny direct elections for the chief executive in 2007 and the Legislative Council in 2008. There was much criticism as to the slogan for the 2004 protest by some Beijing bureaucrats and pro-Beijing political parties. The phrase "Return power to the people" was particularly inflammatory, because it implied that power was taken away from the people, according to pro-Beijing parties. Some pro-democracy political leaders such as Lau Chin-shek had considered changing the phrase, but many criticised this move as it was seen to be satisfying Beijing. The organisers kept the phrase.White was the dress code for the day representing the desire for universal suffrage. On the other hand, pro-government groups lobbied the public to wear red to take part in a counter-protest they were holding. Despite the dazzling heat, the number of turn out was still very high. Numerous sources debated on the size of the actual turnouts. The organisers, Civil Human Rights Front, estimated that 530,000 took part in the demonstration, surpassing the number from the previous year, while the police set the figure at 200,000. The figures were disputed by many, saying that the number could not have been over 200,000. Dr. P.S. Yip Senior Lecturer of the Department of Statistics & Actuarial Science of the University of Hong Kong, suggested that the maximum number of participants could only have been around 192,000. The general acceptance is that the crowd size was smaller than the 2003 crowd.
2005
Following the 2004 protest, the next major event was Tung Chee-hwa's resignation in March 2005. Two protests were held in 2005 including the annual 1 July event and a separate December 2005 protest for democracy. The theme for the march was "Oppose government collusion, striving for universal suffrage ". The July protest mostly build its momentum from the 2004 protest with emphasis that a high degree of autonomy is needed along with more democracy. The protest mostly stood up to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for trying to distort the Basic Law again. Further questions were raised regarding maximum working hours, minimum wage, increase of sexual violence, divide between the rich and poor.2006
The theme for the march in 2006 was "Creating Hopes for Universal Suffrage and Democracy With an Equal and Just Hong Kong ".Not only did she openly support the implementation of universal suffrage in Hong Kong via the mass media, former Chief Secretary Anson Chan also called on Hong Kongers to express their desire by taking to the street. Some saw the move as Chan testing the water, paving way to the next chief executive election. Chan declined to comment until she formally announced that she has no interests in running for chief executive in September.
Like previous years, counter-protest parade was held in the morning while the protest organised by the Civil Human Rights Front started at 15:00 the same day, marching from Victoria Park to Central Government Offices. 58,000 people took part in the protest this year, according to the organiser and the demonstration ended at about 19:00 peacefully.
2007
"Achieving Universal Suffrage, Improving Livelihood " was the theme for this year's demonstration. The organiser, Civil Human Rights Front, submitted an application for Notification of Public Procession to the Hong Kong Police about twenty days before the march. Prior to the start of the protest, Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao had already left Hong Kong via the Shenzhen bay port.The police insisted that the organisers wrapped up the demonstration before 18:30 to facilitate the fireworks display that would take place that night over Victoria Harbour. Displeased with by the limitations and restrictions set by the police, the organisers filed an appeal to the Appeal Board, which ruled on 26 June that the demonstration could last for four hours, from 14.30 to 18:30. Furthermore, the appeal board also required the police to open up all three westbound lanes to marchers. The elder and physically challenged marchers would slack behind at the rally, and restricted the number of wheelchair participants to ten.
Civil Human Rights Front estimated the turn out to be 68,000 while the Hong Kong Police put the figure with those who left from Victoria Park between 14:30 to 16:30 at 20,000. The University of Hong Kong estimated between 29,000 and 35,000 people took place in the demonstration. Organisers suggested an estimate of 58,000 people.
Cardinal Joseph Zen joined the march for the first time. Former Chief Secretary, Anson Chan has also taken part.