For over a year, the so-called Hong Kong Youth Care Association (HKYCA, also known as the “Youth Care group”) has been harassing Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners by continuously disrupting their information sites.
These sites display posters and banners which display information about the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in mainland China. HKYCA intensified their disruption after the July 1 marching rally which included over 400,000 Hong Kong citizens, and called for universal suffrage and the resignation of chief executive Leung Chun-ying.
Leung is widely condemned for putting the interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) above the interests and democratic values of the Hong Kong people.
HKYCA's conduct triggered public indignation from local residents, who stepped forward to defend their rights and condemned the Youth Care group for their wrongdoing. They also accused the police for supporting the Youth Care group and chief executive Leung Chun-ying and “Harming the people of Hong Kong”.
HK residents condemning Youth Care group for their harassment of Falun Gong practitioners on July 14, 2013
Public Indignation
At around 4:30 p.m. on July 14, 2013, Lin Guo-an, the vice president of HKYCA and Xiao Xiaorong along with a group of their followers unfurled big banners slandering Falun Gong in front of a Falun Gong information site at a busy pedestrian zone in the Mong Kok District. The banners blocked the site from view, which was set up to expose live organ harvesting of incarcerated Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Police arrived a little later, seemingly to persuade the Youth Care group to stop disrupting the information site, but when the group refused, the police failed to enforce the law. Instead, they blocked off the Falun Gong site with police tape, preventing the public from entering and viewing the information site.
This aroused strong indignation from the crowd of bystanders, and more people gathered around to support Falun Gong and condemned the Youth Care group for their actions. They also protested the police officers' failure to enforce the law.
Police block the street, preventing people from getting closer to the information site
Police preventing media from taking photos
Even Rain Can't Extinguish the Fire of Justice
The police refused to enforce the law, even as the crowd demanded it. Instead, they gradually withdrew. Bystanders later accused the police of deliberately instigating the Youth Care group to cause this confrontation.
Lin Guo-an (blue T-shirt on the left) grabs a bystander by the neck while another YCA member Xiao Xiaorong kicked him
At around 8:00 p.m., Lin Guo-an ordered his group to move closer to the Falun Gong information site in order to block the whole site from public view. The bystanders couldn't restrain their fury and stepped forward to stop the Youth Care group from their lawless behavior. Lin Guo-an grabbed a bystander's neck while Xiao Xiaorong kicked him violently. A number of practitioners were also punched and beaten.
It started to rain, then more police returned to the scene. Bystanders informed them that the Youth Care group started the disturbance and were beating people. The rain became heavier, but many stayed, calling on the police to strictly enforce the laws. Even the rain couldn't extinguish the fire of justice.
Category: Rallies & Protests
