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EXPLAINED: How the umbrella became a Hong Kong protest symbol

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  • EXPLAINED: How the umbrella became a Hong Kong protest symbol
  • September 26, 2024
  • Article Body Text <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ten years ago, as the streets of Hong Kong pulsed with pro-democracy demonstrations, riot police repeatedly fired pepper spray and tear gas at the crowds that sometimes swelled to more than 100,000.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To protect themselves, protesters held up umbrellas – which became an iconic image of the protests that went viral in local and international media. Yellow became the protest umbrella color for its contrast against the dark clothing of many demonstrators, and the protests became known as the "</span><a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-interview-09252024140831.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Umbrella Movement</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-002.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="A protester holds an umbrella during a performance on a main road in the occupied areas outside government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty, Oct. 9, 2014. (Kin Cheung/AP)" height="512" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-002.jpg/@@images/dca3e157-2d26-4d63-a365-ee649ba3a6ba.jpeg" title="20240925-HONG-KONG-UMBRELLA-PROTEST-002.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">A protester holds an umbrella during a performance on a main road in the occupied areas outside government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty, Oct. 9, 2014. (Kin Cheung/AP)</figcaption> <small></small> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="A protester holds an umbrella during a performance on a main road in the occupied areas outside government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty, Oct. 9, 2014. (Kin Cheung/AP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-002.jpg" id="single_image" title="A protester holds an umbrella during a performance on a main road in the occupied areas outside government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty, Oct. 9, 2014. (Kin Cheung/AP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was the largest show of civil disobedience since control of the former British colony was handed over to China in 1997. Tens of thousands of people, many of them students, camped in the streets and for 11 weeks occupied much of the business district of the city of 7 million people.</span></p> <p><b>What sparked the protests?</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The protesters’ main demand was the right to elect the chief executive of Hong Kong, which was promised in the Basic Law, the constitution for post-handover Hong Kong as a “special autonomous region” of China under the "one country, two systems” formula that gave the city some autonomy and the right to retain its system for 50 years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Small protests over the lack of movement on candidate selection had been increasing when, on Aug. 31, 2014, China’s parliament decreed that elections in Hong Kong in 2017 would be permitted -- from a list of candidates pre-approved by Beijing and nominated by a body of business elites and pro-Beijing groups.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-003.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Pro-democracy protesters open their umbrellas to mark one month since they took the street, in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong, Oct. 28, 2014. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP)" height="510" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-003.jpg/@@images/6e7117f9-c939-41f8-b442-fcd6804c1c5f.jpeg" title="20240925-HONG-KONG-UMBRELLA-PROTEST-003.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">Pro-democracy protesters open their umbrellas to mark one month since they took the street, in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong, Oct. 28, 2014. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP)</figcaption> <small></small> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="Pro-democracy protesters open their umbrellas to mark one month since they took the street, in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong, Oct. 28, 2014. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-003.jpg" id="single_image" title="Pro-democracy protesters open their umbrellas to mark one month since they took the street, in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong, Oct. 28, 2014. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ruling sent people out into the streets banging pots and pans and chanting, and prompted waves of university campus strikes and protests.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pro-democracy leaders formed plans for a civil disobedience campaign against the decision, releasing a manifesto called “Occupy Central with Love and Peace” and calling for the takeover of streets outside the city’s financial district on Oct. 1, China’s national day.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A fast-moving series of campus protests and actions by student groups to take over city streets led “Occupy Central” to be moved up several days.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">People built a protest city of tents and stages that rang out with protest songs while students did homework in camps. Activists and ordinary citizens demonstrated outside government headquarters and occupied city intersections and thoroughfares.</span></p> <p><b>How did umbrellas get involved?</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hong Kong authorities declared the protests illegal and a “violation of the rule of law,” and tensions began to mount.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the night of Sept. 26 and into the next day, riot police clashed with protesters on the streets, firing pepper spray at them and arresting some. Over subsequent days, protesters began using umbrellas to protect themselves. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The image is a poignant one, and emphasizes the asymmetry of force: an innocuous household object held up against helmeted police officers wielding poisonous substances for crowd control,” the U.S. publication </span><a href="https://qz.com/272854/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-umbrellas-in-hong-kongs-umbrella-revolution"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quartz </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-004.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Riot police use pepper spray against protesters after thousands of people block a main road to the financial central district outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. (Vincent Yu/AP)" height="516" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-004.jpg/@@images/1c062ee9-220d-4142-a795-e7fa683a9fc9.jpeg" title="20240925-HONG-KONG-UMBRELLA-PROTEST-004.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">Riot police use pepper spray against protesters after thousands of people block a main road to the financial central district outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. (Vincent Yu/AP)</figcaption> <small></small> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="Riot police use pepper spray against protesters after thousands of people block a main road to the financial central district outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. (Vincent Yu/AP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-004.jpg" id="single_image" title="Riot police use pepper spray against protesters after thousands of people block a main road to the financial central district outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. (Vincent Yu/AP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first known appearance of the term "umbrella revolution” was in the hashtag #UmbrellaRevolution generated by a news aggregator and circulated with a Sept. 28, 2014, </span><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-why-are-prodemocracy-supporters-staging-a-sitin-9760234.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">report </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">on the protests in the online edition of the British daily, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Independent.</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Use of the hashtag along with eye-catching umbrella </span><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-in-pictures-the-umbrella-revolution-9761617.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">photographs </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">spread among Hong Kong journalists and activists. The outpouring of umbrella memes included clever Cantonese </span><a href="https://qz.com/283395/how-hong-kongs-umbrella-movement-protesters-are-using-their-native-language-to-push-back-against-beijing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">puns </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">and word play – and even a meme featuring Chinese paramount leader</span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-29817724"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Xi Jinping</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> holding a yellow umbrella.</span></p> <p><b>Was the Umbrella Movement an example of a “revolution?”</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the worldwide sympathy for Hong Kong protesters, campaign leaders were quick to disavow the term “revolution.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They flatly rejected comparisons to the color revolutions that had seen authoritarian governments in former Soviet republics and elsewhere overthrown, stressing their focus on practical reforms.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We are not seeking revolution. We just want democracy!” Joshua Wong, a leading figure of the student movement, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">was quoted by </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Washington Post.</span></i></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"This is not a color revolution," Lester Shum, the deputy leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">told the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Post</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><figure class="image-richtext image-responsive captioned" style="width:768px;"> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-005.jpg" rel="lightbox"><img alt="Riot police fire tear gas on student protesters occupying streets surrounding the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 29, 2014. (Wally Santana/AP)" height="512" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-005.jpg/@@images/2d666da4-b8f7-45e5-b3fd-0235db42ef0d.jpeg" title="20240925-HONG-KONG-UMBRELLA-PROTEST-005.jpg" width="768"/></a> <figcaption class="image-caption">Riot police fire tear gas on student protesters occupying streets surrounding the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 29, 2014. (Wally Santana/AP)</figcaption> <small></small> <div id="zoomattribute"> <a data-caption="Riot police fire tear gas on student protesters occupying streets surrounding the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 29, 2014. (Wally Santana/AP)" data-fancybox="" href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hong-kong-umbrella-protest-anniversary-china-occupy-central-09252024155635.html/20240925-hong-kong-umbrella-protest-005.jpg" id="single_image" title="Riot police fire tear gas on student protesters occupying streets surrounding the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sept. 29, 2014. (Wally Santana/AP)"> <img src="/++plone++rfa-resources/img/icon-zoom.png"/> </a> </div> </figure> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Protest leaders warned that talk of revolution would alienate the broader Hong Kong public and give ammunition to Chinese Communist Party leaders who viewed the protests as rebellion and wanted to crush them.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The mainstream Occupy Central campaign agreed on “Umbrella Movement,” but some groups that advocated more aggressive tactics continued to use “Umbrella Revolution.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The occupation and protests that began on Sept. 26 lasted in pockets of Hong Kong for 79 days, until Dec. 15. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They did not achieve their goal of universal suffrage and Wong, Shum and many protest leaders are in jail, while others have gone into exile to avoid arrest under draconian <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/article-23-hong-kong-09232024112926.html">security </a>and <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/law-03082024110703.html">sedition </a>laws. </span></p>
  • Content Type Text
  • Language English
  • NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
  • Subtitles / Dubbing Available No
  • Rights Vincent Yu/AP
  • Network VOA
  • Embargo Date September 26, 2024 09:38 EDT
  • Byline By Paul Eckert for RFA
  • Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English
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