US President, Bill Clinton, finished his 9-day China visit as Air Force
One
took off from the new Hong Kong International Airport at 8.23 pm on July
3, 1998.
While Mr. Clinton was enjoying his trip in Hong Kong, several activists
protested against the US Government in different manners. About 10
demonstrators, representing April 5th Action Group, Never Forget June 4,
and People's Constitutionalist Society, paraded from the headquarter of
Hongkong Bank in Central to Ex- Government House at 7:30pm on
Thursday (July 2) evening. They demanded the US government help to stop
the exploitation of Chinese workers by the American multi-national
corporations, and to abolish the US-Japanese Security Pact, which was
signed at 1962. The open letter states that large US corporations, such as
Nike, have over fifty thousands employees in mainland, who are working
12 hours a day for $0.16 per hour. Finally, they burnt their open letter to
Mr. Clinton and a national flag of United States behind the back door of
Ex- Government House to show their request.
About 8:30pm of July 2, hours before Mr. Clinton's arrival, about 10
members of the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands burnt a
copy of their petition outside the US Consulate-General in Garden Road,
Central. They also stuck a piece of cardboard, portraying the US president
as a turtle, at the entrance to condemn him for ``ducking his head like a
turtle''. They requested the US apologize for transferring the administration
of Diaoyu Islands to Japan in 1972, and return the island to China. They
failed to meet President Clinton even though they waited for his car until
midnight, so they staged an overnight sit-in protest outside the Grand Hyatt
Hotel in Wan Chai where he was staying.
Another group of protesters led by dissident Han Dongfang sent an open
letter to Mr. Clinton demanding action against severe labor-rights violations
on the mainland. Meanwhile, about 15 protesters from the Hong Kong
Christian Industrial Committee marched to the US Consulate-General,
chanting, `` Rights of workers are human rights'', they also prepared an
open letter to President Clinton and handed to a consulate public relations
officer. The letter was also co-signed by the Justice and Peace
Commission, China Labor Bulletin, Hong Kong Confederation of Trade
Unions and the Young Christian Workers (HK). |
