June 30, 1997 (aka Celebrate What?)

Overview

"June 30, 1997. Hong Kong. Tourists flocked to expensive gourmet parties with a harbor view, or got drunk on the streets, embracing British or Communist flags. All media coverage described how happy the local Hong Kong people were about being taken over the next day. I was invited to a private gathering at Hong Kong Arts Centre to watch television and the fireworks together. It turned out to be a gathering of local artists singing sad songs and telling angry stories, against a room decorated in words of bright red: 'Reversion 1997: I am very happy.' Later I went to the Central part of town to find thousands of people rallying in Victoria Square. At midnight they released multi-color balloons, tied a huge yellow ribbon around the Legislative Council, where the directly elected Democratic Legislators were being kicked out, as of July 1. The action was illegal in the new Hong Kong law. The police blocked the area around the Council soon afterwards, calling it 'private property.'"