Hong Kong protests: Civil Human Rights Front will not apply for permission to hold annual July 1 march for first time in 19 years

July 1 march, timed to coincide with anniversary of city’s handover to China, has been a yearly event since 2003, when 500,000 people took to the streets

Front has been responsible for some of Hong Kong’s largest protests, but its convenor was jailed for 18 months in May, and police are currently investigating group’s legality

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Protesters march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to the Legislative Council complex during a July 1 rally organised by the Civil Human Rights Front in 2019. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 9:16pm, 20 Jun 2021Updated: 12:42am, 21 Jun 2021

A Hong Kong group known for organising some of the city’s largest protests will not seek to hold its annual July 1 march for the first time in 19 years, citing the recent jailing of its leader and an ongoing police investigation into its legality.

Chung Chung-fai, acting convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, revealed on Sunday that the body made up its mind on Friday to forgo its annual protest – timed to coincide with the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China – after a meeting with its member organisations.

The front has held the July 1 march every year since 2003, when 500,000 people took to the streets to oppose a proposed national security law that was ultimately scrapped by the Hong Kong government. And even with pandemic-related rules forbidding large gatherings, the front attempted to keep up the tradition last year, filing an application for the event only to be rejected by police on public health grounds.

Chung – a former leader of the group who retook the helm in a transitional capacity after convenor Figo Chan Ho-wun was jailed for 18 months in May over an unauthorised 2019 protest – told the Post the group found itself in dire straits.

“As you know, Figo is now in jail,” he said. “There is no manpower to do anything as there is no one remaining in the secretariat any more.”

Explaining the decision not to apply for the July 1 march this year, Chung alluded to the police investigation into the group’s legality, which was launched in late April, giving rise to speculation that authorities were seeking to ban it outright.

“If the police think we are an illegal body, it is unlikely they will grant our application,” Chung said.

The acting convenor stressed the decision to not to hold this year’s march was merely a one-off, but allowed he could not see how the situation might improve in the long run.