The Guardian has the story:
A group of 11 local organisations, many of them human rights NGOs, plans to hold the rally at 3pm on Saturday, according to a press release posted online on Wednesday afternoon. “We call on Hong Kong to respect international legal standards and procedures relating to the protection of Snowden; we condemn the US government for violating our rights and privacy; and we call on the US not to prosecute Snowden,” it said.
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The rally’s press release said the participants would march past a Hong Kong government office and the city’s US consulate, and suggested that they bring posters reading: “defend free speech, protect Snowden”, “no extradition”, “respect Hong Kong law”, “shame on NSA”, “stop internet surveillance” and “betray Snowden = betray freedom”.
Hong Kong is an odd duck, being a part of Semi-Demi-Communist China but having its own semi-demi-independent political and economic system. Since the British handed Hong Kong back over, Beijing has increased its powers in the region, without ever quite cracking down.
So what I’d like to know is, if any of these 11 groups are fronts for Beijing, or how many of their members might be in cahoots with the mainland. Because Snowden, with a big assist from the NSA and the White House, has handed Beijing an excellent opportunity to embarrass the United States.
For the record, I’m glad Snowden revealed the NSA’s data-mining program — no matter whether his personal motivations were honorable or treasonous. But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be some unpleasant complications.
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