Fear of HK security law spreads in Vancouver, but some dare wave the black flags of ‘revolution'
Ian Young
18 July 2020
“You’ll delete my number won’t you? After we hang up, you’ll delete that, right?” said the protester, who asked that I identify her only as “Jessica”.
Jessica lives in Vancouver, where she attends protests about Hong Kong – waving the same black flag that resulted this month in the first charge of inciting secession under new national security laws in her former home city.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“Liberate Hong Kong; Revolution of Our Times,” the allegedly secessionist flag proclaims.
For the past year, such flags have been a feature of Hong Kong-related protests in Vancouver, home to a large diaspora population. But the introduction of Hong Kong’s new national security laws on July 1 has raised the stakes for flag-waving protesters who now weigh the risks of prosecution should they ever return to the city.