Pro-independence activists in Hong Kong demand ‘return to British rule’

A small group of Hong Kong activists are demanding a return to British rule as a stepping stone towards independence, as fears grow that Beijing is tightening its grip on the southern Chinese city.

A group of Hong Kong activists are demanding a return to British rule as a stepping stone towards independence, as fears grow that Beijing is tightening its grip on the southern Chinese city.

A pro-Beijing protester holding the Chinese national flag confronts a pro-democracy protester carrying a yellow umbrella -- that became movement’s symbol. A small faction of pro-independence supporters have called to return Hong Kong under British rule to escape mainland China’s rule. (AP File Photo)

Pro-independence advocates have launched The Alliance to Resume British Sovereignty over Hong Kong and Independence party, the second political group in recent months to advocate a breakaway from China.

“Independence is the ultimate goal, to return to British rule is just a transitional phase,” Billy Chiu, the Alliance’s leader told AFP on Wednesday.

The activists said they believed it would be easier to gain independence from Britain than China.

“An independent nation is Hong Kong’s only way out,” Chiu said, adding that the new party, which consists of around 30 members, will be formally announced on Sunday.

Chiu in 2013 broke into a People’s Liberation Army facility in central Hong Kong holding up a colonial flag and asking the PLA to “get out” of the city.

In 2014, scores of citizens held a series of sit-in protests from September to December against the Beijing-backed proposal for limited democracy in the Honk Kong elections. Occupying the financial district of the city and elsewhere, the movement came to be known as the ‘Umbrella Movement’. The protests fizzled out by the end of 2014 as public opinion turned given that local businesses were suffering.