Chinese and Hong Kongers compete for S. Koreans hearts

Messages written on a wall in Seoul’s Hongdae area in both English and Mandarin, the latter reading, “Keep it up Hong Kongers!” (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

Pro-HK signs and messages supporting HK repeatedly taken down by Chinese students

Messages written on a wall in Seoul’s Hongdae area in both English and Mandarin, the latter reading, “Keep it up Hong Kongers!” (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

It was around 5 pm on Nov. 4 on “Walking Street” near Hongik University in Seoul’s Mapo District. Three or four Chinese women stood by a wall pasting up sheets of A4 paper. On the sheets, the messages “Hong Kong is Chinese” and “go police” were written in Mandarin. They were words of support for the Chinese effort to suppress demonstrations in Hong Kong. Before the messages were posted, there had been a slogan in broken Korean written there to express support for the Hong Kong democratization movement: “Free Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” One of the women, who identified themselves as exchange students from China, said they were putting up the messages because “Koreans seems to be only listening to what the Hong Kong people say and don’t really know what’s going on.”

Up until recently, the site had boasted a “Lennon wall” decorated with memos expressing support for a free Hong Kong -- but of those notes had been removed when the Hankyoreh visited the site on that day. In their place, supporters of China had put up a post with a quote from Chinese President Xi Jinping: “If anyone in any party of China prays for division, the only outcome will be their bodies being ground to a powder.”

As the Hong Kong demonstrations opposing repatriation to the mainland enter their 22nd week with multiple casualties, Hong Kongers in South Korea have been actively spearheading a campaign to alert Koreans to the situation unfolding in Hong Kong. At the same time, a campaign by mainland Chinese in South Korea to stop them has also been gathering steam, leading to conflicts between Hong Kongers and Chinese erupting throughout Seoul. Structures raised to call for freedom for Hong Kong have been damaged, and physical clashes have broken out between Hong Kongers and Chinese at demonstrations.

The Lennon wall near Hongik University is perhaps the most prominent example. Around the world, structures modeled on the “Lennon Wall” created by Czechs in then-Communist Czechoslovakia during the 1980s to share their wishes for peace and freedom have been emblazoned with messages expressing support for a free Hong Kong. In South Korea, they have been raised in the Seoul districts of Mapo and Yongsan, mainly by Hong Kongers in South Korea and local activists. But when the Hankyoreh visited the Yongsan wall on Nov. 5, all of the messages sharing solidarity with Hong Kong had been taken down.

Next to messages supporting the Hong Kong protests on a wall in Seoul’s Hongdae area, a sign in Mandarin relays a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping: “If anyone in any party of China prays for division, the only outcome will be their bodies being ground to a powder.” (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

Pro-Hong Kong demonstrations disrupted by mainland Chinese

In some cases, demonstrations of solidarity with Hong Kong have been disrupted by mainland Chinese. At a Nov. 2 “solidarity demonstration for the citizens of Hong Kong” organized near Hongik University Subway Station by the group Association to Support Democratization of Hong Kong, 20 to 30 Chinese people surrounded demonstrators, with Chinese flags on display on their cell phone screens. The conflict was only defused after police arrived in response to reports and announced that “those who disrupt lawfully guaranteed assemblies and demonstrations may face punishment.”

Lee Sang-hyeon, a member of the group Asian Companions Against Brutality who took part in the demonstration, said, “You can’t really reduce it to a conflict between mainland Chinese and Hong Kongers. There are Chinese people who support us, but there are a lot who are opposing us in an organized way, so we’re considering how to respond.”

Last month, banners hung on campus by Yonsei University students voicing support for the Hong Kong demonstrations were repeatedly removed under suspicious circumstances. On the evening of Oct. 24, the group Yonsei University Korean Students Supporting Hong Kong hung up banners on the school’s Sinchon campus with messages reading “liberate Hong Kong” and “free Hong Kong, revolution of our times.” The following day on Oct. 25, they had all been removed. On Nov. 4, students again hung banners with the same messages on campus; those too were reportedly gone less than a day later.

Despite the disruptions to their South Korean activities to support the demonstrations back home, Hong Kongers remain resolute. A Hong Konger identified by the initial “K” who has taken part in the solidarity demonstrations every weekend said, “We’re going to keep making Lennon walls and doing what we have to do.” Another Hong Konger named Yo-ran said, “We’ll keep reporting on the reality in Hong Kong through social media to prevent the spread of distortions about Hong Kong.”

By Kim Min-je, staff reporter

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