Washington DC Residents Rally in Solidarity With Hong Kong Protesters

© RIA NovostiThousands of Protesters Gathered at Occupy Central Rallies in Hong Kong
Thousands of Protesters Gathered at Occupy Central Rallies in Hong Kong - Sputnik International
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Over 100 people have rallied outside the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, DC in solidarity with mass pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

WASHINGTON, October 2 (RIA Novosti), Lyudmila Chernova - Over 100 people have rallied outside the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, DC in solidarity with mass pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Wednesday's rally, organized via the "United for Democracy: Global Solidarity with Hong Kong" Facebook page, went peacefully. The participants were chanting "Stay Strong Hong Kong" and used yellow ribbons and umbrellas to show support for the demonstrations held in China's Special Administrative Region.

As one of the rally's organizers Vivian Lee has explained RIA Novosti, umbrellas have a symbolic meaning for the event, since the Hong Kong protesters used them as a shield from the tear gas and pepper spray deployed by police.

"Hong Kong is a functioning democracy in almost every way, except they don't have their own governance," Carolyn Bland, one of the protesters, said, adding that the people of Hong Kong must be allowed to choose their chief executive.

On Wednesday, the White House issued an official statement, urging China to show restraint and give the people of Hong Kong a genuine choice of candidates for the 2017 elections.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Hong Kong to take part in protests against Chinese government's plans to control the 2017 election. Protesters say Beijing backed down on its pledge to allow universal suffrage in Hong Kong, which was promised a high degree of autonomy when it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

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