HK$5.5 million raised in one day for G20 ads on extradition bill

Hong Kong activists have raised HK$5.48 million (US$701,800) in a single day in an online crowdfunding campaign to apply international pressure on the government to completely scrap the now-suspended extradition bill.

The money will be used to place front-page ads in major international newspapers such as The Financial Times and The New York Times on Thursday, a day before the G20 leaders' summit opens in Osaka, Japan, to run an open letter explaining their opposition to the legislation and their other demands.

The campaign, which started on Tuesday morning, was initiated on the crowdfunding website GoGetFunding by “Freedom Hongkonger”.

It stopped taking donations after the fund reached nearly HK$5.5 million.

The biggest amount given by a single donation was HK$30,000. One of the organizers of the campaign, who asked not to be identified, said the result of the fundraising showed the enormous enthusiasm of the people of Hong Kong to fight for freedom and rule of law.

The campaign will have accounting personnel to monitor the use of the fund, the organizers said.

If ad space on targeted newspapers have already been taken up, or should there by any unused amount, the money will be donated to the Anti-Extradition Protest Trust, a fund intended to support those who had been arrested or injured in protests against the bill, RTHK quoted organizers as saying.

The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) is scheduled to hold a "G20 Free Hong Kong Assembly" on Wednesday night at Edinburgh Place in Central to bring global pressure to bear on Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to scrap the bill and meet the protesters' other demands.

A thread has also been posted on a local online forum asking Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah to respond to their demand for a written pledge to drop charges against the protesters, among other demands.

If their demands are not met before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, they will stage a rally at Justice Place in Central the following morning for the purpose of “viewing and enjoying its architectural style”, according to the thread.

On Wednesday morning, hundreds of protesters marched to 19 consulates of G20 countries as part of a campaign to put international pressure on the Hong Kong government ahead of the summit.

After delivering letters to the US and British consulates and the EU office, the protesters split into three different groups, making their way to the consulates of the other countries.

– Contact us at [email protected]

WL/JC/CG