‘Release Political Prisoners’ Sign Seen Atop HK’s Lion Rock on New Year’s Eve

On Dec. 31, while hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong citizens participated in countdown activities across Hong Kong to cheer the arrival of 2023, a dozen or so Hong Kong people went to the top of the Lion Rock. They held up a luminaire combo showcasing the “Free HK PoliticalL Prisoners” slogan to express their feelings to the sky above and the thousands of households below in the hope that freedom will return to Hong Kong with all political prisoners currently remanded in prison being released soon.With the relaxation of local COVID-19 pandemic prevention measures and the lifting of social distance restrictions, hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong citizens flocked to various locations in Hong Kong to participate in the countdown. According to official figures, more than 330,000 people were cheering the countdown on both sides of Victoria Harbour on New Year’s Eve. The regional weather data recorded was just 7.7°C (45.9°F ) at midnight on Tai Mo Shan (the highest peak in Hong Kong) and about nine degrees centigrade (48.2°F) on top of the Lion Rock. On New Year’s Eve Dec. 31, 2022, more than a dozen Hong Kong people went atop the Lion Rock, using LED luminaires and electronic candles to display the words “Free HK” and release of political prisoners. (Hui Tat /The Epoch Times) More than a dozen Hong Kong people braved the freezing wind and went to the top of the Lion Rock, a traditional symbol of the Hong Kong spirit to never give up. They waved their lights towards both the Wong Tai Sin, and Shatin areas expressing their desire for the early release of all those imprisoned under political persecution. Later, some of them raised and let flutter in the wind the banner “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” and chanted the slogan repeatedly. On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2022, more than a dozen Hong Kong people went atop Lion Rock Hill, some people hold flag and yelled slogans “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolutions of Our Times.”  (Hui Tat/The Epoch Times) One of the guys who participated in the event lamented that his family would leave Hong Kong permanently soon, and he was “climbing the Rock” for the last time on this New Year’s Eve in an attempt to keep the scene of thousands of lights under the hill in his memory forever. Someone then shot a laser beam on the hill to the sky and down the slope, respectively. There were similar flashes from both directions very soon as replies, echoing each other in harmony. On New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2022, more than a dozen Hong Kong people went atop Lion Rock Hill to voice their demands for the release of political prisoners. (Hui Tat/The Epoch Times) One participant said, “Candlelight is a kind of hope for me, a hope to find the truth. There being no chance that I will give up hope,” she emphasized. “As long as there remains a candlelight, however small, it can still bring me strength,” she added. She continued: “I can still do a lot of things. In fact, I have continued doing everything that I did before. I just want to tell those who emigrated, those in exile, and those inside the walls (in prison) that we have never given up. The people of Hong Kong still miss everyone who participated in this revolution.” On Sept. 13, 2019, Hong Kong citizens from Lion Rock Hill and Victoria Peak flashed each other in unison with laser pointers and flashlights and hurled down a banner calling for “Bona Fide Universal Suffrage (for the positions of Chief Executive and the Legislative Council)” on the Lion Rock Hill. (Sung Pi-lung/The Epoch Times) In 2019, the anti-extradition movement broke out in Hong Kong. Many Hong Kong people have climbed Lion Rock every now and then to reinforce the traditional symbol for the hardworking spirit of the Hong Kong people, asking the world to pay attention to Hong Kong, which is losing its freedom. The one having the best turnout was on Sept. 13, 2019, when a large number of citizens climbed to the top and formed a long human chain of mobile phone lights. They used all such actions to reiterate the “Five demands, Not one less” to the government. After 2019, Hong Kong people continued to go to the “Rock” to hold up signs such as “Save the 12 (the 12 Hong Kong people case)” and “FAITH” on top of the “Rock” to express their other demands. Hong Kong people of such “Climber” mode had also used this in the past to let the thousands of families down the hill know “there are still people who are willing to persevere.” On June 30, 2020, the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” came into effect. Media organizations that have always been regarded as representing the voices of the people, such as Apple Daily, Stand News, Citizen news, and the like, were forced to close and were purged one after another. Most of the pro-democracy political groups, trade unions, and civic organizations have also been disbanded one by one under various sorts of political pressures. Many Hong Kong people who had the courage to speak out for Hong Kong’s fre