The Demosisōo party of high-profile activist Joshua Wong called a student strike Monday — the first day of the new school year — in a bid to maintain momentum in Hong Kong’s intensifying democratic rebellion.
Local media estimated that as many as 10,000 students from some 200 secondary and tertiary institutions were joining the class boycott, which was co-organized with two student groups. As the morning got underway, pupils from both elite private colleges and government secondary schools braved the stormy weather to join hands in human chains around their campuses.
At Queen’s College, one of Hong Kong’s oldest and most prestigious schools, alumni turned out with current students in protest, chanting “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time!” before singing the school song.
