London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2025

Foreigners who fly in to join Hong Kong protests say they’re not interfering, just ‘showing solidarity across borders’

Lawmaker says foreigners risk breaking the law by joining illegal marches, wearing masks. ‘Protest tourists’ from US, Canada say they were moved to show support for Hongkongers

Ben Song was among thousands of people standing shoulder to shoulder at a recent Friday night rally in Hong Kong’s Edinburgh Place.

As the protesters waved their lit mobile phones and shouted Cantonese slogans, Song stayed silent.

But as soon as the chants switched to English, his voice rang out loud with theirs: “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong!”
The 26-year-old Uber driver from Arlington, Texas, was new to it all. This was his second night in Hong Kong, and his first protest. Just three days earlier, he was still at home in the United States.

“I’d been watching the protests for months,” Song says. “I thought to myself all that time: ‘I wish I was over there, I wish I could support them’.”

Half Korean and half Japanese, Song speaks no Cantonese and has no family connection in Hong Kong. He is among a number of foreigners and former Hong Kong residents who have been moved by five months of anti-government protests, to visit the city and join the demonstrations too.



Beijing has accused countries like the US of supporting the protest movement and meddling in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.

The protesters and pro-democracy activists, meanwhile, have actively courted global attention, seeking support from the US Congress and other western governments, and waving American, British, and other foreign flags at rallies and marches.

Sociology professor Hung Ho-fung of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, says it would not be surprising if Beijing views the presence of foreign citizens in the Hong Kong protests as evidence of foreign interference.

But the author of Protest with Chinese Characteristics, a study of the history of protests in imperial China, suggests that the Hong Kong movement has drawn outsiders because of the worldwide attention it has received.

“Foreign individuals are welcomed [by protesters], like US senators who visit,” he says. “Many people increasingly see that it’s part of the global confrontation against China’s expansion.”

Still, he notes that the number of foreigners at the protests appears low, and Hongkongers make up the core of the movement.

Pro-establishment lawmaker Yiu Si-wing says while there may be nothing wrong with foreigners participating in lawful assemblies, they risk running foul of laws such as the Public Order Ordinance, if the rallies are unauthorised, or the Prohibition of Face Covering Regulation, if they wear masks.

He says he worries about the personal safety and legal risks for foreigners who take part in Hong Kong protests, as they may not understand local laws or be aware of how violent the clashes are.

Despite travel advisories issued from as early as July by several countries, visitors like Song have travelled to Hong Kong to be part of the protests.

He says coming to Hong Kong for the first time for this purpose made him nervous, scared, but very excited. For two weeks in September and October, he attended peaceful rallies.

“I’ve always thought of myself as a person who puts his money where his mouth is,” he adds.

In his tiny hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui the day before the October 1 rally, he had his protest gear laid out neatly on his bed: a yellow helmet, a gas mask, and a Kevlar vest left over from his time in the US Marine reserves.

He says he helped protesters build barricades on the streets, but insists he did not take part in violent acts such as throwing bricks or petrol bombs at police.

Song says he sees Hong Kong as part of a “global struggle against totalitarianism”, but his Asian-American identity makes it easy for him to sympathise with the city’s protesters.

“My friends who are Asian, we are all Asian together,” he says. “We all feel a shared experience.”

Another protester from the US feels a closer connection. Andy, 20, who asks to be identified by his first name only and prefers not to show his face when photographed, is the son of a Vietnamese mother and Hongkonger father, and was raised in California.

A third-year college student in California, he has taken a semester off to be in Hong Kong.

He says he grew up listening to the struggles of communist Vietnam, from which his mother escaped to the US. That has helped him understand Hongkongers’ anxiety about mainland China’s increasing influence in the city.

“Seeing it happen to Hong Kong, which is the other half of my identity, definitely resonated within me. I felt like I had to do something,” he says, explaining his decision to join the protests.

He defends his participation as showing solidarity with Hongkongers, not “foreign interference”.

“In an increasingly globalised world, it’s impossible to have a clear social conscience and not take action on issues that matter,” he says.

Describing his involvement in the city’s unrest, he says: “I am American, but doing no organisation. The locals are the ones with the ideas, bravery and drive to push the movement forward.”

He helps at protests by handing out food vouchers and supplies, and has made a trip to Taiwan to buy gas masks that are becoming increasingly scarce.

Andy says he is not one of the frontline radical protesters who have been trashing MTR stations and the premises of businesses perceived as pro-Beijing, or engaging in violent confrontations with police.

But he adds that he understands why the protests have turned violent.

“It’s a natural response when the government has such deaf ears,” he says. “Although I don’t personally endorse the violence, I won’t mentally distance myself from the movement because of it.”

For Mimi Lee, a Hongkonger who lives in Toronto, returning to join the protests was something she felt she needed to do, even if only for four days.

The financial adviser in her 40s had been following news of the protests, and helped organise rallies and events in Toronto to support protesters in Hong Kong, despite having left the city with her parents when she was 16.

Now a Canadian citizen, Lee says she was not so involved during the 2014 Occupy movement, when protesters shut down parts of Hong Kong for 79 days.

“I regretted at the time that I didn’t come back,” she admits.

On October 1, Lee waved a Canadian flag as she joined a peaceful march down Hennessy Road in Wan Chai, the only protest she attended before returning to Canada.

“As overseas Hongkongers, we are all having depression, seeing what’s happening in Hong Kong,” she says.

Associate professor Chan Yuk-wah of the department of Asian and international studies at City University of Hong Kong, says civil movements like the protests can produce an “activist identity” that gains empathy across borders.

She cites the example of the Vietnam war protests that took place around the world in the late 1960s in reaction to American military involvement in Vietnam.

“The sight of young people speaking up and being determined always moves other people,” adds Chan. “This sentiment is a psychological connection.”

Pro-establishment lawmaker Yiu feels the Hong Kong government should do more overseas to present the full picture of what is going on, so that foreigners are aware before they travel to join the protests.

“It is hard to stop foreign people from taking part in protests, but I think the Hong Kong government should step up its overseas promotions, so that people know more about the violence involved,” he says.

“I fear that the foreigners might have only seen one side of the story ... and have the impression that Hong Kong has no democracy or freedom at all.”

Of the three foreign protesters the Post interviewed, only Andy is still in Hong Kong.

He is staying until December, but says it was not an easy decision and he wondered about putting his life on hold.

“At times you never know if anything is going to happen,” he says. “But if it’s something you stand behind, you should just go for it.”

Lee is back in Toronto, but is continuing her efforts. She recently led a group distributing thousands of T-shirts at the opening NBA basketball game in Toronto.

“We want people in Hong Kong to know: stay in there, hang on, ga yau,” she says, using the Cantonese term for encouragement which translates into “add oil”.

Song is home in Texas. He says his stay helped him realise that the protests in Hong Kong were a desperate struggle for many people, and he could not just return to the US and resume his normal life.

He says: “As soon as I got back, I was thinking, ‘OK, how do I go back again?’”​

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
×