London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 23, 2026

Pro-China lawmaker calls for 'clean-up day' in Hong Kong

A pro-Beijing lawmaker in Hong Kong has called for a "clean-up day" to be held on Sept 21, urging supporters to dismantle anti-government graffiti walls across the city. Legislator Junius Ho has called for 77 of the so-called "Lennon Walls" -- large mosaics of Post-it notes calling for political reforms in Hong Kong -- to be cleaned up. However, there are concerns that dismantling the "Lennon Walls" could be another flashpoint, as Hong Kong braces for a 16th weekend of protests.

A pro-Beijing Hong Kong lawmaker urged supporters to pull down “Lennon Walls” on Saturday across the Chinese-ruled city, where the displays of anti-government graffiti have sometimes been flashpoints during more than three months of unrest.

Legislator Junius Ho, who has taken a tough stand against the protests, called for cleanups of 77 Lennon Walls from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on “Clean Hong Kong Day”, by 100 people at each site.

“We will do this to celebrate the 70th anniversary of our motherland,” he said on his Facebook page, referring to the founding of the Chinese People’s Republic on Oct. 1, 1949.

The Lennon Walls are large mosaics of Post-it notes calling for democracy and denouncing perceived Chinese meddling in the former British colony that have cropped up in underpasses, under footbridges, outside shopping centers and elsewhere.

Anti-government protesters have said they will avoid confrontation but will rebuild the walls, named after the John Lennon Wall in communist-controlled Prague in the 1980s that was covered with Beatles lyrics and messages of political grievance.

Lennon’s 1980 “Double Fantasy” album includes a track called “Cleanup Time”.

The walls have occasionally been the scene of clashes in recent weeks. Three people were wounded in a knife attack by an unidentified assailant near a Lennon Wall in the Tseung Kwan O district of the New Territories in August.

“We hope citizens will understand areas around Lennon Wall are relatively high-risk,” police official Fang Chi-kin told reporters. “There have been fights and scuffles between people from different backgrounds near these areas.”

Hong Kong’s Jockey Club canceled all races on Wednesday after protesters said they would target the Happy Valley racecourse where a horse part-owned by Ho was due to run.


WARNING AGAINST DRONES


Ho, who once described the protesters as “black-shirted thugs”, on Thursday pulled the horse, “Hong Kong Bet”, from all races until the protests are over. Ho said the horse should not be “deprived of its right to race”.

Anti-government protesters, many masked and wearing black, have caused havoc in recent weeks, throwing petrol bombs at police, storming the Legislative Council, trashing metro stations, blocking airport roads and lighting street fires.

The Civil Aviation Department said on Friday it had heard of online posts about possible plans to fly drones or transmit radio waves near the offshore airport to disrupt air traffic.

“Regardless of the intentions of the operators, flying drones illegally in the area of the airport and its vicinity may cause aircraft incidents and put passengers as well as the public at risk,” a spokesman said.

London’s Gatwick Airport, the second-busiest in Britain, suspended flights in December while it investigated reports of two drones flying the airfield.

Hong Kong police have responded to the street violence with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. A total 1,474 people have been arrested, aged between 12 and 84, police said on Friday. So far 207 have been charged, including 79 for rioting.

On Friday, rights group Amnesty International accused police of torture and other abuses in their handling of detained protesters. Police said they had respected the “privacy, dignity and rights” of those in custody.

“It was not a fair report,” a senior police officer told reporters. “Anyone could have come out with a report like that quoting anonymous sources ... I could have written another 400 like that.”

Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that ensures freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including right of assembly and an independent judiciary.

Demonstrators are angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in Hong Kong’s affairs and the protests have broadened into calls for universal suffrage.

China says it is committed to the “one country, two systems” arrangement and denies interfering. It has accused foreign powers, particularly the United States and Britain, of fomenting the unrest and told them to mind their own business.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Iranian Hackers Shut Down British Power Plant for Four Days in Landmark Cyber Attack
Novak Djokovic Reveals Relentless Self-Doubt and Rejects Retirement in New Documentary
Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Goods After Bilateral Trade Talks Collapse
Australia Combines Indigenous Fire Knowledge With Satellite Tech to Combat Catastrophic Wildfires
Father and Son Jailed in Scotland Over £900,000 Airport Cannabis Smuggling Operation
UK Fraud Reports Surge Sevenfold as Criminals Exploit QR Codes in Parking Meters and Phishing Emails
Brighton Thrash Aston Villa in Four-Goal Opening Half as Manchester City Trail Bournemouth
Erin Patterson Appeals Triple Murder Convictions After Hotel Mixed Sequestered Jury With Prosecution
Bank of England Maintains Close Watch on Banks Amid Global Economic Uncertainty
Warm Weather and Tourism Support UK High Street Spending During Summer
Westminster Faces Continuing Political and Administrative Fallout From Epstein Files Release
UK Invests in Domestic Defence Drone Manufacturing to Strengthen Military Supply Chains
Around Five Million UK Households Face Higher Mortgage Payments by 2028
Bluetongue Virus Cases Rise Across England, Wales and Scotland
UK Government Holds First National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism
Historic Summer Droughts Threaten UK Harvests and Put Further Pressure on Food Prices
UK Economy Holds Up in Second Quarter Despite Global Energy and Geopolitical Pressures
UK Opens National Artificial Intelligence Safety Testing Facility
UK Government Finalizes Plans to Bring Remaining Regional Rail Services Into Public Ownership
Environment Agency Imposes Record Penalties on Water Companies Over Illegal Sewage Discharges
Great British Energy Announces Offshore Wind Partnership in North Sea
UK Government Tightens Planning Rules to Accelerate Housing Development
NHS Launches Digital Overhaul to Cut Elective Care Waiting Lists
Bank of England Signals Interest Rates May Stay Higher for Longer as Inflation Pressures Persist
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Bank of England Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Inflation and Energy Risks Persist
UK AI Security Tests Find Autonomous Agent Attempting Malicious Code Injection
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Amid Global Pressures
UK Joins European Allies in Condemning Israeli Settlement Plans in West Bank E1 Area
Multiple People Killed in A66 Collision Near Middlesbrough Involving Police Vehicle
UK Government Holds First National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism
UK Met Office Warns of Severe Autumn Storms as Strong El Niño Follows Historic Drought
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Prince Harry and Co-Claimants Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million Toward Daily Mail Publisher’s Legal Costs
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Reportedly Plan Return to Britain With Their Children
UK Court Ruling Threatens Deportation Plans for Potential Trafficking Victims to Albania
Kemi Badenoch Presses UK Government for Decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw Oil Fields
UK Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Calls for Ban on Goods from Occupied West Bank
Andy Burnham Government to Place Civil Servants Directly in English Mayoral Offices
Met Office Warns Major El Niño Could Bring Stormier, Wetter Autumn to UK
UK Economy Gains Unexpected Momentum Ahead of Andy Burnham Government’s First Budget
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
×