{"id":46939,"date":"2022-06-22T10:25:25","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T08:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/literaturfestivalberlin.de\/?p=46939"},"modified":"2022-07-06T23:19:50","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T21:19:50","slug":"weltweite-lesung-fur-die-demokratiebewegung-in-hongkong-am-9-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/literaturfestival.com\/en\/weltweite-lesung-fur-die-demokratiebewegung-in-hongkong-am-9-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Worldwide Reading for the Democracy Movement in Hong Kong on 9th September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The international literature festival berlin [ilb] is calling on individuals, schools, universities, cultural institutions and the media for a worldwide reading for freedom of expression and assembly on 9 September 2020. These readings are intended to draw attention to the situation of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and human rights in Hong Kong, which were adopted by the United Nations in Paris on 10 December 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CALL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The international literature festival berlin [ilb] is calling on individuals, schools, universities, cultural institutions and the media for a Worldwide Reading for Freedom of Expression and Assembly on 9 September 2020<\/strong>. These readings are intended to draw attention to the situation of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and human rights in Hong Kong<\/strong>, which were adopted by the United Nations in Paris on 10 December 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong’s recently adopted Security Law and related regulations are part of a long tradition of sometimes subtle, sometimes offensive efforts by the People’s Republic of China to influence the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), which has been semi-autonomous since 1997, and its government formation. In addition to numerous arrests, including that of media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, pro-democracy activist Benny Tai was dismissed from his position as professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in response to the new Security Law. The Guardian wrote on July 1st: \u201cThe extent of Beijing\u2019s mandate was made clear as full details of the law were released late on Tuesday, giving authorities sweeping powers to crack down on dissent and allowing China new levels of control over the semi-autonomous territory.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already in 2014, the Chinese government stipulated that all candidates for the election of the head of government had to be approved beforehand in Beijing. Known as the “Umbrella Movement”, the population of Hong Kong responded with a series of large-scale demonstrations: Thousands of students and pupils, university teachers and intellectuals, artists, workers and employees demanded, among other things, the withdrawal of the resolution and the introduction of political reforms towards further democratization. There were numerous violent clashes between demonstrators and the police, who used pepper spray and tear gas against the largely peaceful demonstrators and arrested various.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of 2015, five Hong Kong booksellers and publishers were abducted to mainland China where they were interned, interrogated and forced to confess. On February 24, 2020, one of the booksellers, Gui Minhai, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “illegally passing secret information abroad”. While the Internet, newspapers, television and radio are officially uncensored in Hong Kong, most media are now owned by Chinese investors. Television and radio largely outdo each other in self-censorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since March 2019, there have been renewed large-scale demonstrations against the pro- Beijing Hong Kong government over a draft bill that would also allow the extradition of wanted persons to China. Among other things, the demonstrators were demanding the withdrawal of the extradition bill, universal suffrage and the release of political prisoners. While the draft of the extradition bill was officially withdrawn by the government in September 2019, the responses to the other demands are being sat out. The result: over 1,000 protests and 8,000 arrests since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Security Law accelerates China’s ongoing efforts to stop critical voices and freedom of expression in Hong Kong. The leadership in Beijing is using the global crisis due to COVID-19 to quickly create facts and undermine the “one country, two systems” principle. The law grants the Hong Kong police extensive search and surveillance powers and criminalises unpleasant political activities as terrorism. This course highlights the urgent need for international attention and solidarity at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the 30 articles of human rights<\/strong>, which you can find in over 500 (!) languages on the website of the United Nations <\/a>and read in our film What Matters<\/strong> by Vivienne Westwood, Nina Hoss, Can D\u00fcndar, Patti Smith, Simon Rattle, Ai Weiwei, Elfriede Jelinek, and David Grossman subtitled in the languages Arabic, Chinese, German, English, French, Hindi, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish via our website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institutions and persons who would like to participate with a reading on 9 September 2020 are asked to inform us and send information like: name of the organizer, place and date of the event, participants, language of the event and, if you have, website link. Our e-mail address is: worldwidereading@literaturfestival.com<\/a>. The ilb will announce the events on the website www.literaturfestival.com <\/a>and in social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SIGNATORIES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Argentina<\/strong> Leila Guerriero I Pola Oloixarac I Noelia Blanco Armenia <\/strong>Viken BerberianAustralia<\/strong> Brian Castro I Charlotte Wood I Kevin John Hart I Kyra Giorgi I Mark Isaacs I Tara June Winch I Austria<\/strong> Christian Duda I Elfriede Jelinek I Belgium <\/strong>Brecht Evens I Philippe de Pierpont Brazil <\/strong>Marcia Tiburi I Pieta Poeta Canada<\/strong> Brian Brett I Gaston Bellemare I John Ralston Saul I Lain Lawrence I Madeleine Thien I Margaret Atwood I Michael M. Day Chile<\/strong> Ariel Dorfman I Carmen Berenguer Croatia<\/strong> Ivana Sajko Czech Republic<\/strong> Radka Denemarkov\u00e1 Denmark<\/strong> Kim Fupz Aakeson Dominican Republic<\/strong> Luisa Vicioso S\u00e1nchez France<\/strong> Azouz Begag I Marie Holzman I Olivier Guez I Shumona Sinha Georgia<\/strong> Zaza Burchuladze Germany <\/strong>Alban Nikolai Herbst I Burghart Klaussner I Gisela von Wysocki I Hans Christoph Buch I Jeanette Hofmann I Jenny Schon I mawil I Maxi Obexer I Olaf K\u00fchl I Peter Schneider I Reinhard Kleist I Sebastian L\u00f6rscher I Stefan Weidner I Stephan Thome I Volker Stanzel I Wolfram Schrettl Greece <\/strong>Christos Chryssopoulos Greenland <\/strong>Jessie Kleemann Hong Kong<\/strong> Charmaine Li I Evans Chan Hungary <\/strong>Elizabeth Csicsery-Ronay India<\/strong> Damodar Mauzo I Manju Kapur I Mimi Mondal I Perumal Murugan I Rambharos Jha Iran <\/strong>Amir Hassan Cheheltan I Fariba Vafi I Negin Ehtesabian Ireland <\/strong>Gabriel Rosenstock Israel <\/strong>Uziel Awret Italy <\/strong>Andrea Garbin I Davide Reviati I Lorenzo Marsili Japan <\/strong>Hiroko Oyamada Luxemburg<\/strong> Pierre Joris Mexico<\/strong> Alberto Ruy-S\u00e1nchez I David Huerta I Homero Aridjis I Lydia Cacho I Ver\u00f3nica Murgu\u00eda Myanmar<\/strong> Kyal Yi Lin Six Nicaragua<\/strong> Gioconda Belli Norway<\/strong> Jan Erik Vold I Linde Hagerup I Sissel Horndal I Tom Egeland Pakistan <\/strong>Ahmed Rashid I Mohammed Hanif Poland <\/strong>Jacek Dehnel Portugal <\/strong>Ana Luisa Amaral I Catarina Sobral Puerto Rico<\/strong> Mayra Santos-Febres Romania <\/strong>Gabriela Adamesteanu I Marius Oprea Russia<\/strong> Alissa Ganijew Serbia<\/strong> Ana Ristovic Sierra Leone<\/strong> Ishmael Beah Slovenia<\/strong> Stanka Hrastelj South Africa<\/strong> Hennie van Vuuren Spain<\/strong> Ana Penyas Sweden<\/strong> Bengt Berg I Ghayath Almadhoun Switzerland<\/strong> Catalin Dorian Florescu I Raphael Urweider I Urs Jaeggi Syria <\/strong>Hala Mohammad I Widad Nabi The <\/strong>Netherlands<\/strong> Anneke Brassinga I Enne Koens Tunisia <\/strong>Meriam Bousselmi Turkey <\/strong>Burhan Sonmez I Ece Temelkuran I Oya Baydar UK <\/strong>Chloe Aridjis I Jeannette Ng I Ma Jian I Priya Basil USA <\/strong>Brittani Sonnenberg I Charles Bernstein I Elvia Wilk I Forrest Gander I John Wray I Joshua Cohen I Maggie Cleveland I Patrick Lichty I Raza Rumi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants*<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Austria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisation: Reporters Without Borders Austria<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Event location: online at https:\/\/vimeo.com\/453242220<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants: Rubina M\u00f6hring, President Reporters Without Borders Austria, Paul Buchacher (design), Carina-Susanna Bauer (editing&camera), Raphael Friedlmayer (editing&camera), Franz Koglmann (music)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language: German<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisation: FREIRAD (Freies Radio Innsbruck)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Event location: Innsbruck, \u00d6sterreich<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time: 0-7 a.m., 8:30-10 a.m., 1-2 p.m., 4-5 p.m., 10-0 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n