Associated Press
British expatriate Nick Poole waves the Union Jack as
Ian Storey looks on during celebrations in Hong Kong.
Behind them is Hong Kong's new flag.
Sadness and Joy
From Hong Kong to Beijing
Democracy rallies are peaceful
By Susan Kreifels
on the first day of communist rule
Star-Bulletin
David G. McIntyre, special to the Star-Bulletin
Chinese President Jiang Zemin shakes hands
with Prince Charles after today's ceremony.
HONG KONG -- Rallies for democracy on the first day of communist rule here were peaceful, what some called a good start to the new Chinese era."The Hong Kong style of protest has always been peaceful," said Tai Sik Kwan, party secretary of 1-2-3 Democratic Alliance, which wants a democratic China. "The government worries too much."
At midnight, Victoria Harbor was ablaze with fireworks in a spectacular send-off of the British. But the 4,000 Chinese troops amassing outside the city at dawn dampened festivities as much as the rain that poured on Prince Charles during a speech at a farewell ceremony.
The prince, British Gov. Chris Patten and his tearful family then boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia to cheers for their final sail out of Victoria Harbor.
David G. McIntyre, special to the Star-Bulletin
The Chinese flag, second from left, and the new S.A.R. flag of
Hong Kong fly at full mast in the Great Hall of the Hong Kong
Convention Center after the Bristish returned
Hong Kong to Chinese rule.
China's deployment of the People's Liberation Army troops by land, air and sea has drawn criticism from many here as too much too soon, an unnecessary show of force to intimidate."I'm happy we're going back to China. But I feel quite lost at the moment and quite sad," said Anita Au, 33, watching Great Britain's Union Jack flag lowered for the last time at Government House yesterday afternoon.
"I didn't feel this way until I saw the Red Army troops on TV yesterday, and then I got scared. It's like June 4 (the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown). We don't need such big troops."
Security by Hong Kong police was heavy as dignitaries moved from event to event in celebration of the end of 156 years of British colonial rule.
At the stroke of midnight, Hong Kong became the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Mangmang Brown and her son, Kennedy Tian Ping Brown,
celebrate this morning at Murphy's Bar in downtown Honolulu.
Rallies in Central Hong Kong filled Statue Square with supporters and tourists. Martin Lee, leader of the Democratic Party, had threatened to scale the wall of the legislative chambers today if he wasn't allowed to give a speech from the balcony in support of democracy for Hong Kong. But rallies were peaceful, and Lee walked up the steps about 1 a.m. for his speech.Lee was one of the democratically elected legislators replaced by a provisional body handpicked by China.
He said any nostalgia for the British was tied to Hong Kong's desire for freedom.
"Hong Kong is the pearl of the Orient," Lee told journalists earlier in the day.
"The luster of the pearl is our freedom. If we lose our freedom, the pearl loses its luster."
Lee said the amassing of troops "certainly gives the impression of an invasion." Hong Kong's new leader, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, has reassured Hong Kong that Chinese troops cannot intervene with local people without his permission.
The hand-over also attracted non-Chinese protesters. Near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, a handful of U.S. ministers connected to the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue yelled into bullhorns and waved large, graphic photos of aborted babies in protest of Chinese population control programs.
The group drew curious looks from residents but little attention. The protesters said they intended to rally through the first day of Chinese rule and were prepared to go to jail if authorities made them move. Police stayed at a distance.
Elsewhere, Keith Wheeler, 36, of Tulsa, Okla., dragged a large wooden cross through the streets, a cross he has disassembled and flown to 75 countries.
"I'm praying for a peaceful transition," Wheeler said.
Excitement and uncertainty filled Hong Kong streets today. Residents, some dressed in traditional Chinese clothing and others in tuxedos and evening gowns, streamed to the harbor to watch the fireworks or attend parties. Hotel restaurants were still packed past 3 a.m. today.
Hawaii-born Heather Snipes, 31, a nurse here for three years, said she and her husband were to watch the fireworks alongside the harbor and videotape the hand-over ceremony. "It's a pretty big deal," said the former Kula Hospital nurse who now works at Hong Kong Adventist Hospital.
She said she did not feel threatened by the Chinese troops amassing in Hong Kong, but "it makes me nervous for the local people."
Associated Press
Fireworks explode while a police officer stands guard
in Tiananment Square, site of a huge celebration
by over one million people.
‘Magnificent carnival’
in Tiananmen
Narcissus Queen tour members
By Jim Witty
describe the euphoria in Beijing's
infamous square
Star-BulletinWes Fong watched from his hotel this morning as more than a million people crowded into Beijing's Tiananmen Square. "It's like a magnificent carnival atmosphere," Fong said via telephone from his vantage point overlooking the square.
Fong, president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and touring China with Hawaii Narcissus Queen Susan Hwang, her court and dozens of other Hawaii residents, was delighted to have a front-row seat on history.
Streets were blocked off by the crowds overflowing from Tiananmen Square this morning, as the huge clock in the 34-acre enclosure counted down to the changing of the guard in Hong Kong.
Fong said the mood in Beijing was joyous, euphoric.
In the hours leading up to the handover of Hong Kong from the British to the Chinese, people in the streets waved the Union Jack and the Chinese Red Banner in anticipation, Fong said. Later, spectators watched a magnificent fireworks display.
He said the square was "lit up with lights and red lanterns that signify good luck. Tiananmen tower is lit up."
"After 150 years of British rule, Hong Kong will return to China, and all that can mean is more prosperity for China," Fong said. "It's like the Fourth of July, Christmas and New Year's all rolled into one."
"It's a very historic and momentous occasion for the people here," he said.
"You can tell when they are talking about this issue -- there's a certain pride in their voice when they are talking about this," he said.
Fong said conversation has focused more on the reunification than on the political future of Hong Kong. "In every speech we've heard, they talk about how the British dominated Chinese and made them second-class citizens when they took over."
In Beijing, the Chinese spent a boisterous three-day holiday ushering in the new era.
"As we drove through Tiananmen Square, there was such a sense of euphoria," said Hwang, a 23-year-old communications major at Hawaii Pacific University. "The feeling was pure excitement. For them, it's the excitement of Hong Kong returning to the motherland."
Eighty-five-year-old Yen Chu of Northern California views the impending handover as a "good thing." Born in Canton, China, Chu came to the United States when he was 12.
For Chu, the exchange was both electrifying and emotional. "This is my motherland," he said.
And he's noticed tremendous advances since his last visit home during World War II.
"It's like night and day," Chu said.
"More Western style. People are more educated. It surprised me."
Hwang said she expected to brave the crowd in Tiananmen Square this morning.
Then it's off to the Chinese hinterlands for the 48th Narcissus Queen Tour. The Hawaii group is expected to return July 14.
Hong Kong
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