HONG KONG – A Hong Kong legislative debate was suspended Thursday afternoon ahead of an expected vote on a contentious national anthem bill after pro-democracy lawmakers staged a protest, with one dropping a pot of pungent liquid in the chamber.
Raising a sign that said “A murderous regime stinks for ten thousand years,” lawmaker Ray Chan walked to the front with the pot hidden inside a Chinese paper lantern.
When security guards tried to stop him, he dropped the lantern and the pot, and was ejected from the meeting. Another lawmaker who accompanied him was also ejected.
Pro-democracy lawmakers see the bill, which would make it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem, as an infringement on freedom of expression and the greater rights