HONG KONG: The jailing of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy activists has pushed a new wave of young leaders to take the helm as they seek to keep the movement’s message alive.
Joshua Wong and Nathan Law, who carved out international reputations with their campaigning, were both sent to prison last month in what rights groups slammed as politically motivated prosecutions.
Alongside fellow activist Alex Chow, they are serving sentences of between six and eight months for their roles in a protest that triggered mass Umbrella Movement rallies in 2014 calling for democratic reforms.
The jailings were a blow to the pro-democracy movement and seen as more evidence that Beijing is tightening its grip on semi-autonomous Hong Kong.
But they also breathed new life into a campaign that had been struggling for momentum since the 2014 rallies failed to win concessions.
Tens of thousands took to the streets to protest the jail terms last month, and activists who have long been at the right hand of Wong and Law are now stepping into the spotlight.
“We should try to do more, not only for them but also for our city and to show the government and the Chinese regime that we are not going to be scared,” Agnes Chow, 20, a close friend of the jailed activists, told AFP.
Chow addressed the crowds at last month’s protest over the sentences and has regularly spoken to the media since her friends were imprisoned.
By the time by-elections are held in March for the Hong Kong legislature Chow will be old enough to run for a seat, and has not ruled that out.
Six seats are vacant after two pro-independence and four pro-democracy lawmakers, including Law, were disqualified from parliament for inserting protests into their oaths of office.
Chow is already a seasoned activist — she was one of the core members of Wong’s Scholarism group, which organized huge rallies in 2012 forcing the government to shelve a proposal to introduce compulsory patriotic “national education” into schools.
She was also one of the best-known faces of the Umbrella Movement, regularly taking to the stage to address protesters, and is a member of Wong and Law’s political party Demosisto.
Chow said the government was using the jail terms to scare people away from social movements.
“It is important for us to learn how to overcome fear in order to fight for our own basic human rights and freedom and democracy,” she said.
Chow and fellow Demosisto member Derek Lam said the democratic movement now needed to improve its connections at the grassroots level to build a stronger base.
Lam, 24, who made an emotive speech outside the jail where Alex Chow and Law are being held and is one of Demosisto’s most recognizable leaders, said the party ranks had swelled in the past two months.
“Young people are all trying to find a way to change Hong Kong,” he added.
But Lam also faces charges over an anti-China demonstration last year and believes there will soon “only be a few people left” to lead the cause.
Activist Lester Shum said those who are free to continue campaigning should put pessimism aside.
Shum, 24, also a prominent student leader during the Umbrella Movement, has been at the forefront of recent protests over the jailings.
He said the imprisonment of Wong, Law and Chow was a turning point for the democratic movement.
“They have been facing their situation with a very calm and determined attitude,” he told AFP.
“I think this will somehow encourage pro-democratic Hong Kong people,” said Shum, who is assistant to popular pro-democracy lawmaker Eddie Chu.
Shum is facing contempt of court charges relating to the clearance of one of the Umbrella Movement protest sites. Visibly thinner than when he first came on the scene, he said there had been an emotional toll.
“One of the worst things for me has already happened,” he said, referring to the imprisonment of his girlfriend Willis Ho.
She was one of 13 activists recently jailed for charging the Legislative Council building in 2014 in protest over re-development plans for rural areas.
But he remains optimistic about the city’s campaign for democracy and vowed to fight on.
“If we could stand up against their agenda, stand up against the challenges given to us by them, I think Hong Kong people will not be defeated easily.”
New wave of leaders step into breach for jailed Hong Kong democracy activists
New wave of leaders step into breach for jailed Hong Kong democracy activists
Iran war unsettles India’s packaged water makers as bottles, caps get pricey
- Higher polymer prices hurt bottled water industry
- Industry worth $5 billion has big multinational players like Pepsi, Coca-Cola
NEW DELHI: The Iran war is rattling India’s $5 billion packaged water market just ahead of the sweltering summer season.
One of the world’s fastest growing bottled water markets is seeing some manufacturers hike prices for distributors, as supply disruptions linked to the war fuel higher costs in everything from plastic bottles to caps, labels and cardboard boxes.
Though retail prices are yet to feel the heat and bigger companies are absorbing the pain, about 2,000 smaller bottled water makers have increased rates for their resellers by around 1 rupee per bottle, a 5 percent hike, which will rise by a further 10 percent in coming days, according to the Federation of All India Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers’ Association.
Consumers usually pay less than 20 rupees, or around 20 US cents, for a one-liter bottle.
“There is chaos and within the next 4-5 days, this will start impacting customer prices,” said Apurva Doshi, the federation’s secretary general.
Rising oil prices have increased the cost of polymer, which is made from crude oil and is a key material for the industry’s plastic bottles. The cost of material used in making plastic bottles has risen by 50 percent to 170 rupees per kilogram, while the price of the caps has more than doubled to 0.45 rupees apiece. Even corrugated boxes, labels and adhesive tape are costing much more, industry letters showed.
Clean water is a privilege in the country of 1.4 billion people where researchers say 70 percent of the groundwater is contaminated, leaving people reliant on bottled water. Companies including Bisleri, Coca-Cola’s Kinley, Pepsi’s Aquafina, billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance and Tata all compete for a share of the $5 billion market. The companies did not respond to Reuters request for comment.
PREMIUM WATER FACES HEAT TOO
Within the broad bottled water market, natural mineral water is a $400 million business in India and a new, fast-growing wellness product for India’s wealthy.
The premium water segment accounted for 8 percent of the bottled water market last year in India, compared to just 1 percent in 2021, Euromonitor says.
Aava, which sells mineral water sourced from the foothills of the Aravalli mountains, has increased prices of its water bottles by 18 percent for resellers, Shiroy Mehta, CEO of the company, told Reuters.
“Most manufacturers are absorbing 40-50 percent of the cost to ensure that they don’t lose clients. It’s a poor situation for the beverage industry ahead of the summer season,” he said.
The mass market, however, is dominated by companies that produce “drinking water” to be sold in 1-liter bottles to customers. Clear Premium Water, a brand of India’s Energy Beverages, said in a notice to its distributors there had been an “unprecedented and continuous surge” in prices of key raw materials used in packaging and production.
“It is no longer possible for us to absorb the escalating costs while maintaining existing product prices,” the notice said.
