FX News: Hong Kongers want Massive Withdrawals

FX News – As the protests in Hong Kong continue, people are trying out something new to fight back.

Protesters are calling for massive ATM withdrawals, taking out as much money as possible from their banks. They could also change their currency into US dollars to protect their own assets.

The goal is to send the People’s Republic of China and HK Chief Executive Carrie Lam a message. And that message is this: Hong Kong is more than just a city with cash.

According to the student who started the “Cashout HKD to USD,” the people have already withdrawn over HK$70 million.

According to this student, the tactic would work because Lam and the PBOC “care much about the economy.”

The protests have been going on for nearly 11 weeks.

FX News: the Demands of the Protesters

The movement, according to the student, demands five things from the Hong Kong government.

The first one is to completely withdraw the extradition bill, not just suspend it. The bill, which has initially been the center of the protests, would allow extradition to China for criminal offenses. For the Hong Kongers, this would allow the authoritarian China greater control over democratic Hong Kong.

The second demand is to retract the proclamation that the protests were riots. Third, pull out the criminal charges against protesters and investigate police abuses toward them.

Fourth is to dissolve the Legislative Council by administrative order. And lastly, implement the dual universal suffrage.  Put simply, this would allow Hong Kongers to vote on their leaders without having to ask China’s permission.

Meanwhile, other activists voiced out concerns over Hong Kong’s currency because of the instability. This is where the rationale of converting their currency into the US dollar comes into play. The goal is to maintain value in US dollars and other foreign currencies.

This is among the biggest protests in the recent history of Asian countries.