April Fifth Action or AFAG (Chinese: 四五行動; pinyin: Sì-Wǔ Xíngdòng) is a group named after the first Tiananmen incident of 5 April 1976. It is a small socialist group in the Hong Kong. While the organization's Chinese name translates as "April Fifth Action", English-language media in Hong Kong usually refer to it as the April Fifth Action Group.
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The group believe that without a democratic China, it would be impossible to have a democratic Hong Kong.[1] The most famous member of the group is Leung Kwok-hung, better known locally as "Longhair"; who has described himself in interviews as a Trotskyist. The group is aligned with the pro-democracy camp in its opposition to the governments of China and the HKSAR. The group calls for more democracy and a shift of power away from the government to the people.
The group is well known for its aggressive and civil disobedience-style actions to protest against the governments of China and Hong Kong during celebrations and visits of state leaders, often resulting in confrontations with the police. They usually carry a coffin as their trademark protest prop. Its members have also been prosecuted for disrupting meetings of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo).
The group have held a number of protests. One example is the June 1, 1997 protest which drew a crowd of 5,000 people in Hong Kong going from Chater Garden to the New China News Agency. The group was blocked off by the Hong Kong police, and did not succeed in presenting a petition to the news office. While the event led Hong Kong news headlines, China's main CCTV station promoted the opposite propaganda on the mainland by featuring children in Wan Chai waiving PRC flags. Critics have questioned the effectiveness of the group, since Beijing has continued to censor news of the group's activities entirely in the mainland.[2]
The group's most famous member, Leung Kwok-hung unsuccessfully contested both the 2000 LegCo election and 2003 District Council elections. He considered the latter battle a victory because of the number of votes he got in a district which traditionally supports pro-Beijing candidates. He finally succeeded in the 2004 LegCo election and became the first member of the April Fifth Action in the Legislative Council. His election was widely viewed as a protest vote against the unpopular administration of then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Leung has been a controversial LegCo member since he refused to take the standard oath which all legislators must take, and instead recited his own expanded version. Leung Kwok-hung has gained most of his voter popularity owing to his very strong, if not radical, stance on issues, criticising the indecision and inefficiency that paralysed the Hong Kong government due to weak leadership under Tung Chee-hwa. Leung was re-elected with an increased majority in 2008 under the League of Social Democrats banner, becoming the candidate with the most votes in his constituency.
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