
Hong Kong expressed sorrow over the death of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin with a three-minute silence while live streaming Beijing’s memorial service in the Great Hall of the People at 10 am Tuesday. The city’s 18 district offices live broadcasted the memorial service to the public for residents to mourn Jiang.
“The whole party, the entire military and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups mourn the loss of such a great man,” said current Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the state’s farewell event.
“Comrade Jiang Zemin was a great Marxist, a great proletarian revolutionary, statesman, military strategist, diplomat and a long-tested communist fighter," he added.
“The death of President Jiang is an immeasurable loss to our country,” said chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Facebook today.
Outside the main entrance of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government on Tuesday morning, around twenty police officers were on guard near wreaths and a pile of white flowers dedicated to the former president.
Some passersby stopped to take photos of the flower dedications and paid respect with bows to the picture of the late leader.
“It’s a kind of respect,” said Win Hung, 78, “he (Jiang) had great achievements.”
Hung brought his friend from the mainland to observe the scene after bowing in front of the former head of state’s portrait.
“(Former) president Jiang has done a lot for our country,” said Yeung Kuen, 48, a businesswoman who also came with her friends to express their condolences outside the Liaison Office.
A Hong Kong Polytechnic University postgraduate Teng Zihan, 23, held a white chrysanthemum, representing grief for the dead in Chinese culture, and bowed with his friend to honour the paramount leader.
The Liaison Office in Hong Kong closed the mourning hall on Monday at 5:30 pm with prior registration required to enter.
However, the liaison office refused to disclose the estimated total of attendees visiting the hall.
National and regional flags at government departments and schools flew today at half-staff. Government ships wailed sirens for three minutes to observe the mourning in silence.
The Education Bureau required secondary and primary schools, kindergartens and special schools to provide a local curriculum to lower flags at half mast and suspend all celebrations and entertainments, with an exception for graduation and prize-giving ceremonies.
“In addition, schools should arrange teachers and students to observe three minutes’ mourning in silence from 10:00 am on Dec. 6 to express our condolences with mainland compatriots,” said the Bureau in a notice to schools.
Hong Kong Baptist University sent a push notification on its mobile application to remind students and staff to pay tribute by observing the silence while offering live broadcasts of the memorial service at the Kowloon Tong Campus.
Public entertainment activities, such as Hong Kong’s nightly light show “A Symphony of Lights”, were suspended on Tuesday.
Jiang Zemin, former leader of the country and former general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, passed away in Shanghai last Wednesday at the age of 96.
Jiang served as president of China from 1993 to 2003 and oversaw the handover of Hong Kong.
《The Young Reporter》
The Young Reporter (TYR) started as a newspaper in 1969. Today, it is published across multiple media platforms and updated constantly to bring the latest news and analyses to its readers.

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