U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Ma.) awarded the Civil Human Rights Front and the “Hong Kong tank man” for standing up for democracy in Hong Kong.
McGovern awarded the group the 2019 Citizen Power Award on Monday, Oct. 21, saying it had taken courage and guts to organize the demonstrations.
“Think about the courage and the guts it has taken for them to organize these peaceful demonstrations, for them to persist in the face of what we see is increasing brutality from the government of Hong Kong,” McGovern said.
The actions of Pastor Anthony on Aug. 25, when he stood in front of a policeman who was pointing a gun at protesters, led to comparisons between him and the iconic “tank man” from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
Beijing Tank-man 1989 became Hong Kong Pistol-man 2019.
A Hong Kong man faced up to a police revolver demanding officer not to shoot protesters. pic.twitter.com/8tw2LAEmea— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) August 26, 2019
Last week, the House passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a bill meant to punish Beijing for its interference in Hong Kong. The bill has to be passed in the Senate then signed by the president before it becomes law.
Reporting by Kitty Wang.
Lorenz Duchamps and Eva Fu contributed to this report.
