Pro-democracy banner hung from Lion Rock has officials scrambling

A group of rock climbers hung a huge yellow banner - reading "I want real universal suffrage" - from the highest point of Lion Rock to show support for the democracy movement.

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Firemen remove the banner off Lion Rock at 1pm. Photo: Robert Ng

Published: 4:30pm, 23 Oct 2014Updated: 12:07pm, 3 Aug 2020

A group of rock climbers hung a huge yellow banner - reading "I want real universal suffrage" - from the highest point of Lion Rock yesterday to show support for the democracy movement.

As of late afternoon, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said it was still studying how to remove the banner, as the path to the rock's jagged face is rough and difficult to access.

Images of the banner - and memes that it inspired - exploded on social media. The climbers' nerve prompted posts on social media with images of cartoon lions and a house cat wearing a yellow banner.

A group calling itself The Hong Kong Spidie, after comic book hero Spiderman, claimed responsibility for the stunt. A video online showed how the climbers hung the banner, which they said is six metres by 28 metres.

"Today we are occupying Lion Rock," a man dressed as Spiderman says on camera. He adds that that he was shocked to hear Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's published remarks to reporters on Monday that open elections could not be allowed because poor people would then have too much power in politics.

"The chief executive only cares about the rich people living on Victoria Peak," the man says on camera. "We think the spirit of Lion Rock isn't just about money.