HONG KONG, SEPT 29 (DNA) – “Anti-authoritarianism” rallies will be held in over 40 cities around the world this weekend in support of the Hong Kong protest movement.

There will be protests in Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Taiwan, Ukraine, UK and US.

A demonstration is scheduled to begin in Hong Kong on Sunday at 2:30pm, with marchers convening at the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay. They intend to head to government headquarters in Admiralty, but organisers did not apply for police approval.

Initially, the protest was themed as an “anti-Chinazi” march, but the term was dropped after deliberations between protesters, many of whom agreed that linking China to atrocities caused by Nazism may not be well received.

One of the organisers of the march on the Reddit-like LIHKG forum urged protesters to peacefully disperse after it ends, so as to save energy for planned protests on China’s National Day on October 1.

“We have to save Hong Kong ourselves – we will show our will globally,” the organiser said.

When organising the rallies, protesters came up with the idea to call on supporters to make origami cranes in support of the movement, which they now call “Freenix” – a reference to phoenix.

The idea was also widely shared on Twitter under the hashtag #birdgoldingchallenge.

Demonstrations in Hong Kong have entered their 14th week, as the city marks five years since the birth of the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement this weekend. Since June, large-scale peaceful protests against a bill that would have enabled extraditions to China have evolved into sometimes violent displays of dissent over Beijing’s encroachment, democracy and alleged police brutality.=DNA

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