HONG KONG (AFP)Outnumbered and with the rule book written against them, Hong Kong's pro-democracy legislators have embraced rotten plants, red bean cakes, baas and a dizzying array of other weird objects for theatrical stunts inside the rambunctious chamber.
In the latest event to infuriate the pro-Beijing majority, opposition lawmaker Ray Chan threw a foul-smelling fertiliser onto the green carpet of the Legislative Chamber on Thursday (June 4).
The incident occurred on the anniversary of China's 1989 deadly crackdown on Tiamen protesters, and Mr Chan said the jar of brown liquid represented the "stink" of that tragedy.
However, it also forced legislators to leave the chamber as his mess was cleaned up, delaying a vote on a Beijing-backed Bill to criminalise insulting China's national anthem that the opposition was destined to lose.
Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp argues such protest stuntscoupled with procedural delays like filibusteringare the only way to voice opposition inside a chamber deliberately weighted in favour of the city's pro-Beijing leaders.
Opponents condemn the actions, saying the disruptions paralyse the law making body. Tensions between the camps regularly boil over, with fights and noisy shouting matches routine.
Legislative disruption was part of the justification Beijing gave the previous month when it announced plans to impose a sweeping national security law on the city that bypasses the legislature entirely, a move that has sparked alarm.
Ahead of its 1997 handover to China by Britain, Hong Kong was promised certain liberties and autonomy for 50 years.
The Legislative Council was part of that deal, however, it was designed to ensure the city's pro-democracy opposition never held sway. Only half of the chamber's 70 seats are elected.
A ventilation pipe installed in the Legislative Chamber after a foul-smelling object was thrown. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
The rest are chosen by "functional constituencies"special interest groups representing industries, corporations, professions and community organizations that reliably vote for pro-Beijing candidates.
As a result, the minority of opposition legislators have long resorted to disruption and protests.
DORAEMON AND STUFFED TOYS
The national anthem lawwhich will punish insults to China's "March of the Volunteers" with up to three years in jailis the latest Bill to spark chaos inside the legislature.
The pro-democracy camp used filibusters for months to stop it reaching the floor, with fights between rival camps breaking out.
The previous week, a lawmaker threw a rotten plant at the legislature's president in protest.
Another object thrown by opposition legislators in the past is "dorayaki", a Japanese cake made with red bean.
The popular Japanese cartoon character Doraemon uses the cakes to get people to tell the truth. As a result, Hong Kong legislators use dorayaki as a way to accuse their rivals of lying.
Other symbols have required less explanation.
In 2008, a baa was thrown at the city's leader in protest at cuts to allowances for the elderly as opponents warned the poorest wouldn't be able to afford fresh fruit.
Protests inside the legislature have also sparked constitutional crises.
In 2016, a group of newly elected opposition legislators deliberately fluffed their oath-taking or held protest banners.
That prompted Beijing to declare the oaths invalid and the legislators were afterwards kicked out of office by the city's courts.
Hong Kong's penchant for hurling symbolic objects exists outside of the legislature as well.
In 2013, a protester threw a cuddly wolf teddy bear bought from Ikea at previous leader Leung Chun-ying.
Mr Leung was dubbed a "wolf" because his family name is similar to the word for wolf in Chinese and his critics disliked his political cunning.
The name Ikea had given the stuffed toy also sounded close to an expletive in Cantonese.
The toy swiftly sold out at the city's Ikea branches.