'Hidden language': Hong Kongers get creative against security law

Customers sit near blank notes on a 'Lennon Wall' inside a pro-democracy restaurant in Hong Kong in response to a new national security law introduced in the city which makes political views, slogans and signs advocating Hong Kong’s independence or liberation illegal. Photo: AFP

Hong Kongers are finding creative ways to voice dissent after Beijing blanketed the city in a new security law and police began arresting people displaying now forbidden political slogans.

Faced with the sudden threat of prosecution for anything that might promote greater autonomy or independence for the restless city, residents are using word play and even subverting Chinese Communist Party dogma to express their frustration.