Journalists Association—welcomed the decision and congratulated Liu. The Journalists Association expressed their gratitude and encouragement for Liu's award, and their hope for the early unconditional release of Liu. Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, and government ministers Leung Chun-ying, and Gregory So, all declined to comment to the press. The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong said Liu's courage to stand up for the rights of all people—for the fourth time since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests—made him worthy of joining the company of other similarly persecuted peace prize recipients such as Nelson Mandela: "Liu is just one of a long line of like-minded Chinese citizens to be silenced. The award will be seen in many quarters as acknowledging their sacrifice for the values it upholds." Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, which transmits throughout mainland China by satellite, limited its report to the foreign ministry's statement denouncing the honour. About twenty activists held a celebration in front of the central government liaison office. Their celebration was broken up and the activists were arrested for assault after a guard was accidentally sprayed with champagne. A human rights monitor, and a Democratic Party legislator, denounced the "absurd" reaction of the police. The Speaker of Hong Kong's legislature turned down an adjournment motion on 15 October submitted by Leung Kwok-hung that called for the release of Liu on grounds that such debate "lacked urgency and would not produce irreversible consequences". On 17 October, thirty supporters of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China—organisers of the annual commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen protests—held a march to the central government liaison office, calling on the central government to release Liu and allow him to attend the prize-giving in December. A candlelight ceremony was held in the city's central business district to coincide with the award ceremony; organisers said 1,000 people attended. The Chinese-language press reported on rumours that Chinese officials had approached high-level executives at TVB and CableTV, asking them not to broadcast the ceremony live on their channels; executives affirmed their plans to broadcast—scheduling for the event was immutable. TVB News and now TV executives categorically denied having been contacted by Chinese authorities to pull the plug on coverage. An editorial in the South China Morning Post said: "this heavy-handed reaction [to Liu's award] is counterproductive to [China's] image and the respect it wants as a peaceful superpower. Liu's