大專學界及連登團隊，發起於中環遮打花園「英美港盟 主權在民」集會，已獲警方批出不反對通知書。集會有兩大訴求，包括促請英國政府單方面宣布中國違反《中英聯合聲明》，及促請英美立法制裁侵害香港自由的人士。集會開始前，參與人士已逼爆遮打花園，部分市民選擇站在終審法院對出一段昃臣道行人路，人潮更逼出遮打道及皇后像廣場，大喊「Stand with Hong Kong！Fight for Freedom！」（與香港並肩同行！為自由而戰！）
《中英聯合聲明》為香港在1997年從英國返回中國後的統治方式奠定了藍圖。中國已經表示，它認為該聲明是一份不再具有實際意義的歷史文件，而英國則認為該聲明是一項法律上有效的條約，它致力於維護該聲明。
大專學界國際事務代表團發言人張崑陽在晚上約10時宣布，集會有6萬人參與，並表明未來學界會繼續支持運動，絕不割席，在這場無大台的運動上，會與香港人並肩而上。
60,000 people gathered at Chater Garden in Hong Kong on Friday night (Aug 16), in the latest mass demonstration in the city.The participants had flooded Chater Garden. Some chose to stand in the pavement outside the Court of Final Appeal. The crowds overflowed to Chater Road and Statue Square and shouted “Stand with Hong Kong! For Freedom!”
Organised by several Hong Kong university student unions, the “Stand with Hong Kong – Power to the People Rally” called for actions from foreign governments.
Among the protesters’ demands is a call for the United Kingdom to declare that China has breached the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The treaty laid a blueprint over how Hong Kong would be ruled after its return to China from Britain in 1997.
China has said it considers the declaration a historical document that no longer has practical significance, while the UK said it is a legally valid treaty to which it is committed to upholding.
Protesters also called on the United States and the UK to enact sanctions on those “responsible for/complicit in the suppression of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong”.
