ZCZC
BFF-17
HONGKONG-POLITICS-CHINA-UNREST
Tension spikes in Hong Kong as police square off with protesters
HONG KONG, Aug 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tension flickered across Hong Kong
Saturday as riot cops squared off with protesters near a police station in a
working-class neighbourhood, as an uneasy peace lasting several days
threatened to give way.
Thousands of demonstrators, many wearing hard hats and gas masks, marched
through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of
riot police with shields and batons.
Protesters pulled together a barricade of traffic barriers and bamboo
construction poles, while shouting at the rank of police.
Hong Kong’s police force have become the target of the protesters’ ire for
their perceived heavy-handed response to the months of demonstrations.
Antipathy has soared towards the police, who have used baton charges,
rubber bullets and tear gas against hardcore protesters, but are also accused
of beating peaceful demonstrators.
The city has for now pulled back from what appeared to be a nosedive into
violence, with the last serious clashes taking place a week and a half ago.
But tension rippled across Saturday’s march, where a number of frontline
radical demonstrators known as “braves” had gathered.
“I’ve never seen Hong Kong in such a situation,” 65-year-old Dee Cheung
told AFP.
“The youngsters who come out have put their future at stake… they are
doing this for Hong Kong.
“There might be some things we don’t agree with, like the ‘braves’ who
tend to charge. But let’s think about why they do that?”
Protests started against a proposed law that would have allowed
extradition to China, but have bled into wider calls for democracy and police
accountability in the semi-autonomous city.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1425 hrs