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HONGKONG-CHINA-POLITICS-UNREST
Thousands defy police in latest Hong Kong march
HONG KONG, Nov 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Thousands of protesters hit the streets
of Hong Kong on Saturday, defying police with an unsanctioned march as the
democracy movement shows no signs of abating after nearly five months.
Crowds of black-clad protesters, many wearing face masks despite a recent
ban, filled Causeway Bay, a popular shopping district, as tensions built with
riot police who had flooded the area.
The march came a day after China gave its latest warning that it would not
tolerate any challenge to Hong Kong’s governing system and planned to boost
patriotic education in the city, which has seen 22 consecutive weekends of
youth-led protests.
Hong Kong has been upended by the huge, often violent, pro-democracy
protests which have battered the financial hub’s reputation for stability and
helped plunge the city into recession. Beijing has shown no willingness to
meet protester demands for greater democratic freedoms and police
accountability — and activists show no sign of leaving the streets as
violence escalates on both sides.
“The government and the police have been ignoring and suppressing the
people’s demands so we need to continue the movement to show them we still
want what we are asking for,” 18-year-old protester Gordon Tsoi, who was not
wearing a mask, told AFP as he marched.
“The entire government is being controlled by the central government now,
so we have to come out to protect the freedoms we deserve,” added another 17-
year-old protester who declined to give his name.
Police gave permission for an evening rally in the city’s commercial
district but rejected an application to march through the streets in the
afternoon, citing safety fears given the months of clashes.
As has happened so often in the past, protesters simply defied the ban and
began massing in large numbers despite the risk of arrest and jail for taking
part in an illegal assembly.
– Loathed by Beijing –
Among those calling for people to protest on Saturday was Joshua Wong, one
of the city’s most prominent activists who was barred earlier this week from
standing in upcoming local elections.
“Exercising freedom of assembly has become increasingly difficult as police
in HK holds tighter grip in recent months. Yet we’re not giving up our
constitutional rights,” he wrote on Twitter.
Wong is loathed by Beijing with state media often branding him a
“separatist” and a “traitor” because he campaigns for greater autonomy for
Hong Kong.
He denies seeking independence and says he simply campaigns for the
democratic freedoms and autonomy Beijing promised Hong Kong for 50 years
after the 1997 handover by Britain.
Other people who advocate greater autonomy have been allowed to stand in
the elections later this month.
Beijing runs Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems” model that grants
the city freedoms unheard of on the authoritarian mainland.
But many activists fear those freedoms are being eroded by a resurgent
Beijing, particularly since President Xi Jinping came to power.
This summer’s record breaking protests in which millions marched were
sparked by a now-abandoned attempt to allow extraditions to the authoritarian
mainland.
But as Beijing took a hardline the movement snowballed.
Protesters are demanding an inquiry into the police, an amnesty for those
arrested and fully free elections, all of which Beijing and the city’s local
leaders have rejected.
Over the months protests have got increasingly violent, with smaller groups
of hardcore activists throwing petrol bombs and bricks as well as vandalising
pro-China businesses.
Police have responded with ever-increasing arrests, tear gas and rubber
bullet volleys while crowd beatings of people on both sides of the
ideological divide have become commonplace.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1552 hrs