Protesters mock Hong Kong leader Lam on her birthday
While ignoring social distancing
HONG KONG - Hundreds of protesters gathered in shopping malls across Hong Kong on Wednesday, flouting coronavirus-related social distancing rules to mock unpopular Chief Executive Carrie Lam on her birthday.
Police, both in riot gear and plainclothes, entered some of the malls and at least one arrest was made after officers pushed back a crowd using pepper spray. Most shops had to close.
It was the latest sign social unrest was resurfacing in Hong Kong as the city has proven relatively successful at tackling the coronavirus, having recorded 1,051 cases and four deaths.
While the government has allowed bars, gyms and cinemas to reopen and civil servants to come back to work, it maintains that group gatherings should be limited to eight people.
Lam, who turns 63, is the Chinese-ruled city's least popular leader since its handover from Britain in 1997, having tried to push a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China last year, sparking large-scale, often violent protests.
“I wish Carrie Lam can live a long life so that she can bear the responsibility of the decisions she made,” 20-year-old protester Ken said. “We will continue to resist. If we don't try to fight, they will just try to suppress us more severely.”
In the New Town Plaza mall in the working class Sha Tin district, protesters hung up banners reading “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times,” and chanted “There are no rioters, only tyranny” and “Disband Hong Kong police.”
Last week, Lam said on Facebook that a purse sent by post as a gift from her family for Mother's Day had security staff on their toes after repeated bomb threats in recent months.