Hong Kong leads anti-China rallies
HONGKONG:Protesters and police clashed in Hong Kong for a second straight day on Sunday, throwing the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s business and shopping belt into chaos and sparking fears of more ugly scenes leading up to China’s National Day holiday this week.
Riot police repeatedly fired blue liquid — used to identify protesters — from a water cannon truck and multiple volleys of tear gas after demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails at officers and targeted the city’s government office complex.
It was a repeat of Saturday’s clashes and part of a familiar cycle since pro-democracy protests began in early June. The protests were sparked by a nowshelved extradition bill and have since snowballed into an antiChina movement.
“We know that in the face of the world’s largest totalitarian regime — to quote Captain America, ‘Whatever it takes,’” Justin Leung, a 21-year-old demonstrator who covered his mouth with a black scarf, said of the violent methods deployed by hard-line protesters. “The consensus right now is that everyone’s methods are valid and we all do our part.”
Protesters are planning to march again Tuesday despite a police ban, raising fears of more violent confrontations that would embarrass Chinese President Xi Jinping as his ruling Communist Party marks 70 years since taking power. Posters are calling for Oct. 1 to be marked as “A Day of Grief.”
“So many youngsters feel that they’re going to have no future because of the power of China,” Andy Yeung, 40, said as he pushed his toddler in a stroller. “It’s hopeless for Hong Kong. If we don’t stand up, there will be no hope.”
Hong Kong’s government has already scaled down the city’s National Day celebrations, cancelling an annual fireworks display and moving a reception indoors. Chief executive Carrie Lam would be travelling to Beijing to attend the National Day celebrations.
In Taiwan, some one thousand protesters came out despite the rain to hold a solidarity protest, many dressed in black. A similar sized crowd marched through Sydney.
Over the last 17 weeks, Hong Kong has witnessed the worst political unrest since its handover to China in 1997 with huge pro-democracy rallies as well as increasingly intense clashes between police and a minority of violent protesters.