Hong Kong police in fresh clashes with pro-democracy protesters
RIOT police in Hong Kong grappled with pro-democracy protesters who gathered in shopping centres yesterday to sing and chant slogans after permission for a Mother’s Day march was denied.
The incident indicated a desire on the part of some in the pro-democracy camp to revive the protests against Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed government that paralysed parts of the semi-autonomous
Chinese territory for months last year.
With the coronavirus outbreak subsiding, more people in Hong Kong have responded to online calls for action, although in far smaller numbers than the hundreds of thousands who marched last year. They were opposed to proposed legislation that could have seen dissidents or criminal suspects extradited to mainland China to face unfair trials and possible torture.
The legislation was eventually withdrawn, but the protests continued, growing increasingly violent as both police and demonstrators adopted hard-line tactics.
Thousands, mainly young people, were arrested in the demonstrations for crimes including rioting and possessing weapons.
Local media reports said at least one person was detained in yesterday’s action, which attracted numerous journalists wearing high-visibility vests.
The incident followed scuffles on Friday in Hong Kong’s
Legislative Council as politicians from opposing camps competed to preside over a meeting to determine who has authority over a key committee that scrutinises bills.
Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing and pro-democracy politicians have been caught in an impasse over the delayed election of a chairperson of the Legislative Council’s House Committee, which reads bills and determines when they can be put to a final vote.
Among the bills under consideration is one that would