Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Activists aim to keep momentum
Demonstrators stage rallies in Hong Kong
HONG KONG — Hundreds of silver-haired activists joined young Hong Kong protesters for a unity rally Saturday, vowing that their months long movement will not fade away until there is greater democracy in the Chinese territory.
The rally at a park downtown was among several peaceful gatherings by protesters this week to keep up pressure on the government amid a lull in violence after a local election victory by the pro-democracy bloc. And protesters hope to capitalize on recent U.S. support.
The protesters are angry over Chinese interference in Hong Kong that they say is eroding their rights promised when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
“The government wants us to desert the front-liners and young protesters, but we will stick with them,” rally organizer Tam Kwoksun, 64, said to cheers from the crowd. “Sometimes their actions are violent and aggressive, but we are more unhappy with the government’s behavior.”
Since the unrest broke out in June, protesters have disrupted traffic, smashed public facilities and pro-China shops, and hurled gasoline bombs in battles with riot police who have responded with tear gas and water cannons.
The occupation of several universities by protesters earlier this month after clashes with police capped one of the most violent chapters in the turmoil.
Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has appealed for the current calm to continue but has refused to bow to protesters’ demands, which include free elections for her post and the legislature and an independent probe into allegations of police brutality.
“It’s still a very early stage of the revolution,” a masked activist, who gave her name as Mai, 26, said Saturday. “People are tired physically and mentally, so we are waiting for the right moment for a fightback.”
Hong Kong police have arrested 5,890 people in the protests.
Some protesters returned to the streets Saturday night, using metal fences, cartons and bricks to block traffic in the Mong Kok area in Kowloon. Most left after police reportedly fired pepper balls and issued warnings.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said Lam’s government must prioritize “meaningful, inclusive” dialogue to resolve the crisis.
In an opinion piece Saturday in the South China Morning Post, she urged Lam to hold an “independent and impartial judge-led investigation” into possible use of excessive force by police to restore trust and repair rifts.
The U.S. earlier this week enacted two laws to support the protest movement. One law prescribes sanctions on officials found guilty of rights abuses and requires an annual review of the city’s special trade status. Another bans export of nonlethal munitions to Hong Kong police.