Fight & fright in HK
Raucous rally & subway attacks
Hong Kong’s protest movement took a violent turn on Sunday as police launched tear gas at protesters after a massive march continued late into the evening, and subway riders were attacked by masked assailants who apparently were targeting pro-democracy demonstrators.
The use of the tear gas marked the latest confrontation between police and protesters who have taken to the streets for more than a month to fight a proposed extradition bill and demand electoral reforms in the Chinese territory.
The march had been peaceful when it reached its police-designated end point in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district in the late afternoon, but thousands continued onward, at various points occupying key government and business districts. They then headed for the Liaison Office, which represents China’s Communist Party-led central government within the city.
Protesters threw eggs at the building and spray-painted its surveillance cameras. China’s national emblem, which adorns the front of the building, was splattered with black ink.
Police launched tear-gas canisters at protesters, scattering them.
Hong Kong media also released video footage showing masked assailants attacking commuters in a subway station, including protesters clad in their trademark black clothing and yellow hard hats.
The attackers were dressed in white with black masks pulled over their heads. On Saturday, demonstrators wore white at a counterrally in support of police.
Footage shows the attackers using umbrellas to beat people in the station and inside a subway car. Subway passengers angrily accused police officers of not intervening in the attack.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement shortly after midnight that commuters had been attacked at a subway station in the city’s Yuen Long neighborhood, leading to “confrontations and injuries.”
The statement also said that “some radical protesters initiated a series of violent acts . . . despite repeated warnings” by the police. They said the acts included the hurling of gas bombs, setting fires and throwing bricks.
“This is absolutely unacceptable to Hong Kong as a society that observes the rule of law,” the statement said, referring to the actions of the subway attackers and protesters alike.
Organizers said 430,000 people participated in Sunday’s march amid sweltering heat, while police said there were 138,000 during the procession’s “peak period.”
Large protests began early last month in opposition to an extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their rights would have been compromised.
Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has declared the extradition bill dead, but protesters are dissatisfied with her refusal to formally withdraw the legislation. Some are also calling for her to resign amid growing concerns about the steady erosion of civil rights in the city.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997 and was promised certain democratic freedoms under the framework of “one country, two systems.” Fueled by anger at Lam and an enduring distrust of the central government in Beijing, the current demonstrations have ballooned into calls for electoral reform and an investigation into alleged police brutality at the protests.